~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (42)

Work and pensions secretary attacks system of dealing with minor mental health problems as PM takes aim at ‘sicknote culture’Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.Mel Stride, the work and...

Company, which also makes Quality Street, says reducing sugar, salt and fats could harm ‘strategic freedom’Business live – latest updatesNestlé faces a resolution at its AGM on Thursday that could force the world’s largest consumer goods company to cut back on high levels of salt, sugar and fats in its food and drinks.The Swiss-headquartered multinational is urging investors to reject the proposal, arguing a...

Demand for private treatment booms as NHS waiting lists remain long, while more people also sign up for dental cover Britain’s health cover market has grown by £385m in a year as the NHS crisis prompted more people to seek out private medical treatment and demand for dental insurance increased, according to a report.The total health cover market, including medical and dental insurance and...

Health Foundation report also predicts people in poorest areas will be three times more likely to die by the age of 70A record 3.7 million workers in England will have a major illness by 2040, according to research.On current trends, 700,000 more working-age adults will be living with high healthcare needs or substantial risk of mortality by 2040 – up nearly 25% from 2019...

PM’s plan to prevent those under 16 ever being able to buy tobacco should pass due to Labour support, but many of his own MPs could abstain or vote againstIn another interview this morning, Laura Farris, minister for victims, told GB News that she thought Liz Truss, the former PM, was wrong to call for the supreme court to be abolished. Asked about the...

Leading consultant paediatrician says unproven treatments and ‘toxicity’ of trans debate damaging outcomesKey findingsAnalysisThousands of vulnerable children questioning their gender identity have been let down by the NHS providing unproven treatments and by the “toxicity” of the trans debate, a landmark report has found.The UK’s only NHS gender identity development service used puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which masculinise or feminise people’s appearances, despite...

Parent of trans girl says report promotes agenda that ‘things need to be made more difficult’ for children with gender dysphoriaThousands of children unsure of gender identity ‘let down by NHS’Analysis: review has major implications for mental health servicesWhile the Cass report’s 400 pages will be pored over and debated, one thing is certain – young trans people face an anxious future.The mother of...

Amendment tabled by cross-party group including Stella Creasy is latest plan to modernise abortion law in England and WalesStella Creasy: No watering down, no new red tape – it’s time to fully decriminalise abortion in England and WalesA cross-party group of MPs is proposing to make abortion access a human right in England and Wales, putting forward legislation that would decriminalise abortion up to...

Nuffield Trust says system for treatment is ‘obsolete’ as number of patients in England awaiting assessment hits record highThe NHS is experiencing an “avalanche of need” over autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the system in place to cope with surging demand for assessments and treatments is “obsolete”, a health thinktank has warned.There must be a “radical rethink” of how people with...

Only private jabs are available to most, but annual shots could reduce healthcare costs and prevent deathsCheaper private Covid jabs may end up as costly as pricier ones, say expertsPrivate Covid boosters are available for people who do not qualify to receive these vaccines on the NHS. But is it worth paying for a shot?With most people now having been exposed to Sars-CoV-2 through...

RCEM calculates 268 people are likely to have died each week in 2023 while waiting up to 12 hours for a bedAlmost 14,000 people died needlessly last year in England while waiting in A&E for up to 12 hours a new estimate suggests.Calculations by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) based on a large study of excess deaths and waiting times show that...

Yearly cost to people, business and public sector found to be twice as big as NHS England’s annual budgetMental illness costs England £300bn a year, equivalent to nearly double its NHS budget, according to research.Researchers for the Centre for Mental Health thinktank analysed the economic, health and care impact of mental ill health, as well as human costs from reduced quality of life and...

Resolution Foundation points to legacy of Covid as it warns that near-record 2.7m people are too ill to workBritain is going through the longest sustained rise in the number of working-age adults who are too sick to work since the 1990s, according to a report warning that a benefits crackdown is unlikely to solve the country’s jobless crisis.The Resolution Foundation said economic inactivity due...

British Pregnancy Advisory Service says there is ‘genuine concern’ over rising number of investigationsSenior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortionA leading provider of abortion services has received more than 30 demands to hand over medical records of women to police in the past four years, increasing to an average of one a month since October.Rachael Clarke, the chief of staff...

In today’s newsletter: Amid many other crises, the standard of NHS care for patients’ families is declining – this is what it feels like• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood 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...

University of Oxford study shows benefits and risks of technology to healthcare, but ethical issues remainBritain’s hard-pressed carers need all the help they can get. But that should not include using unregulated AI bots, according to researchers who say the AI revolution in social care needs a hard ethical edge.A pilot study by academics at the University of Oxford found some care providers had...

Fears for impact on NHS workforce as leaked letter reveals ministers stall on aim to increase trainee doctors to 15,000 by 2031Ministers have dramatically stalled plans to double the number of doctors being trained in England by 2031 in a move that has caused dismay across the NHS, as well in medical schools and universities, the Observer can reveal.In June last year, ministers backed...

CAA proposals would allow operators to fly drones at low heights beyond the line of sightDrones could be used for critical medical deliveries, as well as inspections of railways, powerlines, and roads under new proposals put forward by the UK’s air travel watchdog.The proposals, set out in a consultation published on Monday by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), would allow operators to fly...

Amina Noor travelled from north London with the child to Kenya where the procedure was carried out in 2006A woman who was found guilty of handing over a three-year-old British girl for female genital mutilation (FGM) during a trip to Kenya has been jailed for seven years.Amina Noor, 40, was convicted last year of assisting a Kenyan woman to carry out the procedure overseas...

Clinics de-listed people without warning, forcing them to go private or find another NHS practicePatients across England who failed to visit their dentists since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic have been systematically barred by some clinics from getting NHS treatment.Dental practices across the country informed patients they could no longer get NHS treatment, citing non-attendance over a period of two years or more...

Families who suffered harmful effects of hormone pregnancy tests not included in Patient Safety Commissioner’s reviewUK ministers are facing a backlash after families affected by the hormone pregnancy test Primodos were excluded from a review about redress for victims of health scandals.A report by the Patient Safety Commissioner says there is a “clear case for redress” for thousands of women and children affected by...

Exclusive: As NHS targets are being missed nearly 300,000 people paid for chemotherapy in last five yearsHundreds of thousands of cancer patients in the UK are being forced to pay for private treatment amid record NHS waiting times, according to data obtained by the Guardian.The figures emerged as King Charles began treatment for the disease within days of being diagnosed. Buckingham Palace has not...

UK prime minister says he is in regular contact with the monarch and wishes him a full recoveryJustin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, says he is “praying for the king and his family – for God’s comfort and strength in the weeks and months to come”.The archbishop of Canterbury, who is in Ukraine to show solidarity with the country as it repels the full-scale...

Treatment for ailments including sore throats, earaches and shingles to be offered without a GP appointmentPatients in England can get treatment for seven common conditions without needing to see a GP, under a shake-up of pharmacy services.From Wednesday, thousands of pharmacists will be able to assess and treat patients for sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections...