Inquiry launched by Environment Agency into huge pile of medical aprons found in Calmore, Hampshire
The “dumping” of hundreds of thousands of pieces of unused personal protective equipment near a nature reserve on the edge of the New Forest has mystified and angered local people.
But the council has revealed the giant pile of boxes containing medical aprons in Calmore, Hampshire, will be recycled into plastic bags.
Continue reading...Royal College of Nursing raises doubts over whether enough members will get postal votes in on time
The rolling strikes by NHS nurses could “hit the end of the road” this week as the leader of the Royal College of Nursing raised doubts over whether sufficient numbers of members would get their postal votes in on time.
The RCN union’s ballot on further industrial action in England will close on 23 June but its general secretary, Pat Cullen, has for the first time suggested an affirmative result is in doubt.
Continue reading...Campaigners say bill in ‘serious peril’ of passing without powers to make platforms more transparent
Online safety experts will struggle to sound the alarm about harmful content if landmark legislation does not allow independent researchers to access data from social media platforms, campaigners have warned.
The government is being urged to adopt amendments to the online safety bill enabling researchers to access platform data in order to monitor harmful material. Access would be overseen by Ofcom, the communications watchdog, and would protect user privacy.
Continue reading...Bullying campaigner and founder of UK buddy system for Ukrainian refugees also among hundreds recognised
Suzanne Richards lost her son Joel, 19, brother Adrian, 49, and father, Pat, 78, in the 2015 terrorist attack in Sousse, Tunisia. Her other son Owen, then 16, was also shot and injured by the gunmen but survived the attack in which 38 people were killed.
Their memories live on in the Smile for Joel charity, supporting families who are victims of homicide, which she and Owen run from her home in Wednesbury, West Midlands.
Continue reading...Authorities denied pregnant Indigenous girl her legal right to an abortion and ‘re-victimised’ her, UN child rights committee says
Peru violated the rights of a 13-year-old girl who had been repeatedly raped by her father by denying her an abortion after she became pregnant, the UN has ruled.
The United Nations child rights committee found this week that the Peruvian authorities had violated the rights to health and life of the girl, known by the pseudonym Camila, by failing to provide her with information and access to legal and safe abortion.
Continue reading...Open letter says burden on victims to prove intent leaves door open for perpetrators to claim they were joking
Proposals to tackle sexual harassment in the street in England and Wales do not go far enough because the bar for offences has been set too high, charities have warned.
The Fawcett Society, Girl Guiding and Refuge are among organisations who say the requirement to prove perpetrators intended to cause alarm or distress undermines the provisions of two bills intended to protect women and girls going through parliament.
Continue reading...Chief executive Amanda Pritchard says that if early results are successful it will be rolled out more widely next year
A blood test which can detect 50 cancers before symptoms start to show could be offered to a million people in a pilot programme from next summer, according to the head of the NHS.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said the Galleri test has the potential to “transform cancer care forever”, according to reports.
Continue reading...Ban will apply worldwide to all of media group’s online and print outlets, including the Guardian, Observer, and Guardian Weekly
The Guardian has announced a global ban on gambling advertising, arguing it is unethical to take money from services that can lead to “addiction and financial ruin”.
Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said advertising – particularly online – could trap gamblers in an “addictive cycle” that caused financial distress, mental health issues and wider social problems.
Continue reading...Study finds the search giant has profited since Roe was overturned from anti-abortion groups buying misleading search terms
Google has made millions of dollars in the last two years from advertisements misdirecting users who were seeking abortion services to “pregnancy crisis centers” that do not actually provide care, according to a new study.
The tech giant has taken in an estimated $10m in two years from anti-choice organizations that pay to advertise such centers alongside legitimate results on the Google search page, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit group that conducts misinformation research. Its study, published on Thursday, estimates that the search results have reached and potentially misled hundreds of thousands of users.
Continue reading...Health department and Cabinet Office make opening statements on second day of first module
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has admitted Covid testing was “a significant weakness” in the UK’s early pandemic response and stressed the need for proper funding to prepare the nation for the next emergency.
While the DHSC said it would not claim “it did everything right”, its opening statement to the UK Covid public inquiry highlighted wider government choices on funding in what will be seen as turning the focus on Downing Street and the Treasury.
Continue reading...Some hospitals record highest ever A&E attendance figures as heat, high pollen count and air pollution bring rise in demand
A&E units across the UK are experiencing a surge in patients seeking care as a direct result of the heatwave, which is leaving many people unwell with shortness of breath, heat exhaustion and sunburn.
The number of people suffering problems as a direct result of the sustained high temperatures in many parts of the country has resulted in some hospitals recording their highest A&E attendance figures.
Continue reading...Emergency contraception, HIV-prevention and abortion drugs are locked in a warehouse in Khartoum – leaving women to turn to desperate measures
Rape survivors in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are struggling to get hold of emergency contraception and abortion medication.
Access to a warehouse where 47,000 medical post-rape kits are stored has been cut off since the conflict began in April. Women are using social media to share information about where to find drugs to prevent pregnancies and infections – or are using herbal remedies.
Continue reading...Leading expert warns of ‘sustained attacks’ on reproductive rights after sentence imposed on Monday
Leading women’s health experts have warned of an attack on women’s reproductive rights and the potential for more prosecutions, following the jailing of a woman for terminating her pregnancy after the legal time limit.
The president of the UK’s leading body for sexual health professionals said that women should be “more worried than they are” following the sentencing, adding that it could lead to sustained attacks on established rights, and efforts to curtail reforms.
Continue reading...Nicole Bent and her daughter are among dozens of homeless families being put up by council in hotel rooms
A hotel getaway should be a time to escape the stresses of everyday life – but for Nicole Bent, life in a hotel has become her everyday. “It’s been demoralising, to be honest. That’s the word I would use to describe this whole experience,” she said of her ongoing three-month stay in a north London Travelodge.
Bent, 28, and her three-year-old daughter have been living in the hotel since the beginning of March, when she was made homeless after her tenancy came to an end and the landlord wanted to sell the property. She is one of dozens of homeless families being housed there by Enfield council while it tries to find her a permanent home.
Continue reading...Unicef says ‘more and more unaccompanied children’ among thousands of refugees streaming across 1,000km-long border
Hundreds of unaccompanied children have crossed the border from Sudan into Chad in recent weeks as fighting separates families and forces minors to make the arduous journey to safety without their parents.
Humanitarian workers say “more and more” children are arriving alone in the neighbouring country, to which more than 100,000 refugees, about 60% of them under-18s, have fled since fighting erupted between rival military factions in mid-April.
Continue reading...GMC says cases were among 194 incidents of alleged violations of confidentiality between 2017 and 2022
Two-dozen doctors have been disciplined by the UK medical regulator in the last five years after accessing and using information from patients’ treatment records without good reason.
The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had struck off two of the 24 doctors it had sanctioned after finding that they had undertaken “inappropriate use” of medical records.
Continue reading...Dispensers will be in place at schools, parks, sports venues and festivals across country this summer
Citizens of the Netherlands are to be offered free sun protection this summer in an effort to tackle record levels of skin cancer in the country.
Sun cream dispensers will be made available this summer in schools and universities, at festivals, parks, sports venues and open public spaces across the country, according to the government.
Continue reading...Exclusive: £3.2m plan aims to curb rise in people sleeping rough as councils cut homelessness budgets
The NHS will deploy street mental health teams in English locations from Devon to Doncaster in an attempt to curb a rise in rough sleeping in England.
Fourteen outreach teams will aim to get more rough sleepers on to a path to counselling, medication or other treatments and will seek out people “who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need”, said Prof Tim Kendall, NHS England’s clinical national director for mental health.
Continue reading...Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choices
One of the country’s biggest food firms has said ministers should consider taxing products high in fat, sugar or salt to combat the obesity crisis.
Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yogurt drink brand, says government intervention is required to ensure consumers are offered healthier products. It says some food firms in the UK have not shown “enough appetite to change”.
Continue reading...They came to fill gaps in a sector desperate for staff. Now an Observer investigation finds Indian nurses stuck in debt and despair, and wounded by broken promises
Nurses hired from abroad to work for one of Britain’s biggest social care chains have been left in debt and are in some cases suicidal after being stranded without pay for months.
They have also been paid lower wages than they were told they would receive and were in some cases given false promises about their accommodation and employment terms, an Observer investigation has found.
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