
Kent NHS trust apologises over ear, nose and throat delays
It said on Friday it found 8,849 patients waiting to be seen by ENT specialists whose referrals had not been correctly managed in line with NHS waiting time standards. First reported by the Health Service Journal, it is believed that some patients have waited up to five years for an appointment.The patients impacted are predominantly in the Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley, Bexley and Greenwich areas.
'Immediate action'
It is understood that when the referrals were first received, they were reviewed by a clinician and assessed as routine, meaning that no urgent concerns, such as cancer, were identified at the time.Jonathan Wade, interim chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust and chief executive of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, apologised for the delays."We have taken immediate action to ensure referrals to this service are correctly managed, with stronger oversight and improved systems in place," he added.Mr Wade said the hospitals were contacting patients to make arrangements for them to be seen as quickly as possible.

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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE New mom details shocking cost of giving birth in America
A new mom has shared the shockingly high cost of giving birth in America - and it's well over six figures. Emily Fisher, 36, from Columbus, Ohio, welcomed twin girls last month and was left stunned when she saw an insurance claim come through for her delivery that was over $10,000. Completely shocked by the immense figure, she decided to go back and total up all the bills she had received over the course of her pregnancy to determine just how much having a baby in the US really costs. And after adding everything up, Emily found that having her baby girls would have cost her a whopping $120,527.51 had she not had insurance. She shared her findings in a video shared to TikTok earlier this month and it quickly went viral, leaving thousands across the globe just as surprised as she was. 'So I am five weeks postpartum with twin girls and I've been seeing a lot of headlines recently about how the birth rate in America is declining and how concerning that is,' Emily began in the video. 'I thought to myself, I could think of a lot of reasons why the birth rate might be declining. First and foremost, cost. 'So I decided to take it upon myself and look at every bill that I received over the course of my pregnancy and total what it costs to deliver twins in America.' Emily explained that she is considered 'advanced maternal age' and was pregnant with 'dichorionic diamniotic twins' which made her pregnancy 'high risk.' In addition, about halfway through the pregnancy her doctor raised concerns about potential 'fetal growth restriction,' so from about 22 weeks on she had to have two appointments every week with her OBGYN and a maternal fetal medicine specialist to make sure the babies were healthy. 'So what was the total cost of that? From the start of my pregnancy through delivery and me walking out of those hospital doors, the total bill for my care was $120,527.51,' she said in the video. 'Now I am very fortunate great insurance and I have a low deductible so over the course of my pregnancy out of pocket I paid $2,038.70. 'I know that is relatively good but still, $2,000 for something that is considered necessary and vital to the future of America is pretty significant.' Emily added that on top of that, her newborns both received bills for their delivery. 'It's kind of funny, they're not even able to blink yet and they've already been billed more than the total cost of my student loans,' she continued. 'Baby A received a bill for $15,124.55 and Baby B was billed $14,875.55, I guess there was some sort of sibling discount. She added, 'The total cost I owed for those two bills was $750, which was the cost of my deductible.' The bills are seen above 'The total cost I owed for those two bills was $750, which was the cost of my deductible.' She then broke down what some of the highest costs were during the pregnancy. Unsurprisingly, the delivery itself and the hospital stay afterwards was the most costly expense. Emily explained that she had a scheduled C-section at 37 weeks and spent four days in the hospital post delivery, and the total cost of her care before insurance was $65,665.50. The second highest cost during the pregnancy was an appointment she had about seven months in, during which she complained to her doctor that she was having headaches. She said they took her blood pressure and it was slightly elevated, so they monitored the heart rate of the babies for 20 minutes to 'make sure they were okay.' She was then given 'two extra strength Tylenol' and they 'did some blood work.' 'The cost that was billed to my insurance for that visit was $9,115,' shared the new mom. 'All things considered, I'm very grateful for the experience that I had and very grateful to have great insurance, but I know that for a lot of people who live in America that is simply not possible,' she concluded. 'And if I did not have insurance delivery my two baby girls, I would not be able to afford it. 'In fact, I probably would have had to file bankruptcy had I not had insurance. So when people act confused why the birth rates are down, maybe it's not necessarily all attributed to lifestyle choices, maybe it's not because people aren't feeling the vibe of having kids, maybe it's because the cost of having a baby in America is over six figures.' While chatting with the Daily Mail about it, Emily, who used to work on the healthcare space, said she believes the insurance system in America 'needs a complete overhaul.' 'Given that the US is the one of (if not the only) developed nation in the world without some sort of universal healthcare, we're falling behind,' she said. 'People are spending too much on basic and necessary care. Medical debt is one of the number one reasons for bankruptcy in the US, and it shouldn't be that way. 'If we invested in a system that put the health its people first, everyone would be better off. 'And given the decline in birth rates, if our politicians are genuinely concerned about falling birth rates, they would be incentivizing people to have children. You shouldn't have to pay to give birth.' She added that while she was 'shocked' by the high number that her insurance was billed, she was 'not surprised at the same time.' 'The first thing that came to mind when I saw the total was, "How do people without insurance afford this?"' she shared. 'But I've always known that healthcare in America is a business. Ultimately, like most necessities in the US, privatized insurance is designed to make money.' She said she certainly wasn't expecting her video, which was viewed more than one million times, to get as much attention as it did, but she's so glad that it has sparked a conversation. 'I hope my video makes people think twice about having kids in America. Because until the system is redesigned to truly support the people, we shouldn't be buying into it,' she concluded. 'I'm fortunate to have good health coverage. I'm not on the hook for much as far as the cost of my pregnancy, but that is only the beginning for my family and what we'll pay to raise my kids. 'Now we have to think about things like paying for their health coverage, daycare, food, housing and college. 'All of these things are only getting more and more expensive and almost unreachable for people.'


The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
UnitedHealth falls short of second quarter expectations and offers weak outlook for 2025
UnitedHealth missed Wall Street's second-quarter earnings expectations and offered a new and conservative take on the rest of 2025. The health care giant said Tuesday that it expects rising medical costs, which have hurt the company and several rivals this year, to continue to pressure its performance. The insurer says it now expects adjusted earnings of at least $16 per share in2025 after withdrawing its previous forecast for the year in May. For the full year, analysts forecast earnings of $20.64 per share, according to the data firm FactSet. UnitedHealth Group Inc. runs one of the nation's largest health insurance and pharmacy benefits management businesses. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, company also operates a growing Optum business that provides care and technology support. In May, the company withdrew its 2025 forecast due to higher-than-expected medical costs and CEO Andrew Witty departed the company abruptly. He was replaced by Chairman Stephen Hemsley, who was the UnitedHealth CEO for more than a decade until 2017. Hemsley promised had said in June that UnitedHealth would establish a 'prudent' 2025 earnings outlook when it detailed second-quarter results. Hemsley also said then that the company had underestimated care activity and cost trends, but improvements were being made. In the second quarter, UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $4.08 per share on $111.6 billion in revenue. Analysts expected earnings of$4.48 per share on $111.5 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. UnitedHealth is normally the first health insurer to report earnings every quarter. But this summer, it followed competitors like Elevance Health Inc. and Centene Corp. that have lowered their annual forecasts and delivered disappointing results. Several insurers say they have been hit by medical costs that are rising faster than expected. Companies have seen a rise in expensive emergency rooms visits and growing prescription drug costs, especially from expensive cancer treatments and gene therapy. They've also seen a rise in behavioral health care, which includes the treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Shares slid about 4% before the opening bell Tuesday.


Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Philips cuts tariff impact estimate following US-EU deal, shares up 10%
July 29 (Reuters) - Dutch healthcare technology company Philips ( opens new tab slashed its estimated tariff impacton Tuesday after the United States and the European Union agreed a trade dealthat imposes a 15% rate on most goods imported from Europe. U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from the 27-nation EU bloc from August 1 in the absence of an agreement. The group, which sells products ranging from toothbrushes to medical imaging systems, said it expected an impact of 150 million to 200 million euros ($173 million to $232 million) from the tariffs this year, lower than the 250 million to 300 million euros it had previously estimated. Philips' Amsterdam-listed stock was the top performer on the pan-European STOXX index (.STOXX), opens new tab in early Tuesday trading, climbing 10% by 0930 GMT. Philips CEO Roy Jakobs told reporters that the U.S.-EU deal provided clarity, but Philips would continue to ask for an exemption from tariffs and other trade barriers for the healthcare sector, including in the U.S. and in China. China announced earlier this month it was restricting government purchases of medical devices from the EU that exceed 45 million yuan ($6.27 million) in value, in retaliation against Brussels' own curbs imposed in June. "We have localized 90% of what we sell in China to manufacture in China, so this is not something of significance to us," Jakobs said, adding that the Chinese market was slowly recovering. Philips also increased its core profit (EBITA) margin forecast to a range of 11.3% to 11.8% for the year, from the previous guidance of 10.8% to 11.3%. Chief Financial Officer Charlotte Hanneman told analysts that the company expects mid-single-digit growth and mid-teens margins beyond 2025, taking into account the impact of tariffs. Its second-quarter adjusted EBITA margin grew to 12.4%, beating analysts' average forecast of 9.9%, while sales were in line with market expectations at 4.3 billion euros. Philips operates through its Personal Health, Diagnosis & Treatment, and Connected Care segments. Its top selling products include image-guided and diagnostic systems, consumer electronics and appliances. The company's sleep and respiratory care products, part of its Connected Care segment, accounted for about 6% of its total sales in 2024. That is about half their pre-pandemic levels, following a 2021 recall of millions of breathing devices and ventilators used to treat sleep apnea. Philips said last April it had agreed to pay $1.1 billion, less than expected, in a settlement of personal injury cases in the United States related to the recall. It said it was committed to rebuilding its position in the market while resolving the effects of the recall. "We have strong momentum in the masks ... and we are working our way back into the markets that we are reentering", Jakobs told analyst on Tuesday. Its comparable order intake grew by 6% in the quarter, the company said, citing the impact of innovations including AI-enabled diagnostic systems. The group also said it had signed a long-term deal with the Indonesian Ministry of Health for its Azurion image-guided therapy system for cardiac, stroke and cancer care and expected a "sizable" impact on its revenues over time. ($1 = 0.8630 euros) ($1 = 7.1764 Chinese yuan renminbi)