A new chapter for the NHS: The three core principles and the data behind them
This morning, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) released a new 10 Year Health Plan for England. Commenting on the plan, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said the health system the Labour Government inherited was in crisis. “That ends now…it’s reform or die”. The new health plan is set to be at the […]
Vision outpatient appointments significantly increase in England
In 2023/24, the number of people attending vision outpatient appointments increased by 23% over the decade, new data shows. To tackle this, the NHS Confederation has proposed to decentralise ophthalmology away from hospitals by 2035. This morning, the Department of Health and Social Care delivered significant updates to its vision profile. The new data reveals […]
Unlocking Health Insights: Using census data to create health profiles
Every ten years, the census captures detailed information about communities across the United Kingdom. It’s one of the most reliable sources of public data, giving policymakers and practitioners in health, education and research, a powerful, population-level view of how we live. In this article, we explore how census data for England and Wales can be […]
Number of GPs increases by 3.2% as funding changes to boost care in working-class areas
In May, the number of GPs increased by 3.2% over the year, ahead of changes in funding distribution to improve access to care for working-class communities and coastal areas. NHS England has recently published a new statistical release on General Practice workforce, revealing 48,701 GPs in England in May 2025. This amounts to a total […]
Half of people with a learning disability or autism still in hospital after two years
As Learning Disability Week shines a spotlight on the experiences of people with learning disabilities, new figures show that in May, half of all NHS inpatients with a learning disability and/or autism had been in hospital for more than two years. This morning, NHS England published a statistical release on learning disabilities and autism (LDA) […]
Fewer on time cancer diagnoses as performance drops after February peak
In April, 76.7% of people received their cancer diagnosis on time after an urgent referral, figures show. On time diagnoses peaked in February at 80.2% but have since declined. NHS England published new data on Cancer Waiting Times in England, showing 91.3% of people were treated within 31 days after diagnosis (50k) and 69.9% received […]
NHS incomplete pathways fall 2.4% year on year, but ICBs continue to miss target
In April, the number of incomplete pathways in NHS services decreased by 2.4% over the year, although all integrated care boards continue to miss target, new figures show. Yesterday, NHS England released new referral to treatment waiting times statistics, showing that 6.2 million patients were waiting to start treatment by the end of April 2025. […]
New NHS Care Plan targets urgency and emergency care as 4 hour A&E performance improves
A new Care Plan is set to improve urgent and emergency care, as the number of A&E attendances dealt within 4 hours increased by 2.9% in April 2025. On Friday, the UK Government and NHS England published a new Urgent and Emergency Care Plan aimed at meeting the following by the end of the 2025/26 […]
Gonorrhoea diagnoses drop 15.9% ahead of vaccine rollout
Gonorrhoea diagnoses decrease by 15.9%, as a new vaccine is set to be rolled out this summer. This accompanies an overall trend in the decrease of sexually transmitted infections diagnoses in England. This morning, the UK Health Security Agency released statistics on STIs revealing that 364,750 diagnoses were recorded in 2024, a 8.8% decrease from […]
Health data across borders: Lessons from the EHDS for the UK and Europe
This year, the European Union launched the European Health Data Space (EHDS), a groundbreaking regulation set to revolutionise how health data is accessed, shared and reused across member states. Whilst the legislation won’t impact the UK, the ambitions and infrastructures of the EHDS pose interesting questions over the current health data environment at home. […]