Covid inquiry chair defends cost and length of process on final day

Nick Triggle,Health correspondentand Chloe Hayward Getty Images One in 10 patients who attended major A&E units in England last year spent more than 12 hours there, a BBC analysis shows. During 2025, 1.75 million patients waited that long to be treated and discharged or found a bed on a ward – only marginally better than…

James GallagherHealth and science correspondent Getty Images A screening programme for prostate cancer for all men in the UK is not justified, according to a hugely influential group of experts. Instead they say only men with specific genetic mutations that lead to more aggressive tumours should be eligible. That would rule out black men who…

Michelle RobertsDigital health editor Getty Images An injection to prevent HIV is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England and Wales for the first time, bringing the policy in line with Scotland. The long-acting shot, given six times a year or every other month, is an alternative to taking daily pills to…

Nick TriggleHealth correspondent Getty Images The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), is acting “like a cartel” and threatening the future of the NHS, the health secretary says. Wes Streeting attacked the doctors’ union ahead of the 13th strike by resident doctors in their long-running dispute in England, which is due to begin on…

In a report, she wrote: “The government should look closely at its plans for SEND funding, particularly the discrepancies between local authorities, the potential to ringfence budgets, and investment in early years to prevent children’s needs escalating.”