The emergency department at Michael Garron Hospital was built to care for about 150 patients a day, but now sees more than 300 patients daily, amounting to about 107,000 patients last year in a space designed for 50,000 annually.
From its first breath, it aspired to become more than a place: a world-class academic pole, a living ecosystem of knowledge, where learning, innovation, and an exemplary ecological lifestyle would grow side by side.
Decrepit patient housing units smelled of urine and feces. Patients frequently attacked one another or staff. A chronic worker shortage occasionally left Lawson alone with as many as 19 patients, many in the throes of acute psychiatric crisis. Her superiors didn't respond to requests for assistance, her coworkers sometimes slept on the job, and her employer often failed to provide patients with basic necessities, such as enough food.
NHS Surrey Heartlands said the situation at three hospital trusts Royal Surrey NHS foundation trust, Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust and Surrey and Sussex healthcare NHS trust was exacerbated by increases in flu and norovirus cases and an increase in staff sickness. It added that the recent cold weather front has also impacted on more frail patients needing to be admitted to hospital.
The University of California Irvine's new healthcare campus has a long list of innovative features, from its combined inpatient-outpatient surgical suite to its outdoor chemotherapy infusion terrace to an entire floor dedicated to staff only. The one thing it doesn't have is a gas line.
Work to fix hospitals built using unsafe concrete will not be completed in time to meet the government's target, a new report has warned. Seven hospitals built using Raac, or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, were prioritised for remedial work last year, with the government setting a deadline of 2030. The new buildings are now expected to open in 2032 and 2033 - but some are already facing pressure to meet the revised timetable, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.
Now, in a twist to the age-old story that even the writing room of "Grey's Anatomy" couldn't have come up with, a man in France was rushed to the operating room after staffers at the Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse found out he had shoved a 37mm brass-and-copper "collectible shell" that was used by the Imperial German Army during World War 1 up his rectum.
"If you or someone you love is going to give birth in a hospital, there is a question you need to ask before you go that can determine whether you are likely to have safe care or not," said labor and delivery nurse Jen Hamilton. Her multi-part TikTok videos amassed a combined 300,000 views their first 24 hours. "You need to know whether the hospital you are going to give birth in follows AWHONN's safe staffing standards," she continued.
Today's data, from NHSE's latest weekly winter situation report, covers the week ending 25 January. It showed that bed occupancy in English hospitals remains dangerously high, at 94.6%, while more than 14,000 people medically fit to be discharged from hospital were still stuck in beds. On a given day, there were on average 50,368 patients who had been in a hospital bed for seven days or longer, showing problems lie at the 'back door' of hospitals.
Nearly a quarter of hospitals in England have seen waiting times worsen since the government published its plan to tackle the backlog a year ago, BBC analysis shows. Hitting the 18-week waiting target for treatments such as knee and hip operations was Labour's key manifesto pledge for the health service, and last January it set out how it would get hospitals on track.
Rising demand for services has led an NHS trust serving Suffolk and Essex to declare a critical incident. East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC it was facing "significant pressure", including hospitals in Ipswich and Colchester. Earlier this month, the NHS reported a rise in flu and other winter viruses after Christmas. The trust has encouraged people to seek help from pharmacists or use NHS 111 where appropriate.
NYC Health + Hospitals announced that three of its acute care hospitals have been named as recipients of the Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment and Network Development (STAND) Award from the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) on Thursday, Jan. 15. The three locations to earn this award were NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx and NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in Manhattan.
If you find yourself in need of emergency care in Massachusetts, it could take a while. The Bay State ranks No. 3 in the U.S. for longest average time patients spend in the emergency department, according to World Population Review. Patients here spend an average of 189 minutes - more than three hours - in the ER before leaving the hospital. Only Maryland (228 minutes) and Delaware (195 minutes) report longer average delays.
In 2026, the US healthcare system is changing. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies have expired, causing premiums for marketplace plans to spike - and pricing some families out of health insurance entirely. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce coverage for some patients with Medicaid and funding for hospitals, especially those in rural areas. Costs for Medicare and private insurance are also rising: Employer-based healthcare premiums have increased by 9%, the largest rise in more than a decade.
