HEALTH Secretary Wes Streeting has threatened to take an axe to “overly complex” health quangos in a patient safety overhaul.

A review published today will confirm “significant failings” at the NHS and social care regulator, the Care Quality Commission.

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Ministers say they are reforming the organisation and a new chief executive was appointed last week.

Another two reviews have been commissioned into patient safety organisations more widely.

Investigators will scrutinise the CQC again, the National Guardian’s Office, Healthwatch England, the Health Services Safety Investigation Body, the Patient Safety Commissioner and NHS Resolution.

They will consider “whether patient safety could be bolstered through a different approach”.

Mr Streeting said: “An overly complex system of healthcare regulation and oversight is no good for patients or providers.

“We will overhaul the system to make it effective and efficient, to protect patient safety.”

It comes after Lord Ara Darzi’s landmark report on the state of the NHS found that super-complicated regulation is a burden on medics.

He found there are thousands more Whitehall penpushers than in 2008 and the ratio of regulatory office staff per hospital trust doubled from 53 in 2013 to 109 in 2022.

Lord Darzi said: “Too many people holding people to account, and not doing the job, can be counterproductive.”

Today’s report into the Care Quality Commission finds that it has significant internal failings.

Its performance in inspections is poor and it has not had the capacity to improve, it said.

Vic Rayner, chair of the Care Provider Alliance, said: “It is evident that a step change is required in regulation.”

A NEW treatment regime for cervical cancer cuts the risk of death by 40 per cent, according to a large-scale study.

Researchers in London completed a long-term follow up of patients given a short course of chemotherapy before chemoradiation – a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

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The findings, which follow on from those first presented in October 2023, show a 40 per cent reduction in the risk of death and a 35 per cent reduction in the risk of cancer coming back within at least five years.

At the time of the initial results, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) hailed the shift as the biggest improvement in cervical cancer treatment in more than 20 years.

Chemoradiation has been the standard treatment for the condition since 1999, but despite improvements in care, cancer returns in up to 30 per cent of cases.

The Interlace phase III trial, funded by CRUK and University College London (UCL) Cancer Trials Centre, looked at whether a short course of induction chemotherapy prior to chemoradiation could cut relapses and death among patients with locally advanced cervical cancer that had not spread to other organs.

The results, published in The Lancet, are so clear that experts are calling for the regime to be used across the UK and internationally.

Dr Mary McCormack, lead investigator of the trial from UCL Cancer Institute and University College London Hospital (UCLH), said: “This approach is a straightforward way to make a positive difference, using existing drugs that are cheap and already approved for use in patients.

“It has already been adopted by some cancer centres and there’s no reason that this shouldn’t be offered to all patients undergoing chemoradiation for this cancer.”

The trial team recruited 500 patients over 10 years from hospitals in the UK, Mexico, India, Italy and Brazil.

They were randomly allocated to receive either standard treatment or the new treatment combination.

After five years, 80 per cent of those who received a short course of chemotherapy first were alive and 73 per cent had not seen their cancer return or spread.

In the standard treatment group, 72 per cent were alive and 64 per cent had not seen their cancer return or spread.

Researchers said that five patients involved in the trial have been disease-free for more than 10 years.

Professor Jonathan Ledermann, senior author of the study from UCL Cancer Institute, said: “The incremental cost for using the drugs in the Interlace trial is low, making this a new treatment that can be easily implemented in all health economies, to significantly improve overall survival.”

Dr Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, added: “Timing is everything when you’re treating cancer.

“The simple act of adding induction chemotherapy to the start of chemoradiation treatment for cervical cancer has delivered remarkable results in the Interlace trial.

“A growing body of evidence is showing that additional chemotherapy before other treatments, like surgery and radiotherapy, can improve the chances of successful treatment for patients.

“Not only can it reduce the chances of cancer coming back, it can also be delivered quickly, using drugs already available worldwide.”

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Anyone who has a passion for sport knows that it can be a journey. The thing about falling in love with a sport, or better yet a lifestyle, is that you often end up on a journey you never expected, but absolutely needed. Putting your whole self into something and grinding day in and day out is bound to change a person and almost always for the best. 

Craig Bongelli had a passion for martial arts and boxing in his teens and knew what it meant to work hard in the gym. It wasn’t until he attended a Highland games event and met Scotland’s strongest man that his focus turned elsewhere. He wanted to be big and strong and went on a mission to become just that. Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury while deadlifting at age 21. While searching for ways to navigate this injury and prevent future injuries he discovered Louie Simmons, the owner of Westside. A book read turned into a phone call and eventually turned into an invite to Westside and ultimately a lasting mentorship.

Craig fell in love with powerlifting and Westside helped him get there. Since then, Louie has passed away and the gym has been passed on to a new and well-trusted owner taking on a new direction for training. Change can often be hard but Craig was excited to see where Westside was going. Wanting to see how the gym had changed, Craig headed back to see what he could accomplish in 4 weeks and decided to share his experience with everyone. 

Episode 1

In episode 1 of the Westside docuseries, Craig heads back to Westside to check out their new training philosophy and program. After being away for several years he wanted to see what Westide has been up to since Louie, the previous owner and his mentor, passed away and Tom took on ownership. Craig was ready to see what Westside gymgoers were up to as well as what he could accomplish by implementing their new training system and tracking specific metrics over 4 weeks. 

Episode 2

Week one was a real doozy for Craig. Episode 2 dives into Craig’s first week back and training and how it was totally soul-crushing. As a long-time athlete, he was ready for a challenge but was not expecting to be totally obliterated. You get to see what a rough start he had being back at the gym and how this challenge motivated him to get serious and persevere. 

This episode also explains more information about the specific program that Craig followed, even getting into what nutrition and recovery looked like while living and breathing the Westside lifestyle. 

Episode 3

Having knocked out two weeks, Craig started to catch some momentum and get into the groove of things which is captured in episode 3. Aside from the excitement he felt about being back at Westside again and getting ingrained into the group he also shared insight into the emotional challenges he experienced with being away from home and his family. This episode really gets into discussions about working hard and pushing yourself even when things get tough.  

Episode 4

Heading into the 4th week, and 4th episode, it was time to find out if Craig accomplished all he wanted to and what he learned about himself and fitness during the experience. It’s time to find out if his hard work paid off by diving into his end results. The docuseries is rounded out with discussions between Craig and Tom about the experience and the gym. 

Where It’s Going

With this docuseries, Craig hopes to expose athletes from all backgrounds to what he believes to be the best training system in the world. He wants to show people that if you truly give something your all you can accomplish more than you ever expected of yourself, especially when applying the right methodologies. He hopes that by sharing where he started with Louie and Westside and where he believes it can take others today, he will pay back even just a small portion of the debt he feels he owes to them. 

If you have been looking for something to light a fire inside of you and get you motivated to pursue your goals then you won’t want to miss out on the story Craig tells throughout this docuseries. If you weren’t excited about transforming your life through fitness before watching this then there is a good chance that you will be after.