Latest news with #TheaStein
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
Tees, Esk and Wear NHS ADHD assessment wait times of 618 days
Adults are waiting on average 618 days for an ADHD assessment at an NHS figures for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV) were released in a response to a Freedom of Information trust said waiting times could vary depending upon a number of factors, including whether individuals had an existing mental health diagnosis, while the local NHS care board said there had been a "major increase" in the demand for ADHD assessments and support services over the last few years.A man from Spennymoor, who wished to remain anonymous, said his wait for assessment had "added to the issues that ADHD already causes". He said: "My relationship has fallen apart, my career is also failing and I'm constantly stressed."After an initial GP phone appointment I was seen quite quickly by a mental health specialist who then put me on the waiting list at TEWV."In the nearly three years since, I have received two phone calls to simply say I was still on the list and they couldn't tell me how much longer I will be waiting."The Freedom of Information request asked how long, on average, an adult undergoing assessment for ADHD by TWEV have been waiting for that assessment on 11 June 2025. 'Eight-year wait' Thea Stein, chief executive of health think tank the Nuffield Trust, said the reasons for the significant increase for ADHD assessments nationally and internationally "remain unclear".She thinks many adults had their symptoms missed as children and now they are presenting themselves for tests."Waiting times for NHS services are increasing across the country with waits of up to four years for children and up to eight years for adults."Often [a diagnosis] can help people 'make sense' of the difficulties they've faced, allow them to find the right type of support, and live better lives overall," she NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board said it recognised that "too many adults in our region are waiting too long".A spokesperson said: "We have seen a major increase in the demand for ADHD assessments and support services over the past few years. "These services require a workforce with specialist skills and knowledge, which will take time to increase in order to meet demand. "This is not just an issue in the North East and North Cumbria, but nationally." Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Plan to increase access to NHS dentists in England ‘a complete failure', MPs say
The official plan to increase access to NHS dental services in England has been a 'complete failure', and some of the government's initiatives have worsened the crisis, a damning report warns. Millions of patients continue to be denied dental care, forcing them to pay for private treatment, build up mountains of credit card debt, or even worse perform dangerous DIY dentistry on their own teeth, the research by MPs found. Without immediate and significant changes to fix the 'broken' system, there would be no future for population-wide access to NHS dentistry, the report by the public accounts committee (PAC) said. 'This country is now years deep in an avalanche of harrowing stories of the impact of dentistry's system failure,' said Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the committee. 'It is utterly disgraceful that, in the 21st century, some Britons have been forced to remove their own teeth.' He added: 'Last year's dental recovery plan was supposed to address these problems, something our report has found it has signally failed to do. Almost unbelievably, the government's initiatives appear to have actually resulted in worsening the picture, with fewer new patients seen since the plan's introduction.' The blueprint to save NHS dentistry was launched by the Conservative government in February 2024, with a promise that it would fund more than 1.5m additional NHS treatments or 2.5m appointments. This included a new patient premium (NPP), with dental practices receiving credits for each eligible new patient they saw, a 'golden hello' recruitment scheme that introduced £20,000 incentive payments for dentists, and mobile dental vans targeting communities. But the committee found the NPP, which has cost at least £88m since it was introduced last March, had resulted in the crisis getting worse, with 3% fewer new patients seeing an NHS dentist. The 'golden hello' scheme had appointed fewer than 20% of the expected 240 dentists by February 2025, the PAC report added, and mobile dental vans had been dropped altogether. MPs said current funding and contractual arrangements would only cover about half of England's population to see an NHS dentist over a two-year period 'at best'. They found that just 40% of adults saw an NHS dentist in the two years to March 2024, compared with 49% in the two years before the Covid-19 pandemic. They also highlighted the 'discrepancy' between what a dentist could earn doing NHS work and private work, which their report described as a 'fundamental issue for improving access'. According to the report, there were 34,520 dentists registered to provide services in England in April 2023, with 24,193 offering some NHS care in 2023-24. But the PAC said that without proper remuneration, more dentists would move exclusively to the private sector. Thea Stein, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, a health thinktank, said: 'We warned more than a year ago that NHS dentistry in England had fallen apart as a universal service, and small tweaks could not bring it back. 'This report today from the PAC confirms the worst, with little to show or even steps backwards.' Shiv Pabary, the chair of the British Dental Association's general dental practice committee, said: 'MPs have arrived at an inescapable conclusion, that tweaks at the margins have not and will not save NHS dentistry.' The Department of Health and Social Care said the Labour government had 'inherited a broken NHS dental sector' and was working to fix it with a new plan.
Telegraph
20-02-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
More than half of Gen Z NHS staff say work stress has made them sick
Thea Stein, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said the findings 'raise real concerns around the NHS's ability to retain its youngest workers'. 'The traditionally tough start faced by the youngest staff has got even tougher over the past decade, with Gen Z NHS workers now having to manage exams, early career demands and learning the job in potentially overstretched services alongside escalating cost of living pressures,' she said. 'Our findings raise real concerns around the NHS's ability to retain its youngest workers, who are just at the start of their careers but are increasingly unhappy. 'The future of the health service depends on these workers. 'It is vital policy-makers and employers now act on what the NHS's own staff poll shows us about what the next generation of clinicians need to stay and thrive in the NHS.' The Government said it will review the NHS workforce plan published in 2023, which set out plans to increase the number of staff and training places. The research revealed that all age groups were doing less unpaid overtime than a decade ago, with ages 21-30 more likely to be taking on paid overtime because of 'financial pressures'. It found that 30 per cent of younger workers were doing six hours or more paid overtime each week compared with 20 per cent in 2013, but the researchers said younger people have always been more likely to do paid overtime than unpaid, compared with their older colleagues. The authors said: 'We did not find evidence to suggest that this is the result of a generational change in Gen Z's expectations around working.' The Nuffield Trust authors concluded that the impact of stress 'on younger staff requires urgent investigation, both to ensure those staff are supported, and to prevent concerns over stress becoming a barrier to engaging the workforce of the future'. Nicola Ranger, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor, said: 'These findings are a ticking time bomb for the NHS. Young nursing staff are the future of the workforce, but those at the start of their careers are the most unhappy. 'A new nurse today is likely to face extreme pressure in severely understaffed services, with stagnant pay and little prospect of progression. 'In these conditions, it is little wonder so many feel undervalued and overworked. 'The number of people leaving within the first years of their career has skyrocketed, while applications to study nursing are in collapse.' An NHS spokesperson said: 'NHS organisations have done a huge amount to improve the working environment for staff over the past couple of years and our staff retention levels are among the highest in over a decade – with a reduction in sickness and absence rates and an improvement in productivity. 'The NHS is fully committed to ensuring staff get the support they need, and the health service is now offering more flexible working options than ever before, as well as a range of mental health support available for staff, including access to coaching and wellbeing resources.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'NHS staff have been overworked for years and we understand the stress and moral injury that comes from working within a broken system. 'Through our Plan for Change we are turning the NHS around and giving staff the tools they need to deliver the best possible care for patients.'
The Guardian
20-02-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Dissatisfaction among gen Z staff is ‘ticking timebomb' for NHS
The NHS in England is facing a 'ticking timebomb' when it comes to retaining young staff, nursing leaders have warned, after new analysis showed its generation Z workers are becoming more stressed and unhappy over time. A new report by the Nuffield Trust shows soaring dissatisfaction rates among staff in the health service's youngest cohort, aged 21 to 30 – based on analysis of NHS surveys. Researchers found that, between 2013 and 2023, stress levels in clinical staff aged 21 to 30 rose by 14 percentage points. In 2023, more than half (52%) said they had been made unwell through work-related stress in the previous year, compared with 38% in 2013. But the proportion of older NHS workers – aged between 51 and 65 – who had become ill for the same reason decreased across the same period, dropping from 43% to 40%. The report also found that the proportion of young NHS staff unhappy with their salary has doubled, from 10% in 2013 to 22% in 2023. But in older staff, there has been a much smaller increase, from 11% in 2013 to 12% in 2023. Prof Nicola Ranger, the chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said that the findings were a 'ticking timebomb' for the NHS. She added: 'Young nursing staff are the future of the workforce, but those at the start of their careers are the most unhappy. 'A new nurse today is likely to face extreme pressure in severely understaffed services, with stagnant pay and little prospect of progression. In these conditions, it is little wonder so many feel undervalued and overworked. 'The number of people leaving within the first years of their career has skyrocketed, while applications to study nursing are in collapse. Ministers need to realise you cannot fix a broken NHS without making nursing a more attractive career, starting with a proper pay rise and new investment to grow the workforce. 'That's how you support staff to deliver care the way they want to, and improve job satisfaction.' Thea Stein, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said the findings showed that the 'traditionally tough start faced by the youngest staff has got even tougher over the past decade'. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She added: 'Gen Z NHS workers are now having to manage exams, early career demands and learning the job in potentially overstretched services alongside escalating cost of living pressures. Our findings raise real concerns around the NHS's ability to retain its youngest workers, who are just at the start of their careers but are increasingly unhappy. 'The future of the health service depends on these workers. It is vital policymakers and employers now act on what the NHS's own staff poll shows us about what the next generation of clinicians need to stay and thrive in the NHS.' An NHS spokesperson said: 'NHS organisations have done a huge amount to improve the working environment for staff over the past couple of years and our staff retention levels are among the highest in over a decade – with a reduction in sickness and absence rates and an improvement in productivity. 'The NHS is fully committed to ensuring staff get the support they need, and the health service is now offering more flexible working options than ever before, as well as a range of mental health support available for staff, including access to coaching and wellbeing resources.'
