Shaun Lintern

Thank you.

The @mndassoc.bsky.social has been a tremendous support for my family. From their helpline taking my desperate phone calls, to making direct grants to mum so she has equipment she needs without delay. You can help their work & direct grants by donating here: donate.mndassociation.org?campaign=25S...

Six people a day are diagnosed with #MND At any one time, 5,000 people live with the devastating effects, eventually unable to walk, talk or eat etc. One of them is my mum and I've yet to find the words that adequately describe the horror that is MND.

Lewis Moody diagnosed with motor neurone disease – what are the symptoms? Former England rugby player Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with the condition

Lewis Moody diagnosed with motor neurone disease – what is it and what are the symptoms: www.independent.co.uk/life-style/h...

On @lbc.co.uk discussing this story in the next few minutes

One of the authors, audiologist Sally Wood, agree to speak after I approached her with a copy. She did not hold back.

A 2014 internal report identified 37 out of 113 areas in England where some or all parts of paediatric audiology services were failing. It specifically warned of "long-term" impact on children.

The report was handed to senior NHS figures & Dame Sue Hill. But no action was taken

There is an institutional culture in many parts of the NHS of focussing wholly on money, and just not doing credible patient impact assessments when considering any cuts to service.

Or worse, having them done and treating it as unimportant for many reasons nothing to do with patient health.

NHS ignored warnings on children’s hearing tests for a decade Health bosses in England knew about testing failures in 2014. Hundreds of babies with severe hearing problems were left without help, leading to delayed development

🚨 Exclusive: New leaked document proves @NHSEngland was warned a decade ago about failures in child hearing test centres across England.
Hundreds of children have been harmed, some left with lifelong problems:
▶️ www.thetimes.com/article/294c...

NHS advisers set to reject routine prostate cancer screening Despite campaigners’ pleas for more checks, experts fear widespread screening risks harming hundreds of thousands of men unnecessarily

NHS advisers are expected to rule against routine screening for prostate cancer, dealing a blow to campaigners pushing for more checks www.thetimes.com/article/700d...

Mum's anti-chemotherapy views influenced Paloma Shemirani's death Paloma Shemirani died after refusing chemotherapy despite a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

A high-profile conspiracy theorist influenced her daughter to reject chemotherapy in favour of alternative treatments, which ultimately led to her death, a coroner has ruled www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Former chief nurse of England, Sarah Mullaly, the Bishop of London, will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury

MND patients fighting for a treatment for the disease denied because of hospital capacity is truly scandalous. Sadly this won't help my mum but the NHS can and must do better for these families: t.co/9qQPs2qxqs

You’re not therapists, schools told in warning of ‘negative spiral’ The former Ofsted boss Baroness Spielman says children are being encouraged to find problems when they should be engrossed in normal education

This week the covid inquiry will hear evidence about the pandemic’s impact on children and young people. Dame Rachel de Souza, children’s commissioner, says children are still paying the price for school lockdowns.

www.thetimes.com/article/ae39...

The importance of advocacy MJA Chair Shaun Lintern made a very personal and powerful plea at the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards

At the #mjaawards last week, our chair @shaunlintern.bsky.social spoke incredibly movingly about why we do what we do. See more detail and our list of winners on the MJA website. mjauk.org/2025/09/17/t...

Families face unfair ‘luck of the draw’ over NHS continuing healthcare – report Some families have taken local health organisations to court to win funding after being turned down.

Families face unfair ‘luck of the draw’ over NHS continuing healthcare decisions www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

NHS doctor set to be charged with sexually assaulting children Staffordshire police have concluded an investigation known as Operation Anzu and are talking to prosecutors

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: An NHS doctor accused of sexually assaulting multiple patients, including children, while working in 2 hospital A&Es is expected to be charged within weeks after the conclusion of a 4-year police investigation

www.thetimes.com/article/a3ac...

"We have received written advice from the CPS on submission of a case file, and all agencies continue to work collaboratively to enable a final charging decision to be made" -Staffordshire Police

Take it up with the Supreme Court. They ruled a suspects privacy outweighed the public interest a couple of years ago.

New privacy laws protect the identity of suspects before charge.

Operation Anzu has seen hundreds of families sent letters by the NHS asking them to contact Staffordshire police, after a trawl of thousands of records for patients seen by this doctor:

He was suspended by the GMC after his arrest in 2021.

NHS doctor set to be charged with sexually assaulting children Staffordshire police have concluded an investigation known as Operation Anzu and are talking to prosecutors

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: An NHS doctor accused of sexually assaulting multiple patients, including children, while working in 2 hospital A&Es is expected to be charged within weeks after the conclusion of a 4-year police investigation

www.thetimes.com/article/a3ac...

UK doctors guilty of sexual misconduct are not being struck off, research finds Analysis reveals 24% of guilty doctors handed suspensions but are allowed to keep working in medicine

UK doctors who are guilty of sexual misconduct are not being appropriately sanctioned due to weak disciplinary processes, research reveals. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The number of people providing 35 hours or more a week of unpaid care increased from 1.1 million in 2003/04 to 1.9 million in 2023/24.

New requests for support increased from 1.8 million in 2015/16 to 2.1 million in 2023/24, mainly from working age adults www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

One of the best things in the Hillsborough Law Bill is not the duty of candour on public officials, as welcome as that is, but news that bereaved families will have publicly funded legal representation at inquests. Finally an equality of arms that's been lacking for so long

Another maternity inquiry wholly focused on care delivered on labour wards. The policies and targets set for those trusts by DHSC, NHS England, and their response to concerns is conspicuously absent.

I'm glad to see my local trust will be reviewed as part of the national maternity investigation. I have been supporting a family harmed in the trust and they deserve a full review and, more importantly, action to change the culture and operations of the service.

14 NHS trusts to be focus of national maternity investigation are named The investigation is to make recommendations to urgently improve care and safety in maternity and neonatal care.

14 NHS trusts to be focus of national maternity investigation are named www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Heading to Manchester for @events.hsj.co.uk Patient Safety Congress - two days of full on discussion of all things safety & quality. I'm looking to forward to Penny Dash keynote tomorrow, @marydixonwoods.bsky.social challenging keynote panel & Dr Matt Morgan delivering the James Reason lecture