Learning English

UK National Health Service mail error

The NHS has made a serious mistake over the last 5 years with its patient records

Language challenge

The national audit office in the UK has found that the NHS has made serious mistakes with patient records over the last 5 years. But what does the word 'audit' mean?

a) make an official examination of something
b) act in a short performance to gain a part in a film or theatre play
c) an adjective concerned with the sense of hearing

รับชมวิดีโอพร้อมทำแบบฝีกหัด

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The story

More than 1,700 NHS patients may have been harmed by an administrative blunder, the National Audit Office has found.

Over five years, tens of thousands of documents, including cancer diagnoses and other test results, were put in storage instead of being sent to hospitals or GPs.

The NAO report says the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, knew there was a problem in March 2016, but waited four months before alerting parliament.

Key words and phrases

blunder
a mistake often caused by carelessness

mislaid
temporarily lost due to forgetting where it was put

backlog
a number of tasks that should have been done by now

To do

Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.

Downloads

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Language challenge - answer

a) make an official examination of something

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Pronunciation in the News - our video which teaches you pronunciation using the latest BBC World News bulletins.