Ambulance boat transfers person from Alderney to Guernsey
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BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
London Ambulance Service cuts 999 average response time
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) has cut its average response time for urgent treatment and is reaching people faster than last year, according to new NHS England emergency service reached category two patients eight minutes faster and category one patients approximately 30 seconds faster in July 2025 than it did in July two calls include emergencies such as strokes, difficulty breathing and chest pains. Category one calls are life-threatening situations, such as cardiac Killens, chief executive at LAS, said the figures were a testament to the hard work of the organisation's operational staff. 'Challenging backdrop' The improved response times come despite the LAS facing some of its busiest weeks this handlers received 191,797 999 calls in July 2025, about 12,200 more than the same time period last year, in part due to the hot represents approximately 400 more calls a day and an increase in nearly 7% of 999 call volumes, LAS said. The service has a target to reach category one calls in under seven minutes. In July 2024, its average response time to those calls was seven minutes and 25 seconds. Last month, it was six minutes and 56 seconds. "Our people have really focused on getting to our sickest patients even faster despite the challenging backdrop of further demand on the NHS," Mr Killens said."I recognise that there is more work to do, but these promising response times for patients show that our work to treat more patients over phone, improve our processes, and working closely with our NHS partners in the capital is paying off."The response time improvement came after the service changed the way staff gather equipment, leading to faster dispatch times, according to have also been working with hospitals to hand patients over quicker, in order to get back on the road for Killens added that clinicians were also focussing on directing patients to the most appropriate care through a phone assessment, to avoid people going to busy hospitals when visits are not July, 27,500 Londoners were treated over the phone by LAS clinicians to avoid attending hospital, compared to 22,700 during the same period last year.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
One in 10 pregnant women in Guernsey smoking at time of delivery
More than 10% of pregnant women in Guernsey said they were smoking at the time of delivery, new data says. Guernsey's Quitline and Public Health said last year, when 10.4% admitted smoking while pregnant, engagement with the smoking cessation service was "low, with women frequently declining appointments or not attending accepted appointments".The services added that further work was under way "to explore how we can improve the engagement of expectant women with services to help them quit smoking".Meanwhile, the UK reported a record low of 6.1% in the same year. The bailiwick levels were also up by 2.7% from the year bosses said pregnant women who were identified as smoking at the time of booking a maternity appointment or subsequent antenatal appointments were referred to the Quitline service on an opt-out appointments are then offered weekly for at least 12 weeks."The Quitline nurses understand that stopping smoking can feel daunting. However, it is absolutely achievable... with the friendly professional support and, where appropriate, free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)," the service is also the option to Health warned: "Smoking during pregnancy is harmful to both the mother and baby, and remains a significant risk factor for serious health complications."The risks of smoking in pregnancy include a greater risk of miscarriage, pre-term delivery, a low birthweight baby, stillbirth or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)".
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Insomnia breakthrough as experts discover key 'driver' of the sleep problem that ruins millions of lives
Scientists have pinpointed why millions of people struggle to get a good night's sleep—and it's not lumpy pillows or a racing mind, the problem lies in their GUT. In a new study, published in medical journal General Psychiatry, researchers explored the link between nodding off and the presence of certain types of bacteria in the digestive system. Study lead Shangyun Shi, from Nanjing Medical University in China, concluded that there appears to be a direct link between gut bacteria and the risk of insomnia. Ms Shi used the data from 386,533 people with insomnia and compared it with data taken from two studies into microbiomes—totalling 26,548 people—who had 71 groups of bacteria in common. She concluded that certain types of bacteria seem to boost or lower the risk of insomnia, and the sleep disorder itself also seems to alter the presence of certain types of bacteria. The analysis revealed a total of 14 groups of bacteria were positively associated (1-4 per cent higher odds), and 8 groups negatively associated (1-3 per cent lower odds), with insomnia. Insomnia was also noted to have an effect on gut microbiome. It was linked to a reduction of 43 per cent to 79 per cent of seven groups of bacteria, and a more than four-fold increase in the abundance of 12 other groups. One group in particular, the odoribacter class of bacteria which is also linked to was associated with insomnia. High levels of odoribacter are linked with good gut help and lower levels of inflammation in the body, while lower levels have been observed in people living with diagnoses of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity and type 2 diabetes. Ms Shi said her study further cemented the link between 'the effects of insomnia on gut microbiota, and vice versa', adding that they have a complex two-way relationship. Future treatments for insomnia could therefore include ways to manage levels of gut bacteria, including the use of probiotics, prebiotics, or faecal microbiota transplantation. However, Ms Shi noted that the study was not without limitations which needed further exploration. Firstly, all the study participants were of European descent. This is important to note as the make-up of the microbiome varies among different ethnicities and geographies. Furthermore, lifestyle factors such as diet and lifestyle weren't accounted for. These are known to have an effect the microbiome, and the interplay between genes and the environment, The NHS estimates that around a third of Britons experience insomnia, with a similar figure in the US. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BODIES IF WE STAY AWAKE FOR DAYS ON END? Failing to sleep for days on end can cause an array of symptoms and may even be deadly. Within the first 24 hours of sleep deprivation, the body's hormone levels change, leading to a rise in blood pressure, SLATE reported. By day two the body is no longer able to break down glucose properly, leading to carbohydrate cravings. A person's body temperature also drops and their immune system becomes compromised. Although no human has ever being reported as dying from insomnia, a 1980s study by the University of Chicago found rats died after 32 days of total sleep deprivation. It is thought the rodents' body temperatures dropped so much they developed hypothermia. Their immune systems may also have become so weak that bacteria normally confined to their guts spread throughout their bodies. Another theory is the animals became so stressed they died. One of the most famous insomniacs is the music teacher Michael Corke, of New Lenox, Illinois, who suffered from the rare disease fatal familial insomnia. He died aged 42 after an alleged six months of total sleep deprivation, however, it cannot be said for sure that insomnia is what killed him. But it is Randy Gardner who holds the record for the longest time without sleep. In 1964 while at secondary school in San Diego, the then 17-year-old stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes.
