Lives are being put at risk at leading hospitals because of a growing financial crisis that has exposed inequalities in care, a report warns today. Health trusts in London, many of which run hospitals that serve patients across the country, are not implementing essential reforms to improve patient safety, according to the King’s Fund. Failing services are not being closed, and “unacceptable” variations in care quality may persist because most trusts in the capital are under an unsustainable financial burden. The health charity also warns that deepening money problems mean that two thirds of trusts are unlikely to be viable by a 2014 government deadline. St Bartholomew’s Hospital is the most prominent among those struggling to meet the financial targets necessary to achieve foundation trust status. Writing in The Times today the surgeon who oversaw the last major shake-up of health services in London warns that NHS reforms will leave the city without an organisation capable of implementing further urgent change. Lord Darzi of Denham, whose 2007 review brought significant improvements in stroke and trauma care, says that the abolition of NHS London in 2013 under coalition health reforms will leave a “leadership vacuum” that undermines efforts to address patient safety, particularly in A&E. The King’s Fund paints a stark picture of the challenges facing the NHS. It says that too many hospitals in London are

As founder of Damascus Doctors, a network of secret medical clinics that treated injured protesters, Ibrahim Othman was a hero of the nine-month uprising against President Assad’s rule in Syria — it also made him one of the country’s most-wanted men. As the 26-year-old doctor tried to flee into Turkey on Saturday he was shot dead by government forces, fellow activists told The Times. A video posted on the internet appeared to show his body and what was claimed to be his passport. A fellow activist said that security forces near the border village of Khirbet al-Joz opened fire on the minibus carrying Dr Othman and other dissidents. After being forced from his hospital job for treating demonstrators earlier this year, Dr Othman helped to establish secret medical facilities where injured protesters could receive treatment. In an interview with CNN in Jul

David Cameron is preparing to give ground to Nick Clegg over Europe to heal coalition wounds opened by the Prime Minister’s treaty veto. The Deputy Prime Minister was absent from the Commons yesterday, where Mr Cameron received a hero’s welcome from Conservative MPs as he reported back from Brussels. Away from the chamber, Mr Clegg continued to attack the outcome of last week’s summit, saying that he and Mr Cameron “clearly do not agree”. Downing Street signalled that Mr Cameron was ready to yield on one of Mr Clegg’s objections — the Prime Minister’s assertion that the new “euro-plus” group of up to 26 nations should not use the institutions of the European Union. One of the stated reasons for Mr Cameron’s veto was to ensure that the new group could not pursue its interests with the force of Brussels law, an outcome described by Mr Clegg as “ludicrous