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BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Rachel Reeves' spending review sets Wales' 2026 election scene
The spending review that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver this week isn't just a big deal in Westminster, it will also prepare the ground for next year's Senedd will tell UK government departments how much they will get to spend over the next three doing so, she will also reveal the funding available to the Welsh government that voters will elect next parts of the UK government have been negotiating with the Welsh government – which is responsible for the NHS, education and other big public services – has been doing something can raise money through taxes, but the vast majority of its budget comes in a grant from means the chancellor's decisions have a huge influence on what the Welsh government can and cannot Cardiff Bay, they await her statement with bated breath. For months, Welsh government officials have been busily working on their own spending review, making long-term plans for the years beyond say they are grappling with a "challenging fiscal outlook".In other words, they are not feeling so far they have lacked a crucial piece of information: How much money to expect from the UK might have heard of the Barnett formula - an obscure piece of mathematics that has a big impact on the UK government spends more on things that are devolved to Wales the formula triggers a top-up to Wales' looks likely the NHS will be prioritised by Reeves. Because health is devolved that would swell the Welsh government's cuts to other UK departments could drag Wales' budget back down again. The funding for the day-to-day running of public services, which pays for wages and administration costs, is likely to grow in this spending if lots of that is swallowed by health and defence, other parts of the government could will have to make trade-offs between these competing priorities. Tough choices are "unavoidable", says the respected think-tank the Institute for Fiscal outcome will be closely watched in Cardiff, where political parties will soon start writing manifestos for next year's about how to pay for the policies in those manifestos will depend on how much money is spat out by the Barnett Morgan says she has asked Sir Keir Starmer for extra funding to reduce hospital waiting times, which have grown to record-high levels recently, and for social housing. New railway stations for Wales Her government is also waiting to see if plans for five railway stations around Cardiff and Newport are will hope Reeves offers something to turn around Welsh Labour's poor performance in recent opinion poll ratings make the Labour landslide at last year's general election seem like a distant that time, Labour promised to form a government in Westminster that would work with the Labour government in spending review will be scrutinised as a crucial test of whether it is living up to that of that, Reeves won't just publish a load of spreadsheets that explain how taxpayers' money is divvyed will also set the terms of debate for a Welsh election in 11 months' time.
BBC News
05-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Opera singing helping people to manage their persistent pain
People living with a variety of health conditions are being taught techniques used by opera singers in an effort to manage their persistent Evans, 67, was referred to the Welsh National Opera (WNO) wellness programme due to pain and mobility issues caused by a heart attack, stroke and other Evans, from Powys, said the programme improved her physical health and made her "want to live again".The WNO said two-thirds of people who had taken part in the online course had described seeing improvements in their health. The programme, funded by the Welsh government, is a one-year pilot aimed at people living with persistent pain and covers a range of conditions including lower back pain and evaluation found that 67% of participants had experienced reduced pain and improved functionality, as well as emotional and mental benefits."We're thinking about how we're sitting and it improves the posture. It improves the breathing, because we do breathing exercises, then we do a vocal warm up in a fun way," said Ms Evans."You're making sounds and holding your mouth in a certain way whilst you do certain actions, you move on to the singing, and the singing is so fun. "The whole hour is fun. It's a break from the awfulness of your life. It's dramatically changed my life."Referrals to the WNO programme have predominantly come through pain management teams across Welsh health boards, but some people have also is estimated that the course saves the NHS in Wales more than £20 per person per hour, as it eliminates the need for health boards to set up their own programmes. Singing 'calms our nervous system' Owen Hughes, NHS Wales' national clinical lead for persistent pain during the one-year pilot, said: "Our current understanding of persistent and chronic pain is that it's partly due to the nervous system getting wound up so that it continues to send messages to the brain saying something something's wrong, long after the normal healing process has occurred. "What we know is that singing is brilliant at just calming the nervous system. There's a nerve called the vagus nerve, which runs through the diaphragm, which is a key muscle for breathing and singing. "When you're using the diaphragm that stimulates the vagus nerve, and that's what calms our nervous system." The breathing and singing sessions are led by professionally trained opera performers take part from home and they are not required to be on camera or have their microphone switched Kate Woolveridge, said: "It's a community on Zoom where they're all on mute, but they're all singing with somebody with shared experience. "We sing a song in Zulu, which nobody would have ever thought they'd be singing in Zulu, but it takes your head away from the pain you know when you're trying to concentrate loose and Zulu words your capacity for for noticing all the rest of the stuff, is lessened." The WNO said further funding would allow it to expand the offer of its wellness programme to benefit more people."Initially, it just started off as something to help people purely with their breathing, their lungs, their lung capacity, and potentially the benefits for mental health. "And then as you've gone along, you've seen how much more of a broader positive impact it can have," Ms Woolveridge said.A Welsh government spokesperson said: "The Welsh National Opera's 'Managing Persistent Pain' programme has helped to improve the physical and mental health, and overall quality of life to many people in Wales living with persistent pain. "It provides participants with skills, enabling them to manage their symptoms and take greater control of their own health and wellbeing."We continue to engage with WNO and the NHS Wales Executive to explore future opportunities for the programme as a valuable intervention method in our communities."
The Independent
19-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Doctors fear cancer patients missing out on correct care
Up to half of cancer patients in England and Wales are not receiving the correct treatment for their form of the disease, according to a body of senior doctors. The National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NatCan), which audits care across nine major cancer types, told the BBC prostate, kidney and colon cancers were the worst affected with large variations in care between hospitals. Among the figures shared with the BBC, NatCan said half of stage four renal cell carcinoma patients, who have seen their type of kidney cancer spread to other parts of the body, do not receive drug treatment. With cancer, we often hear people talking about what the next breakthrough is but, the fact remains, using what we have better could make a huge difference. Professor Ajay Aggarwal More than one third (34%) of stage three colon cancer patients do not receive chemotherapy within three months of surgery – a figure which rises above 60% in some hospitals. And 30% of high-risk prostrate cancer patients do not get surgery or radiotherapy. NatCan, which is run by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) for NHS England and the Welsh government, said the number of patients who are not well enough to be treated or not to receive treatment would not explain the variation between hospitals or number of those missing out. The body's clinical director Professor Ajay Aggarwal said reasons for the variations could include staffing and some services deciding older patients could not cope with treatment. He said: 'With cancer, we often hear people talking about what the next breakthrough is but, the fact remains, using what we have better could make a huge difference. It would extend and save lives.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the BBC: ' Patients should be able to access the cancer care they need regardless of where they live and we are committed to addressing health inequalities as we rebuild the NHS.' A spokeswoman for the Welsh government said the audit highlighted what areas needed addressing and that it was working with the NHS to 'plan, deliver, recover and improve cancer services'.
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Cancer patients not getting right care, say doctors
Senior doctors responsible for monitoring cancer care in England and Wales are concerned failings in NHS services are contributing to up to half of patients are not getting the right treatment for some evidence provided to the BBC, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NatCan) highlighted particular problems with prostate, kidney and colon expert group said it had found significant variation between hospitals and warned the problems accessing nationally-recommended treatments were putting lives at carries out audits across nine major cancers - responsible for 80% of cases - and has found shortfalls across a range of different cancer types and stages. Figures shared with the BBC show:30% of patients with high-risk prostate cancer do not get curative treatment with either surgery or radiotherapy, with performance varying between 20% and 43% across different services34% of stage three colon cancer cases do not get chemotherapy within three months of surgery – at some hospitals the numbers exceed 60%50% of stage four renal cell carcinoma patients, a type of kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, do not get drug treatment – with performance varying between 20% and 85%NatCan said while a minority of patients would be choosing not to have treatment themselves and others may not be well enough, that could not fully explain the scale of the shortfall or variation between in both nations say improving services is a key priority and England is in the process of drawing up a new cancer strategy, which ministers say will revolutionise services. 'I was lucky' Ian Pattison's case highlights the value of getting the right treatment. He was diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer in 2020, at the age of had started spreading to nearby organs and he was offered the nationally-recommended treatment of hormone therapy and radiotherapy for his particular type of said the treatment was brutal but, now aged 70, his cancer is in remission and he is enjoying Pattison, from Durham, said: "I was lucky that I live close to a specialist cancer centre in Newcastle where I could get the best treatment."It was hard going through it all and coping with the side effects but I am so thankful I got the treatment."I feel fit and well. I love walking, spending time with my family and looking after the grandchildren." Huge difference But Prof Ajay Aggarwal, clinical director at NatCan, which is run by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) for NHS England and the Welsh government, said it was concerning so many patients were not getting the recommended treatment, adding that the variation was hard to understand."We need to do better," he said. "With cancer, we often hear people talking about what the next breakthrough is but, the fact remains, using what we have better could make a huge difference. It would extend and save lives."Prof Aggarwal said there were likely to be several reasons for the problems and variation, including some services unfairly assuming older patients could not cope with treatment, as well as problems with staffing and said there was evidence of smaller hospitals not always referring patients on to specialist centres where they can get treatment but added that even some of the big centres were coming up short for some the problems, he added, were not uniform with treatment rates for some cancer types much president Tim Mitchell said echoed the concerns, saying: "The NHS has access to world-class cancer treatments and care, but inconsistent delivery means far too many patients miss out. "At worst, this may mean some patients are needlessly dying or in unnecessary pain." Staggering And cancer charities said tacking the failings was arguably more important than reducing waiting Byrne, from Macmillan Cancer Support, said the findings were "quite staggering", adding that tackling the variation should be the "number one priority" in the forthcoming national cancer strategy."Getting the best care to give you the greatest chance of survival should not come down to which hospital you attend or where you live in the country," she Byrne said patients should get the right care for their particular type of cancer, no matter where they are. "We are concerned that people from deprived, rural or ethnically diverse communities could be losing out in particular," she Rylance, from Prostate Cancer UK, said patients were effectively being denied their "best chance of a cure", adding: "This needs to change now."NHS England cancer director Prof Peter Johnson said: "We know that patients' experience of cancer treatment does vary too often – and we are working hard to address this."And a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Patients should be able to access the cancer care they need regardless of where they live and we are committed to addressing health inequalities as we rebuild the NHS."A new cancer strategy is expected to be published in the second half of the year, which Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said will revolutionise services.A Welsh government spokeswoman said it was working with the NHS to "plan, deliver, recover and improve cancer services".She said the audit highlighted areas where further work was needed.
