NHS has ‘busiest summer ever’ as waiting lists deteriorate and junior doctors strike again  Junior doctors will be on strike over the weekend. Their latest, five-day action started as NHS England data suggested that emergency departments had their busiest ever June and July, with 4.42 million attendances (42,500 higher than the previous high). The figures contributed to poor performance against the four-hour target to admit, treat or discharge. Just 74% of those attending were seen within the target time. Other aspects of NHS performance were equally grim. Year-long waits reduced, but the overall waiting list has grown to 7.6 million, 1.6 million people are waiting for a scan or test, and 19,600 are in hospital when they are fit to be discharged.   The King’s Fund said the government needs to end the strikes if it wants to meet its waiting list reduction pledges – and get the NHS ready for winter. NHS Providers said the latest stat report will also ring alarm bells for trust leaders, who not only need an end to the strikes, but “proper support” in the form of “government funding for workforce and capital, including beds and vital equipment, and a solution for the challenges in social care.” As things stand, the NHS has a winter plan that relies on care traffic control and virtual wards – and consultants will strike again on 24 and 25 August.

Health news: Flu and Covid jab programme scaled back; government looks to private sector for capacity   The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised the UK government not to give flu and Covid jabs to the under-65s unless they are at risk of serious illness, have caring responsibilities, or are health and care workers. Last year, another 12 million people aged 50 to 64 were offered vaccines and boosters (The Guardian). The government has decided to open thirteen new community diagnostic centres, with eight run by the independent sector. Data will also be used to help commissioners identify capacity in the private sector and procurement rules will be relaxed so they can “work with” it.

Row breaks out over virtual wards  The Royal College of Physicians has told the Health Service Journal that NHS England’s target to have 10,000 virtual ward beds in place by the end of September is not helpful, because it risks pulling-in low-risk patients. NHS England says virtual wards increase capacity because they take patients who would otherwise be treated or monitored in hospital. The RCP’s concern is that if they are used for low-risk patients, they will contribute to over-medicalisation, run up tech costs, and spread resources more thinly. NHS England is spending £450 million on virtual wards over two years and has made them a feature of its winter plan.

Think-tanks investigate virtual wards and innovation  The Health Foundation has released the results of a survey suggesting that 45% of patients and 63% of NHS workers support virtual wards – although there is some confusion about the concept. Support was significantly lower among people on benefits or in unskilled and semi-skilled work (Health Tech Newspaper). The NHS Confederation has published a guide to scaling innovation in the NHS, based on input from the AHSN Network and feedback from members. It says innovators need to understand a problem, engage stakeholders, and future proof their projects; making sure they have the funding and support to make them sustainable.

Further woes for Babylon Health  Babylon Health’s proposed merger with Swiss company MindMaze has collapsed. The merger would have taken the company private, wiping out shareholders’ stakes, but given it access to new funding (Sifted). The Health Service Journal reported that Babylon Health is looking to sell its UK business, including the GP at Hand service, which has registered 100,000 patients in London. Without a buyer, it is facing bankruptcy. Babylon’s AI-driven symptom checker and digital-first GP offer was once touted as the future of primary and urgent care in the UK by, among others, former health and social care secretary Matt Hancock (The Guardian, 2021).