Health secretary Sajid Javid talking to Steve James a consultant at King’s College hospital in London. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA The Guardian By Damien Gayle Health secretary exchanges views with medic who says he’s had the virus and doesn’t want a vaccination An NHS doctor has challenged Sajid Javid over compulsory vaccines for healthcare workers, telling

Paramedics push a trolley next to a line of ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital in the Whitechapel area of east London, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Health authorities across the U.K. simplified COVID-19 testing requirements on Wednesday, a move designed to cut isolation times for many people and that may ease the staffing shortages that

Ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital, in London, Tuesday Dec. 29, 2020. England Health Service figures show hospitals now have more Covid-19 patients than during April’s first-wave peak, with fears of increased figures because of a Christmas social spread still to come. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP) The Guardian By Andrew Gregory NHS under pressure as

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a vaccination hub in the at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, England, Monday Jan. 3, 2022, as the booster vaccination programme continues. (Steve Parsons/Pool via AP) By Associated Press British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Monday that the country’s health system will remain under strain for weeks amid

A teacher hands out face masks to students on the first day back at school, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown begins to ease, at Fulham Boys School in London, Britain, March 8, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs By Reuters Children in secondary schools in England will be told to wear face coverings when they return after

Shoppers cross Oxford Street, London, Britain, December 28, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Reuters Britain reported a record 129,471 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would not bring in new restrictions this year to limit the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus. Johnson

Maternity wards are particularly vulnerable to closure due to a national shortage of midwives. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA The Guardian By Denis Campbell Health policy editor Entire hospital units could be forced to shut because of staff quitting in protest at the government’s order that they must all be vaccinated against Covid-19, a senior NHS leader

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan visits a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pop-up vaccination centre at Chelsea football ground, Stamford Bridge in London, Britain, December 18, 2021. REUTERS/David Klein By Reuters Britain reported a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday which government advisors said could be just the tip of the iceberg, and

Travellers stand in front of an information board at BER Airport in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. Germany’s incoming transport minister is advising people against traveling over Christmas as the country tries to stem a wave of coronavirus infections. (Joerg Carstensen/dpa via AP) Associated Press By DANICA KIRKA LONDON (AP) — Nations across Europe

Nurses react as they treat a COVID-19 patient in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Milton Keynes University Hospital, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Milton Keynes, Britain, January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Reuters British hospitals, particularly in London, are struggling to maintain staffing levels due to the number who are