Health Editor at The Sunday Times. National Press Awards Health Journalist of the Year 2023. Chair of @mjauk. Public interest journalism matters #E17
shaun.lintern@sundaytimes.co.u
- Tweets 131,090
- Following 5,427
- Followers 85,733
- Likes 12,133
Pinned Tweet
🚨 Donna Ockenden says midwives should train first as nurses as she warns of concerns across England.
Next week Baroness Amos WILL call for a review of education & a National Maternity Comissioner to oversee a redesign of maternity services
READ:thetimes.com/article/5cf0b30…
99
169
483
228,941
Goodness the scenes from Germany with people holding signs at train stations for how many #ukraine refugees they can host in their own home. That has got me. What good, decent people.
245
2,201
21,832
Boris Johnson just essentially admitted the NHS is going to be battered in the coming weeks but his view is we "just need to get through it".
But not everyone will make it, some will die either from Covid or other mistakes and NHS staff will be broken, some permanently so.
1,102
3,870
15,345
If I hear one more person talk about "if" there is unsustainable pressure on the NHS I am going to lose it.
The NHS has been in the grip of a crisis, cancelling cancer ops and leaving 999 callers waiting on hold for up to 10 minutes for literally months now.
217
3,085
11,725
"We don't believe the pressures on the NHS are unsustainable" says @sajidjavid...
Mate, you've literally had to call in the military to help the NHS to cope.
224
2,429
10,882
Exclusive: Chief nurse @CNOEngland was dropped from No.10 coronavirus briefings after refusing to back Dominic Cummings independent.co.uk/news/uk/po…
447
5,404
9,769
More than a decade ago I was rejected for the job of health correspondent on the local paper I was working for. It crushed me at the time.
Tonight I've changed my twitter profile to Health Editor @thesundaytimes. To all young journos out there, keep going.
208
336
7,703
BBC news this morning saying NHS intensive care units have coped. That is not true.
NHS has coped because tens of thousands of operations have been cancelled and those areas turned into makeshift ICUs with stretched staffing ratios amd machines. We need to be honest about this
227
2,490
6,518
🚨 It's crazy that the NHS has told 350 doctors training in anaesthesia that the NHS has no job for them after 3 years training.
At the same time we have massive shortages of, you guessed it, anaesthetists. These self-defeating bottlenecks defy logic. Statement from @RCoANews
240
3,163
6,532
2,004,660
For a @10DowningStreet spokesman to deny the NHS is in crisis today is objectively bullshit of the worst kind. You can argue about funding and policy but let's not start dismissing people's actual avoidable deaths and horrible experiences waiting for care.
175
1,790
5,795
491,622
Just so I have this clear in my own mind...the Govt has relentlessly pushed the narrative of no need for more restrictions and yet the NHS is building makeshift field hospitals in its car parks 🤷♂️
Leeds Hospital to host one of the first 'Nightingale hubs' based in a car park at St James's Hospital. NHS wants space for up to 4k extra beds nationally...but who will staff these beds?
251
1,769
4,893
I'm seeing an emerging narrative that the NHS has coped. It definitely hasn't for too many patients and we shouldn't gloss over that. The NHS doesn't implode, it just fails many more individuals and their experience is missed at the system view level.
171
1,161
4,744
I'm white, English and grew up in Stoke. To everyone who doesn't look like me, whatever your religion, born here or not. I love that we share our country with each other. And I think most people believe the same. That's it really.
727
482
4,488
269,571
Health secretary @sajidjavid has pulled out of speaking to GPs at their annual conference this morning, on the day the Govt and NHS publish its GP 'rescue plan' #RCGPAC
360
1,449
4,480
The King has been diagnosed with an incidental cancer following what on the NHS would have been an elective op.
Waits are now so big in England, approx 27k people will have an incidental cancer like him but won't know yet as they've not been seen. Scary. thetimes.co.uk/article/70fb6…
109
1,287
4,414
553,132
Wes Streeting calls you and asks for *tangible* ideas he can implement to help NHS improve performance. But there's no extra money for big spending. What's your one idea? #FantasyNHS
I'll start - staff passports across regions to free up pointless mandatory training time.
1,840
482
4,352
941,571
Based on the PMs statement in the Commons I don't see how the @metpoliceuk can not investigate this party.
111
665
3,958
I really do worry people have forgotten what Covid-19 was like for NHS staff. I went onto ICU wards and saw it myself. I spoke to staff broken by relentless death.
@Kevin_Fong testimony @covidinquiryuk needs to be heard:
222
925
4,215
289,696
Yikes. 170 patients in A&E, 90 waiting to be seen - wait time to see a doctor 7.5 hours - This is what @sajidjavid 'health week' should be focused on solving #NHSemergencycrisis
226
1,367
3,858
36 ambulances were stacked outside @NNUH last night with crews forced to swap oxygen cylinders with each other as they ran out because some patients were stuck many hours in the back of ambulances:
232
2,123
3,649
905,345
Tonight @TheSundayTimes will reveal a concerning public interest story after an investigation by myself.
For the first time, most of my tweets this weekend have been checked by our lawyers…so at least there will be fewer typos!!
222
393
3,473
We are about to experience a winter in the NHS where a lot of chickens will come home to roost.
Nursing shortages. Bed shortages. Collapse of community nursing services. Care home crisis. GP shortages.
Strap in.
167
929
3,306
Have you ever wondered what the collapse of the NHS would actually look like? It's in the small things - my latest @Independent newsletter: link.e.independent.co.uk/vie…
163
2,098
3,291
.@sajidjavid says Covid deaths remain "mercifully low" - there were 954 deaths in the past week alone. #COVID19
193
936
3,081
Matt Hancock and partner were at Downing Street wine and cheese party...On the same day he told a press conference people should not socialise outside:
thetimes.co.uk/article/3846a…
88
1,294
2,896
Sunak tells MPs Govt accepted recommendations of pay review bodies "in full".
Erm, not on junior doctors it didn't. Pay review body recommended a higher level of pay than planned in a multi-year deal. Instead Govt stuck with 2% pay rise.
Ballot of junior drs underway now. #PMQs
59
970
2,730
344,862
BREAKING: A very serious situation at hospitals across Lincolnshire tonight as @ULHT_News declares a 'critical incident' over "extreme and unprecedented" staff shortages. It says it is "unable to maintain safe staffing levels" leading to "compromised care" across its sites:
293
1,994
2,835
From next week, soldiers will be deployed to several of England's ambulance services after a military aid request to @DefenceHQ by @DHSCgovuk - I say again for the NHS to be here in August is hugely worrying.
NHS summer crisis: Hospital suspends inpatient surgery for 3 weeks due to crowded A&E independent.co.uk/news/healt…
107
1,521
2,591
It's the demeaning of Number 10 that gets me. The seat of Govt. Working there should be a privilege and come with a weight you feel everytime you walk through the black door.
But under Johnson - who sets the tone like any leader - it's all just a laugh. A frat house. No respect.
56
386
2,494
The NHS will pay the King’s duchy £11m over 15 years to rent a warehouse for ambulances...it is being charged 67% more than the previous tenants paid.
Great reporting from Sunday Times Insight team @Arbuthnott @JCalvertST @KatieTarrant_ @thetimes
🔺EXCLUSIVE: King Charles and his eldest son make millions from feudal levies on schools, hospitals, homeowners and the very charities they represent, a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and @C4Dispatches reveals today thetimes.com/uk/royal-family…
120
1,213
2,686
757,390
All of England's ambulance services now at REAP level 4 - equivalent to 'black alert' - amid heatwave pressures and massive delays outside hospitals. Data I've seen suggests some trusts have only a handful of crews to respond to hundreds of waiting incidents. #nhsummercrisis2
93
1,666
2,515
.@NHSEngland has had to write off £13million after the beds it bought for the Nightingale hospitals can't be used in existing NHS wards
thetimes.co.uk/article/0cb64…
344
1,760
2,516
I mean...if only he had been health secretary when Tom Kark KC published his report into regulation of NHS managers...oh wait
68
799
2,510
302,314
Please don't wait to be vaccinated. Covid has finally touched my extended family and a light in our lives has gone out. RIP Kaye.x
Over the past 18 months I've said many times how awful Coronavirus is. But I'm feeling some special level hatred for it today. #GetVaccinated
362
314
2,556
"The PMs attempts to reassure the public that the NHS is not being overwhelmed does not chime with the experience of staff up and down the country who are facing fast rising hospital admissions" says @FRSAMatthew
40
602
2,425
BREAKING: All hospitals in England told to take "immediate steps" to find extra space for patients so that no ambulance waits longer than 30mins. This must be done despite the extra burden on hospital staff, say NHS chiefs.
720
1,332
2,340
🚨 A little news...
I'm delighted to be joining @thesundaytimes as Health Editor from 1 Dec.
I'll be continuing it's great tradition of investigative journalism, in what is a big job at an important time for healthcare, the NHS and patient safety.
400
99
2,343
If you're having a suspected heart attack or stroke, on avg based on December's data, it will take an hour and half for paramedics to get you. 10% will wait 3 hours and 30 minutes. Absolute disaster for anyone falling ill or having a serious injury in Britain.
133
818
2,225
496,948
This idea we can have a month long lockdown to "pay" for Christmas with families should be a non-starter.
I really want Christmas with my parents. But they might "pay" for it with their lives. A lockdown to prevent more deaths later wont help me or my dead parents.
98
334
2,136
I know this is going to go down like a bag of sick but pausing the end of lockdown on 19th isn't going to stop the summer wave of Covid is it? So when do we start talking about more restrictions? Or are we seriously just going to let the NHS collapse and "the bodies pile high?"
180
418
2,098
Thousands of people could be dying waiting for ambulances or because of long waits on trolleys in A&E. While @sajidjavid talks about elective backlogs, emergency care in the NHS is collapsing. Today's @thesundaytimes report here:
104
1,227
2,088
4k @thecsp physiotherapists are striking today. They were there during Covid drafted onto ICU wards to prone patients. They ensure people recover faster and get back to their life sooner. They keep patients out of hospital. People like me don't write nearly enough about them.
54
556
2,183
219,103
At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, a fox fell through the roof into recovery.
One way to beat the A&E queue I suppose.
72
200
2,161
184,876
🚨 Exclusive: Hospitals across the country are reporting shortages of portable oxygen cylinders as the sheer number of patients in "grossly overcrowded" A&Es has soared:
thetimes.co.uk/article/d55b3…
118
1,218
2,004
1,327,803
If junior doctors vote to strike (many think it inevitable) @TheBMA says they will walk out for 72 hours and will include emergency care - this is a significant move that will put huge strain on NHS services. Consultants will cover, but marks a major escalation in pay disputes.
80
414
1,967
293,616
Amanda Pritchard telling @CommonsHealth that the NHS was "not overwhelmed" during Covid will jar with many clinicians who actually witnessed what happened on wards I think.
124
414
1,871
What this story tells us is what we maybe knew all along - the #dailybriefings have become a charade and we are so far from "following the science" now that perhaps we need to re-think the daily spin session they've become?
77
479
1,914
A spokesperson for Moorfields Eye Hospital said:
“There is very little evidence to suggest that #Covid19 can affect eyesight. Cases where Covid-19 is recorded alongside an impact on eyesight are rare, so we cannot establish a direct causal effect."
50
610
1,838
It was around this time last year that the mgs started to come in to me from paramedics and hospital staff about how serious the situation was for the NHS in their area. They were concerned the public were being misled and told it was all ok. The staff were proven right sadly.
32
401
1,783
🚨 BREAKING: @nottmhospitals has tonight declared a critical incident with 220 people in its A&E and 120 waiting to be admitted. Patients are in ambulances who cannot be safely off loaded:
187
1,087
1,830
1,206,170
Many of the NHS staff I've spoken to over the past 18 months are in my thoughts. They've faced waves of a pandemic, followed by a summer crisis, and now a new wave. Their leave is being cancelled, they're being redeployed & staff to patient ratios stretched to unsafe levels again
35
363
1,769
Some of the coverage of #JuniorDoctorsStrike today seems unfair in claiming @BMA_JuniorDocs are refusing to budge from 35% pay rise demand. The BMA said before the strike that what they wanted was a "credible offer" and 35% was a starting point.
So where is the counter offer?
78
429
1,779
286,121
I honestly dont understand how ministers can stand at Downing St briefings and present a completely false impression that the NHS is coping. The army has been called in to staff wards, cancer ops delayed, transplants delayed, 200k waiting over a year. This isn't coping #COVID19
Exclusive: NHS calls in military to help shore up understaffed intensive care wards independent.co.uk/news/healt…
71
699
1,717
I'm so relieved that Omicron doesn't spread in restaurants and pubs 🙄
New measures are being introduced as a precaution to slow down the spread of the #OmicronVariant of #COVID19:
➡️Face coverings in shops & on public transport
➡️PCR tests for international arrivals
➡️Self-isolation for contacts of suspected Omicron cases
More info 🔽
117
299
1,662
For the Covid denialists...this is not normal. Never in 10 years of reporting on growing NHS pressures, have I seen hospitals warning about oxygen supplies for sick patients.
Exclusive: London faces ‘ticking time bomb’ over oxygen supplies as a second major hospital issues warning to staff independent.co.uk/news/healt…
35
577
1,670
You cost hardworking people thousands in higher mortgage payments during a cost of living crisis and nearly collapsed the pound and pension sector.
Get. In. The. Bin.
I have written for the Sunday @Telegraph about what happened during my time in Downing Street and the lessons I have learned… 👇🏻
‘I assumed upon entering Downing Street my mandate would be respected. How wrong I was’
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…
26
207
1,686
187,490
Why is the NHS workforce so angry? Why is med twitter so toxic and lashing out? Why is goodwill and discretionary effort in freefall? Because of crap like this.
Just had my rota through for the next 8 months. Despite me giving over one year's notice, they have rostered me to work 9AM-9PM on the weekend of my wedding 🙃
96
358
1,730
514,051
Oliver Dowden just said "testing has been available to care homes right from the very beginning"
That is not true.
61
597
1,623
This is a brilliant achievement by the NHS. The lesson here...give the NHS the resources it needs and it will get the job done.
UK vaccinates 15 million people independent.co.uk/news/uk/po…
52
408
1,629
🚨Breaking: Junior doctors in Scotland win major pay deal from Scottish Government - equivalent to 17.5% over two years. BMA has suspended its strike action to consult members on the deal:
41
505
1,601
534,735
Michelle Mone's husband admits he has financial interest in PPE firm which won £200m deal. Story by @DipeshGadher
thetimes.co.uk/article/2c21f…
84
873
1,451
Leeds Hospital to host one of the first 'Nightingale hubs' based in a car park at St James's Hospital. NHS wants space for up to 4k extra beds nationally...but who will staff these beds?
195
477
1,496
Your regular reminder that the NHS in England last met the target to see and treat 92% of patients within 18 weeks in February 2016.
Covid did not cause the NHS capacity crisis.
NHS waiting list will keep rising to March 2024 @sajidjavid has told MPs. NHS must end two year waits by July this year, and 1 year waits by March 2025.
Remember the majority are supposed to be seen within 18 weeks.
29
625
1,512
I missed the boat last time, but I'm on it now. I'm setting up a company to help supply fuel to the NHS. My mate from the pub is filling out the forms to submit to Cabinet Office contracts team today. We have a couple of watering cans....
48
168
1,497
Wow. UK's National Cancer Research Institute is to closedown after more than 20 years over concerns about its funding. I am told this infrastructure is vital to cancer clinical trials across UK.
Letter today from NCRI chair:
99
1,298
1,476
690,346
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Internal NHS reports reveal hospital buildings are at imminent risk of "catastrophic" collapse, with significant loss of life, as a result of crumbling concrete: thetimes.co.uk/article/schoo…
128
953
1,470
732,875
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Rishi Sunak is funneling thousands of NHS patients into private hospitals but are they safe? The Sunday Times has learned of hundreds of cases of unnecessary surgery. 🧵 1/9 thetimes.co.uk/article/8d700…
91
1,035
1,487
666,077
Matt Hancock says there are issues of "affordability" with regards pay.
That argument cannot be taken seriously given the amount of unplanned spending in the past year. These are policy choices.
50
381
1,462
💔 NEW: A hospital at the centre of the largest NHS maternity scandal let a baby's body decompose so badly it was 'triple bagged' for the funeral - midwives then "mocked" the dad, replaying a phone call he'd made at a "leadership away day"
New link: thetimes.com/article/82a2ed8…
155
485
1,711
413,022
So Sunak has told drs today's 6% pay offer is final saying: "No amount of strikes will change our decision"
So that means strikes going on for months and months impacting hundreds of thousands of patients. His waiting lists target is also dead in the water #JuniorDoctorsStrike
91
342
1,530
257,773
“A No 10 SPAD [special adviser] asked her directly how she would answer the Dominic Cummings question and she refused to play along and told them she would answer the same way as Jonathan Van-Tam. She was dropped immediately from the press briefing.”
29
532
1,466
Matt Hancock in Parliament says UK is doing more testing per head of population than any other country. 20m tests now done.
This is like the PPE scandal all over again. Big numbers that have little actual relevance to daily situation
90
250
1,439
I wish some of those who deny severity of Covid could meet and talk to the frontline clinicians I am speaking to. Some are really struggling and seeing the impact for real everyday. To then see people claiming its all lies is having a real detrimental impact on NHS staff #CovidUK
61
498
1,466
BREAKING: @nottmhospitals declares a critical incident as it experiences 97% occupancy and 720+ A&E attendances. So it begins...
98
868
1,408
There are some really tough decisions being made inside hospitals and across NHS services right now at all levels as the Omicron wave looms. With lots of uncertainty and impact on patients.
We should not underestimate the weight of this responsibility
20
285
1,431
🚨 BREAKING: Nurses vote for strikes at 119 NHS organisations says @theRCN. First action could take place before Christmas.
"This will be as much for patients as it is for nurses" - @patcullen9
Full list of strike locations below:
66
512
1,465
Bolton Hosptal has 42 Covid patients, with no new admissions in the past 24 hours and 1 discharge. It's holding steady, a positive sign given rise in cases locally over the past three weeks.
Has the vaccine broken the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths?
77
181
1,487
The fear of an Omicron wave and trauma of past 2 years is making some staff refuse to be redeployed to Covid wards. The NHS faces mounting pressures on all sides. My piece today for @thesundaytimes
67
587
1,363
Mother, 39, collapsed under her coat and died after seven-hour wait at crowded A&E lbc.co.uk/news/mother-found-…
91
630
1,414
476,289
At least 120k people have died. Maybe 3 or 4x that may have long term health problems due to Covid.
We can do a few more months of not going to the pub. #Covid19UK
91
233
1,386
If someone tells you NHS should be a social insurance model ask how, exactly, that will provide new hospitals, new CT & MRIs, cut drug prices, & deliver thousands of drs & nurses. It will cost £££ (+ cost of change). Insurers won't do it out of the goodness of their heart #NHS75
98
436
1,300
308,890
Lots of speculation about reasons for fall in Covid cases. No one really knows and what crucially matters is if we start seeing a fall in hospitalisations in 7-10 days. That is when we'll know this is real and not a consequence of people avoiding tests after 'pingdemic' headlines
71
209
1,332
I object to my journalism being used to push this fake claim. Immigration is the only way the NHS has been able to have enough staff to treat the ageing British population. Foreigners are more likely to treat you than to be ahead of you in the queue.
Mass immigration is totally unsustainable and places an unacceptable burden on our public services. Now an 85-year-old man has died waiting in A&E because of 'dangerous overcrowding'.
When will politicians wake up to the human cost of our open borders?
westmonster.com/85-year-old-…
41
723
1,267
The number of cases of hepatitis among children under the age of 10 being investigated has risen to 108, @UKHSA has said. There is no link to the Covid-19 vaccine as none of the children have been vaccinated. But infection with Covid + adenovirus infections are being looked at
48
461
1,292
🚨 BREAKING: NHS chiefs and regulators have written to hospital bosses admitting winter could be so bad NHS staff may have to "depart from established procedures" to care for patients. Letter says regulators will take the challenging situations into context...
112
790
1,233
I'm told @NHSEngland is not at this stage considering declaring a national level incident like it did in Covid. Regardless, across the country the NHS, patients and staff are in serious trouble...
🚨 Exclusive: Hospitals across the country are reporting shortages of portable oxygen cylinders as the sheer number of patients in "grossly overcrowded" A&Es has soared:
thetimes.co.uk/article/d55b3…
127
563
1,269
470,594
So we've seen a week of really awful NHS pressures with silence from NHS and Govt leadership.
A wafer thin New Year statement from Simon Stevens, given under controlled conditions, and now as Oxford vaccine approved @MattHancock pops up to take a bow. People will see through it
61
274
1,261
I'm listening to the promises on booster campaigns and NHS E chief promising the service will rise to the challenge...
Meanwhile my DMs are full of broken, desperate NHS staff from hospitals, community teams and paramedics with horrific stories of service failure happening now.
43
434
1,272
There were more than 14 million face to face GP surgery appointments in July. 57% of the total and 45% of appointments took place on the same day. #justsaying
42
586
1,242
🚨 NEW: Ambulance took more than 30 mins to reach dying baby - 8 mins to answer the 999 call. From next week, 2 NHS ambulance trusts plan to downgrade some emergency calls as crisis deepens:
thetimes.co.uk/article/54131…
114
850
1,269
Every day last week I attended the inquest into the death of Laura Higginson. It has taken her husband Antony 7.5 years, 4 coroners & £80k to expose how she was repeatedly overdosed with paracetamol by NHS staff.
The inquest was jaw dropping.
Read: thetimes.com/article/22ec672…
45
442
1,436
213,860
If Owen Patterson brought the House of Commons into disrepute, what did his mates yesterday do?
Should stand as an absolutely shameful moment in the history of Parliament I think.
21
284
1,168
Remember when the government said there was no shortage of antibiotics?
Today the DHSC has issued 'serious shortage protocols' for 3 penicillin medicines to help pharmacists meet demand:
77
611
1,191
152,366
This is so bad. The government burning all its political capital for one man who demonstrably did break the rules.
Breaking: Boris Johnson says Dominic Cummings "followed the instincts of every father...and I do not mark him down for that" #DailyBriefing
29
306
1,192
"Nursing staff will watch the PM's statement in disbelief. One described to me today that the NHS feels more broken than she’s ever known it. This is not hysteria, this is blowing the whistle on falling standards as patient care comes under real threat" - @theRCN chief Pat Cullen
28
442
1,187
Give @ZelenskyyUa the state visit. #SlavaUkraïni
32
229
1,407
46,730