Tuesday briefing: How the NHS ‘culture of concealment and denial’ hurts patients

In today’s newsletter: Amid many other crises, the standard of NHS care for patients’ families is declining – this is what it feels like

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Good morning. It is no secret that NHS England has many problems: it is crumbling (literally), patient care backlogs are at record highs, there is a recruitment and retention crisis, and quality of care is declining with the results for patients sometimes life-threatening.

Over the last two decades a parallel problem has emerged. The NHS ombudsman Rob Behrens described to Guardian health editor Denis Campbell that the health service has a “cover-up culture”. Behren has identified an alarming practice where some trusts “cynically [bury] evidence about poor care” to maintain their reputation. It is not the first time that cultural problems have been identified – over the years a number of reports and inquiries have highlighted practices of silencing and punishing whistleblowers.

Rwanda bill | Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda took a step forward after MPs voted overwhelmingly to throw out a series of amendments made to the Rwanda bill by the House of Lords. The bill, which is designed to overcome the supreme court’s objections to the plan, will return to the Lords later this week.

Israel-Gaza war | The White House has said that Israel will send a group of officials to Washington to discuss its planned offensive on Rafah, as the Biden administration insists that an attack would be a “mistake” and seeks to persuade Israel to allow in more aid in the face of an imminent famine in Gaza.

UK news | The full membership list of the men-only Garrick Club, made public for the first time by the Guardian, reveals its central position as a bulwark of the British establishment, featuring scores of leading lawyers, heads of publicly funded arts institutions, the chief of MI6, the head of the civil service and King Charles.

Environment | Only seven countries – Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand – are meeting an international air quality standard set by the World Health Organization, with deadly air pollution worsening in places due to a rebound in economic activity and the toxic impact of wildfire smoke, a new report has found.

Energy | A £58bn plan to rewire Britain’s electricity grid to connect up new windfarms off the coast of Scotland is expected to trigger tensions with communities along the route. It is the biggest investment since the 1960s.