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Exclusive: pay review body recommendation higher than government’s figures but less than unions wantNHS staff should receive a pay rise of at least 4%, independent experts have advised, setting healthcare workers on a collision course with ministers who have set a firm maximum of 3%.The pay review body (PRB) will recommend that NHS personnel should an increase this year of somewhere between 4% and...

Age to legally buy tobacco should increase from 18 and continue to rise, government-commissoned review suggestsThe age at which people can legally buy tobacco in England should rise from 18 by one year every year until eventually no one can buy it, a radical government-commissioned review has recommended in an effort to make smoking obsolete.A total of 15 interventions are proposed to help meet...

Trial to look at whether everyday foods can be used as treatment to improve tolerance to allergiesThe parents of a teenager killed by an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger sandwich say a clinical trial launched in her name “would have meant everything to her”.The trial will investigate whether peanut and milk products can be used under medical supervision as a treatment to...

Labour leader discusses footage of meal with staff and says he was careful to follow lockdown rulesToday’s politics news – live updatesKeir Starmer has confirmed that Durham police have not contacted him about drinking a beer and eating a takeaway with staff in a constituency office last year, as he said he was always “very careful” to abide by lockdown rules.The Labour leader gave...

Experts call on ministers to tackle chronic staff shortages, with delays worsened by pandemicTens of thousands of patients are still waiting to start cancer treatment in England due to disruption during the pandemic, according to NHS figures, as medical charities called on the government to tackle chronic staff shortages in the health service.Following a dramatic slump in cancer referrals in 2020, the number of...

NHS Confederation calls for ‘living with Covid’ plans to be reconsidered as health system strugglesMinisters should reconsider England’s “living with Covid” plans, health leaders have said, while accusing the government of ignoring the ongoing threat for ideological reasons.The NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, has accused No 10 of having “abandoned any interest” in the pandemic, despite a new Omicron surge...

Health agency says revision brings total number of deaths within 28 days of positive test to 169,095Almost 3,000 Covid-19 deaths have been added to the UK’s official figures after the discovery of a data error.The cumulative number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus rose by an extra 2,714 on Wednesday, in addition to 233 newly reported deaths....

Health secretary defends 1.25-point rise criticised for placing too much burden on lower earnersThe increase in national insurance payments for millions of people already struggling to deal with the cost of living crisis is both right and fair, the health secretary has said.Sajid Javid said the levy of an extra 1.25 percentage points, due from Wednesday, was needed to pay for health and social...

MPs’ report condemns the government’s failure to fill gaps in the workforce and deal with the impact of CovidHundreds of thousands of cancer patients in England face being diagnosed late in the coming years, MPs have warned, as they condemned the government’s failure to tackle the NHS staffing shortages that risk survival rates going into reverse.In a 52-page report on cancer services, the Commons...

Report says ‘systemic change’ needed after blunders ignored and mothers blamed when babies diedA damning report into hundreds of baby deaths has condemned the trust at the centre of the biggest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS for blaming mothers while repeatedly ignoring its own catastrophic blunders for decades.The independent inquiry into maternity practices at Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust uncovered...

Community testing ends in England on 1 April and will be scaled back across UK as infections riseCome the end of March, the lights will dim on the UK’s Covid epidemic. Despite infection levels rising, cases will plummet, as free lateral flow and PCR tests are stopped for the majority of people in England, with other countries in the UK also set to reduce...