The Week in Practice | 2 November 2026 

📢 Your Monday briefing for UK doctors. Start your week informed with the Week in Practice.

💊 Clinical news

The National Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) will be introduced in emergency departments from this winter, giving staff a clear, consistent way to track signs that a child’s condition is deteriorating and ensure they get the attention they need, without delay. The system helps staff measure, record, and assess vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen levels. More than 90 hospitals across England are already using the national PEWS system in paediatric inpatient wards.

💡 Practice point

The Department of Health and Social Care has begun introducing a new referral service, which will train GPs to spot the signs of domestic abuse and sexual violence and connect victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence to specialist local services. A group of 12 Integrated Care Boards, selected in September 2026, will receive £34.4 million over 3 years to expand or commission specialist local independent services, strengthening referral pathways between general practices and specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence support.

There has been a reduction in disproportionate employer referrals of doctors from black and ethnic minority backgrounds and those who qualified outside the UK, according to a new report from the General Medical Council (GMC) that shows discrimination, racism, and unequal opportunities continue to affect doctors and medical students. However, although fairness has improved in some areas of postgraduate specialty training, inequalities remain across key measures, including specialty exams and differences in new doctors’ preparedness for practice.

🔬 Research in practice

A new study has found that Black patients, patients with a learning disability, Asian patients and patients from mixed ethnic backgrounds are more likely to face longer wait times for a breast cancer diagnosis and care and treatment. The findings showed Black patients had 29% lower odds and were less likely to be diagnosed through routine screening than White patients. Black patients had 37% higher odds and were more likely to be diagnosed after seeking emergency help at A&E or receiving an urgent suspected cancer referral.

📌 On the radar

The possibility of a needleless vaccine for the group A streptococcus bacterium (Strep A) is ‘a step closer to reality’ according to new research from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The research, created in partnership with the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health, was published in October 2026 in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, and its findings ‘show promise’ for a vaccine that could be administered by nose or mouth under the tongue.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reminds people to watch for TB symptoms as it publishes its annual data on Tuberculosis notifications in England. The annual report shows that Tuberculosis (TB) notifications in England in 2025 have ‘remained level’ with those in 2024.

🗣️ Alerts

New safety measures are now being implemented for all patients taking antidepressant medications. This follows completion of a detailed review, involving patients and their families, into how the risks of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and persistent sexual dysfunction are communicated in the patient information leaflets (PILs) that accompany antidepressant medications. These changes involve a new boxed warning in the PIL, a new patient card, and a supporting safety (ancillary) leaflet. The term post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (“PSSD”) is also being added to the PIL for some antidepressant medications.

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Pavilion Health Today. She has over 25 years of experience writing for medical journals and trade publications. Subjects include healthcare, pharmaceuticals, disability, insurance, stock market and emerging technologies.

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