Author: Laura Robinson

AMANDA PRITCHARD: The plan to give pharmacies powers to hand out prescriptions for common illnesses will free up GPs for those who need them the mostBy Amanda Pritchard, Nhs England Chief Published: 19:45 EDT, 8 May 2023 | Updated: 19:59 EDT, 8 May 2023 NHS England chief executive Amanda PritchardFor nine in ten people contacting the NHS every day, their local GP surgery is the first port of call.As head of the NHS, I have the enormous privilege of meeting and speaking to patients and families across the country.I consistently hear how vital these services are to them and their…

GPs to get £240m for new phone systems to reduce wait times when callingPractices will not be allowed say ‘phone back later’ and must offer same-day helpBy Shaun Wooller Health Editor For The Daily Mail Published: 19:00 EDT, 7 May 2023 | Updated: 19:03 EDT, 7 May 2023 GP practices will be given £240million for new phone systems so patients no longer face engaged tones or lengthy waits during the 8am scramble for appointments.Receptionists will also receive more training to direct callers to the medic best suited to their needs.Practices will not be allowed to tell patients to phone back…

At the height of the Troubles, those with a cut-glass English accent would have done well to survive a night at the Cove Bar with both kneecaps intact.The single-storey roadside pub was in Northern Ireland, just ten minutes from the border with the Irish Republic in a part of rural County Down that had become so violent it was widely known as ‘bandit country’.Peppered with roadblocks and watchtowers, the militarised zone was a hotbed of sectarian violence. Catholic extremists would murder farmers’ sons in an effort to cleanse villages of Protestants. Loyalist gangs would carry out savage revenge attacks.To this…

Sajid Javid joins 100 business leaders to call for return of tax-free shopping for overseas touristsBy Harriet Line Deputy Political Editor Published: 13:53 EDT, 25 April 2023 | Updated: 16:33 EDT, 25 April 2023 Sajid Javid today joined 100 business leaders in calling for the return of tax-free shopping for overseas tourists.The former chancellor, who has also served as culture and as business secretary, said restoring VAT-exempt shopping could help to grow the economy.’It would be good to find a way to remove that, but I say that deliberately very carefully because I know as a former chancellor that you’ve…

Wild swimmers and bathers take note – an interactive map reveals the scale of toxic algae in Britain’s beautiful rivers and lakes near you.Citizen-scientists across the UK have been report sightings of dangerous blue-green algae in local fresh waters bodies to the UK Centre for Hydrology & Ecology (UKCHE) through an app.Scientists then study the submissions to the Bloomin’ Algae app to confirm if suspected sightings are in fact blue-green algae, which is not actually algae but a phytoplankton called cyanobacteria.Blue-green algae can cause severe skin rashes, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, eye or throat irritation and allergic reactions or breathing…

Is the menopause so horrific that it drives some women to take their own lives? It’s an alarming claim, often stated as fact – or, at least, it has been over the past few years.Most recently, it was made by high-profile menopause guru Dr Louise Newson – a GP and founder of the private Newson Health clinic chain, which sees roughly 4,000 patients a month, all seeking treatment for menopausal symptoms.A Mail on Sunday investigation, published earlier this month, revealed concerns about her clinic, which prescribes doses of HRT above the licensed limits to one in five of its patients.Experts…

Every politician likes to deploy a back-story, but few of the current crop have one as vivid as Wes Streeting’s.Labour’s Health spokesman, who could be just a year away from taking a Cabinet seat, was raised in a council house by a single mother – the daughter of a reputed armed robber – before studying at Cambridge University, where he came out as gay. And he has been successfully treated for cancer.The 40-year-old, widely touted as a future leader, must also be the only front-rank politician with parents still in their 50s: he was born when his mother was 17…

A British couple have accused French police of an ‘astonishing’ dereliction of duty after two migrants attempted to stowaway to the UK in their caravan.Catherine Broughton, 71, and her husband Bruce, 74, were returning from a two-week holiday near La Rochelle.The couple were shopping for wine in the port of Caen when a fellow shopper told them two men believed to be migrants had broken into their caravan.They ran outside and after spotting their four-berth Bailey Unicorn caravan had clearly been broken into they alerted two gendarmes who were driving by in a patrol car.Mrs Broughton, a writer, said what…

Furious parents have claimed that teaching material use in sex education classes for children as young as 14 tells pupils that transition gender would stop them getting bullied.The content produced by education consultancy Chameleon PDE says that puberty can be optional and that there are seven genders, a report claimed.Included in the material is a presentation on gender diversity which tells the story of Tom, who had transitioned from being known as Tina May, who said that they were no longer bullied at school after transition gender.In the story Tom says that he was upset after being put in the…

Government plans that could force households to sort waste into up to seven separate bins and foot higher costs have descended into chaos amid fears the Tories would suffer a huge voter backlash.Confirmation of the massive overhaul – branded ‘madness’ by critics – had been expected last month, but any announcement has now been delayed until after local elections next month. Under the scheme, designed to make processes more consistent across England, rubbish would need to go into an array of different containers to  stop cross-contamination before being taken to recycling centres.However, concerns have been raised that it will be too onerous…