NHS Support Federation

"The goodwill of staff, which translates into assumptions about people working unpaid hours, must not be normalised by workforce planners."

In this Editor's Choice @kamranabbasi.bsky.social asks: how long can the NHS run on unpaid overtime?
www.bmj.com/content/392/...

PFI: Still draining NHS budgets decades on - The Lowdown As ministers weigh up the options for using private capital to build some of the new “neighbourhood health centres” and to finance the delayed “new hospitals programme,” recent revelations about…

PFI: Still draining NHS budgets decades on
buff.ly/Y19nFue
@helenmorganlibdem.bsky.social @ldhealthandcare.org @marisharay.bsky.social @nhsfed.bsky.social @timfarron.bsky.social @tomgordonld.bsky.social #PFI

Critical incidents signal emergency departments beyond safe limits - The Lowdown News reports trumpeting the reduction of England’s waiting list back to below 7.4 million (a reduction of 1.2%) were largely drowned out of media attention by a wave of “critical incidents” in which…

Critical incidents signal emergency departments beyond safe limits
buff.ly/gxphsLr
We are coming in and expected to look after 10 or 12 patients. It is supposed to be one to four
@marisharay.bsky.social @ldhealthandcare.org @helenmorganlibdem.bsky.social @nhsfed.bsky.social @unitesharon.bsky.social

Maternity care is broken. Who can fix it? Giving birth is getting riskier, midwives are stretched to exhaustion and families must navigate a lottery of care

Maternity care is broken. Who can fix it? - by @laurahughesft.bsky.social giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Streeting must get a grip on core issues - The Lowdown For the last few week or so Wes Streeting has seemed to be preoccupied with distancing himself from his links with Peter Mandelson, and trying to preserve his credibility as a possible leadership chal...

Streeting must get a grip on core issues - John Lister

lowdownnhs.info/comment/stre...

More than 60 children infected in north London measles outbreak Cases reported in seven schools and a nursery in Enfield amid concern over low levels of MMR vaccination in capital

A reminder that measles cannot be treated, it can only be prevented.

It is one of the most contagious diseases in the world and can cause blindness, deafness and life-threatening lung and brain infections.

One in five children infected in the recent London measles outbreak were reportedly hospitalised.
Don’t believe the anti-vaxxers when they say “it’s a mild disease” or “it’s better to get immunity naturally”.
It isn’t.

NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed Exclusive: in 2025 briefing to Wes Streeting, officials warned reputation of tech firm behind US ICE operations would hinder rollout of data system in UK

The fact Wes Streeting was warned by his own officials that the toxicity of Palantir made the contract less likely to succeed raises, yet again, the question why Government granted it the contract in the first place?

Infographic showing the responses to the question "Do you think the following should be nationalised and run in the public sector, or privatised and run by private companies?" Headline: Public ownership is popular Water - 82% Energy - 71% Buses - 66% NHS - 87% Rail - 76% Royal Mail - 75% Polling by YouGov, June 2024

🤔You want your government to be popular?

💡Why not try doing something that's popular with the public.

Most of us want to see public ownership across a range of public services.

It was true at the last general election. It's true now.

#publicownership

NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed Exclusive: in 2025 briefing to Wes Streeting, officials warned reputation of tech firm behind US ICE operations would hinder rollout of data system in UK

NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed.

Govt officials warned that the contract would not offer value for money, but Starmer and Streeting still went ahead.

Mandelson took Starmer to meet Palantir’s chief executive.

NHS nursing staff to get 3.3% pay rise in April Nursing staff on Agenda for Change contracts will receive their annual pay award on time for the first time in six years, however unions have expressed their anger at ‘insulting’, below-inflation pay rise.

NHS nursing staff in England and Wales will get a 3.3% pay rise in April.

Staff on Agenda for Change contracts will get their annual pay rise on time for the first time in years, but unions have vented their anger at the below-inflation award, labelling it an insult.

Open letter to Wes Streeting: release your messages with your private healthcare donors The public has a right to know that health policy is not driven by quid pro quo relationships.

Wes Streeting released his whatsapp messages with Mandelson

We've written to him asking him to also release messages with private health donors (who benefit from NHS privatisation)

@goodlawproject.bsky.social found he is 60%+ funded by private healthcare

weownit.org.uk/news/wes-str...

Private companies target ADHD diagnosis sector - The Lowdown Since 2019, demand for ADHD diagnosis has rocketed, and referral rates quickly outstripped NHS service capacity. Waiting times increased substantially, with reports of several years’ wait in some area...

Private companies target ADHD diagnosis sector

lowdownnhs.info/private-prov...

How ADHD became a multimillion-pound industry for private equity NHS has become dependent on privately run services to diagnose ADHD and autism as patients given legal right to assessments under Right to Choose initiative

How ADHD became a multimillion-pound industry for private equity.

NHS handed £128m to private ADHD companies last year.

Just three private-equity backed providers of NHS ADHD services made profits £31.5m profit last year.

Public money buys less.

Must expand NHS capacity.

BMA calls for NHS doctors to reject using the FDP The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for NHS doctors to limit usage of the federated data platform (FDP).

The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for NHS doctors to limit usage of the federated data platform (FDP) because of its supplier Palantir’s links to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

www.digitalhealth.net/2026/02/bma-...

"It's a stupid system," says @eddiecrouch.bsky.social

An inflexible contract means that if a practice has capacity - while others in the area are actually reducing NHS work - that funding can't be kept on the frontline. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7z7x0w95go

Impact Statement shows why Labour’s 10-Year Plan is going nowhere - The Lowdown A new document on the state of play in England’s NHS is sounding the alarm on Labour’s vague “10 Year Plan,” which was eventually published in July, a year after they had taken office, and to less tha...

Impact Statement shows why Labour’s 10-Year Plan is going nowhere - John Lister

lowdownnhs.info/analysis/imp...

PFI: Still draining NHS budgets decades on - The Lowdown As ministers weigh up the options for using private capital to build some of the new “neighbourhood health centres” and to finance the delayed “new hospitals programme,” recent revelations about three...

PFI: Still draining NHS budgets decades on - John Lister

lowdownnhs.info/private-prov...

How many more GPs has the government recruited? – Full Fact The government claims it has put 3,000 GPs into general practice, but that figure is a headcount of the GPs recruited through a specific scheme. The overall net increase in full-time equivalent GPs…

Is the government right to claim it has recruited 3,000 more GPs?

That figure is based on a headcount of GPs recruited through a specific scheme. But the overall net increase in full-time GPs is less.

We’ve crunched the numbers 🔍

NHS hiring bans in cancer units shortsighted and dangerous, doctors warn Exclusive: RCR says recruitment freezes in treatment centres doubled in 2025 and could undermine government’s care plans Hospitals have banned units which diagnose and treat cancer from hiring doctors as part of an NHS cost-cutting drive, despite the growing demand for care. Exactly half of the UK’s 60 specialist cancer treatment centres had a freeze on recruiting clinical oncologists imposed on them during 2025, more than double the 13 (23%) seen the year before. Continue reading...

NHS hiring bans in cancer units shortsighted and dangerous, doctors warn

Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to probe deals blocked Labour should halt public contracts with the US tech company Palantir, opposition politicians have said, amid growing concern at the lack of government transparency over dealings with the company and Peter Mandelson. Since 2023, Palantir has secured more than £500m in contracts with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence, while it employed Global Counsel, the lobbying firm founded by Mandelson. Emails released by the US Department of Justice show Mandelson sought help from Jeffrey Epstein to find “rich individuals” as clients. Continue reading...

Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals

Petition: Require all think tanks to disclose their donors, funding, and media spending Research bodies and representation of specialist interests is important when making policy. However, think tanks go beyond merely brainstorming ideas and presenting data and arguments. They can push s...

This is why I started this petiiton - we see some of the donations and influence, but we can't see who is spending on media and reports for ministers...

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...

Ministers to crackdown on profiteering in care sector and make renewed fostering push Josh MacAlister issues warning as government launches £88m ‘call to arms’ to recruit 10,000 new foster carers

Profit doesn't belong in children's social care

"Landmark legislation to eliminate private profit from children’s social care services in Wales...

But in England, more than 80% of child residential homes are for profit"

Time for England to copy Wales

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Who (what demographic) do you think is most likely to lose out from tricks like this? bsky.app/profile/nath...

Saw one that was sent by letter containing a QR code that had to be scanned to confirm place on waiting list.

You wonder who might lose out from processes like these.

I’ve had it myself personally - on two different NHS waiting lists. To stay on one I had to spend several hours ringing round trying to get a human and only got one by using a fair amount of my knowledge of the NHS (my specialist area of journalism) bsky.app/profile/caro...

Four More States Weigh Bans on Private-Equity Interference in Medical Care After California and Oregon passed laws last year, more lawmakers want to strengthen bans on corporate medicine.

Four More US States Weigh Bans on Private-Equity Interference in Medical Care.

UK handing more of healthcare to PE parasites
Hospitals
GP surgeries
Dentists
Care homes
Children's care

PE has no long term interest in anything. It profiteers by devouring.
archive.ph/xBUyI

'Investment in children’s physiotherapy is not optional. It is fundamental to the effective functioning of public services.'

Physios call out the lack of action on 'catastrophic’ waiting times as the BBC highlights that a quarter of children have been waiting more than 12 months for community care.

It’s a YES.

An overwhelming 93.4% of resident doctors in England have voted for further strike action, giving a clear mandate to continue pressuring the Government on jobs and pay in 2026.

The overall turnout was 52.54%.

Stay tuned for updates on our next steps.

Why decline in children’s mental health is ‘biggest challenge of our time’ Mental health services are “struggling to keep pace and meet the individual needs of children and young people”, leading charities have warned

Together with our Future Minds partners, today we’ve published a roadmap putting forward concrete solutions to address the mental health concerns and struggles of children, young people, and their families.

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...