The Care Quality Commission have just released their latest inspection report on the state of care in independent acute hospitals.

The fact that the Care Quality Commission is tasked with overseeing the care provided by independent hospitals is welcome in itself, as patients have the right to expect the same clinical/nursing standards as they would expect from NHS care.

Philip Hammond has signalled that there may be ‘headroom’ for NHS spending later this year after public finance figures suggest that his targets are realistic and likely to be achieved.

The Chancellor gave hints towards an increase in funding towards public services later this autumn, stating that if ‘public finances continue to reflect the improvements that today’s report hints at, then…[he] would have the capacity to enable further increases in public spending’. Many commentators would cite that an increase in subsidy is long overdue and a necessity to improve a currently over-stretched and under-staffed service.

It was reported that obesity-related admissions to hospitals has doubled in four years in England. This should be of little surprise as obesity within the general population has been increasing for the last few years – currently 26% of UK adults are classed as obese , despite repeated warnings by doctors of the risks of diabetes, coronary diseases and potentially cancer, as a result of obesity. According to NHS Digital data, in 2016/17 the number of admissions where obesity was a factor increased to 615,000 from 525,000 in 2015/16 – an increase of 18%. As a result, the NHS has seen increasing numbers of patients being treated for a variety of health conditions like type 2 diabetes and coronary diseases.

Opioid addiction has been highlighted in the news following a study by the Public Health Research Consortium, which found that the proportion of patients being prescribed opioid painkillers by GPs has doubled in 15 years.

Data held by NHS Digital for 2017 shows 23.8 million opioid painkillers were prescribed to patients across the country compared to 10 million in 2007.

Dr Bawa-Garba was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence following the death of Jack Adcock, a 6 year old child, who was admitted to Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) on 18 February 2011. He died later that day, in part because of failings in his treatment.

Findings of gross negligence manslaughter against health care professionals are rare and this case raised (not so rare) concerns about the relationship between personal culpability and systemic failures.