Denis Campbell

London

Health Policy Editor at The Guardian

Health Policy Editor at The Observer

Guardian and Observer health writer. [email protected]

Articles

Overseas-trained dentists working in McDonald’s as millions lack NHS care

2 days ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

Overseas-trained dentists are working in McDonald’s and other takeaways in the UK even though millions of patients are finding it impossible to get NHS dental care. The disclosure comes in a new report being sent to MPs on Wednesday, which urges ministers to slash bureaucracy stopping dentists from abroad plugging the huge gaps in NHS dental care.
NHS staff unsettled by patients filming care and posting videos on social media

3 days ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

NHS staff have voiced concern about the growing numbers of patients who are filming themselves undergoing medical treatment and uploading it to TikTok and Instagram. Radiographers, who take X-rays and scans, fear the trend could compromise the privacy of other patients being treated nearby and lead to staff having their work discussed online.
Senior health figure accuses NHS of racism over care given to dying mother

6 days ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

A senior figure in the health service has criticised it for deep-seated racism after his mother “got a black service, not an NHS service” before she died. Victor Adebowale, the chair of the NHS Confederation, claimed his mother Grace’s lung cancer went undiagnosed because black people get “disproportionately poor” health service care.
Thousands harmed and 87 dead after NHS equipment failures in England

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Michael Goodier |Denis Campbell

Almost 100 people have died and 4,000 have been harmed after equipment malfunctions in the NHS in the past three years, prompting calls for more government funding to upgrade broken and obsolete medical devices. A defibrillator advising paramedics not to administer a shock, an emergency alarm system on a neonatal ward failing, and the camera on an intubation device going dark were just three failures after which patients died.
Woman suing NHS trust after blade broke off during surgery and lodged itself in her body

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

Jane Harvey* suffered horrendous physical and mental consequences when, during an abdominal hysterectomy in October 2023, the tip of one of the surgeon’s blades broke off and lodged inside her without any of the operating theatre staff noticing or an X-ray spotting it. As a result the 44-year-old had to undergo further surgery to remove the mislaid blade part and stay in hospital longer than planned, needed extra time to recover and suffered nightmares, panic attacks and loss of appetite.
Senior medics in England say more resident doctor strikes would be futile

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

Six senior figures in England’s medical profession have criticised potential strikes by resident doctors as “a futile gesture” that will harm patients and help those who oppose the NHS. The move is the first public evidence of the significant unease many senior doctors feel about the possibility of their junior colleagues staging a new campaign of industrial action in England.
UK supermarkets exploit tax loophole to produce cider at ‘pocket-money prices’

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

Supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl are exploiting a tax loophole to produce and sell cheap cider that harms health and causes social problems, alcohol campaigners have claimed. Over recent years, ciders – sometimes containing as much as 7.5% alcohol – have become cheaper or barely risen in price, despite the cost of beer, wine and spirits soaring, according to research by Alcohol Change UK.
UK supermarkets exploit tax loophole to produce cider at ‘pocket-money prices’

1 week ago | buff.ly | Denis Campbell

Supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl are exploiting a tax loophole to produce and sell cheap cider that harms health and causes social problems, alcohol campaigners have claimed. Over recent years, ciders – sometimes containing as much as 7.5% alcohol – have become cheaper or barely risen in price, despite the cost of beer, wine and spirits soaring, according to research by Alcohol Change UK.
NHS England to give urgent help away from A&E to cut ‘corridor care’

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

Hundreds of thousands of patients needing urgent medical help will be treated in settings other than A&E as part of a drive to cut “corridor care” and avoid another NHS winter crisis. The move is a central plank of a government plan to improve urgent and emergency care in England, tackle the long delays many patients face in A&E and banish overcrowding in hospitals.
People with cancer face ‘ticking timebomb’ due to NHS staff shortages

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Denis Campbell

People with cancer face a “ticking timebomb” of delays in getting diagnosed and treated because the NHS is too short-staffed to provide prompt care, senior doctors have warned. An NHS-wide shortage of radiologists and oncologists means patients are enduring long waits to have surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy and have a consultant review their care.