Health and care sector latest developments

Welfare bill to be left out of King’s Speech

The government has confirmed that the welfare reform legislation will not be included in the King’s Speech after Labour MPs strongly opposed earlier plans to restrict some health-related benefits.

BBC News reports that ministers said they are instead focusing on ongoing reviews and targeted support measures before introducing further reforms.

A government source said the current welfare system is “not fit for purpose” and insisted they remain “determined to change it and spread opportunity as the best way to tackle welfare dependency”. 

However, any larger welfare reforms are unlikely to reach parliament before 2027.

More than 6,000 children treated at NHS obesity clinics

New NHS England data reveals that over 6,500 children, some as young as four, have required specialist treatment at obesity clinics since 2021, with the youngest patients weighing on average the same as a typical ten-year-old.

According to The Guardian, research presented at the European Congress on Obesity found alarming rates of associated conditions among those treated, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, with around one in eleven having deliberately self-harmed.

Health experts are calling for urgent government action to restrict junk food sales and make healthier options more affordable, warning that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds face the greatest risk of chronic illness and a shortened lifespan.

Government announces funding for ME/CFS genomic study

The government has announced funding for a new genomic study into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Supported with £4.75 million of funding, 6,000 ME/CFS patients will have their genomes sequenced, generating a genetic map of the illness.

Researchers hope that this will unlock the biological causes of the condition, allowing for better diagnostics and new treatments.

Health innovation and safety minister Dr Zubir Ahmed said that British scientists "are leading the world in genomic research, and this investment puts them at the cutting edge of a challenge that affects hundreds of thousands of people in this country."

Charity director to chair trust

An acute trust will be chaired by a charity leader who grew up locally.

Sherwood Forest Foundation Trust, in the East Midlands, announced Rukshana Kapasi would be its chair from 6 July.

Ms Kapasi has been the director of health at the Barnardo’s children’s charity since 2020. The charity’s work focuses on inequalities, including in health. Ms Kapasi has previously worked in a range of commissioning, clinical, senior leadership and board-level roles.

She said of her appointment: “I grew up in this local community and, like so many of our patients, I have seen first-hand the vital role our hospitals play in our lives. This personal connection drives my deep commitment…

“I am looking forward to leading a strong board team that fosters transformational thinking and an open and inclusive culture.”

Ms Kapasi is also a non-executive director at Hertfordshire Community Trust and has been on its board since 2021.

Ministerial resignations

The Prime Minister continues to defy calls for him to resign.

The number of MPs who have publicly urged Sir Keir Starmer to go is at 88, after James Asser, Karl Turner, and Rebecca Long Bailey joined the ranks of disgruntled backbenchers.

The four ministers who've now declared their lack of confidence in Starmer.

Devolution minister Miatta Fahnbulleh was first to leave her post, citing ‘mistakes’ on PIP and winter fuel payments as proof that Labour hasn't acted ‘with the vision, pace, and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us’.

She was followed by victims minister Alex Davies-Jones and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, Sky News reports.

Davies-Jones, who's been ‘staunchly loyal’ until today, referenced last week's election results when she told the Prime Minister that "the country has spoken and we must listen".

Phillips was especially critical, accusing Starmer of blocking action to stop children being able to take naked images of themselves: "It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten."

Health innovation and safety minister Zubir Ahmed followed late this afternoon, arguing in a letter posted by Pippa Crerar, Political Editor at The Guardian, that Labour’s ‘individual achievements and progress’ have been ‘dwarfed and undermined by a lack of values-driven leadership at the centre’.

It is also reported that David Burton-Sampson has taken up the role of parliamentary private secretary for health, following Joe Morris’s resignation yesterday.

Starmer remains determined to ‘fight on’ as Prime Minister, telling today's Cabinet meeting "the Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered."

Kitty Donaldson, chief political commentator at the i Paper, concluded a direct challenge to Starmer seemed unlikely. Not only were Liz Kendall, Steve Reed, and Peter Kyle all quick to offer on-camera support, stressing that the meeting focused on cost-of-living pressures and war in the Middle East, but Catherine West's "email nonsense" yesterday seems to have been no "serious, organised stalking horse".

PA Media reported this afternoon that over 100 Labour MPs had signed a statement backing the Prime Minister and urging their colleagues to start "working together".

In The Times, transport secretary Heidi Alexander has also denied reports she was backing plans for Andy Burnham to return to parliament, writing on X that the Prime Minister has her ‘full support’ and ‘the only trains I’ve ever spoken to Andy about are those which will run on Northern Powerhouse Rail’.

As for Wes Streeting's potential leadership bid, BBC News reports he ‘didn't rise to the Prime Minister's bait’ at the cabinet meeting this morning.