Kidderminster medical equipment explosion in hospital car park
The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust posted on social media: "All hospital services are still running as normal, and patients with scheduled appointments should continue to attend as planned."The Minor Injuries Unit remains open as usual."
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The Sun
32 minutes ago
- The Sun
If doctors think Brits will support their latest strike here's why they're mistaken – people are not stupid
WHAT on Earth was Labour expecting? Coming to power last year, it awarded junior doctors a 22 per cent pay rise. 3 3 And simultaneously abolished legislation brought in by the Conservatives to make it harder for public sector unions to hold the country to ransom. Twelve months later and the British Medical Association has come back for more. This time it is demanding an even bigger, 29 per cent rise for junior doctors (who now like to be called "resident doctors" to disguise the fact they are still in training). The union has announced a five-day strike if it doesn't get what it wants. Health Secretary Wes Streeting seems to be taken aback, along with the rest of the Government, but he shouldn't be. It was obvious that by caving into the BMA last year, he would embolden it. Under the new rules, the BMA does not need a majority of its members to vote in favour of strike action, and neither does it have to worry about the now-repealed law brought in by the Conservatives which guaranteed minimum service levels on strike days. Something, however, has changed since last year to thwart the BMA's ambitions. It has suffered a collapse in public support. Prior to last year's pay award, a majority of the public appeared to support junior doctors' strikes. Junior Doctors Announce Five-Day Strike in July Amid Ongoing Pay Dispute Now, according to a YouGov poll, only 33 per cent support strike action, and 49 per cent oppose it. The BMA seems to think that doctors hold such an esteemed position in the minds of the UK public that it can get away with anything. Perhaps it remembers all the clapping on the doorsteps during the Covid pandemic and thinks that people will forever after react in the same way, even when they are having appointments and operations cancelled due to a five-day strike. But it is sadly mistaken. We all, rightly, applaud doctors for what they do, especially when they go out of their way to help us. But there are limits. Last year's pay rise for junior doctors was way above that offered to any other group of workers. So, too, is the 5.4 per cent rise which junior doctors have been awarded this year. To come back and ask for an even bigger rise, and expect the public to nod in support, shows a detachment from reality. People are not stupid. They can see the Government is deep in debt, and that Britain is heading for fiscal disaster if the Government continues to spend more than it earns in revenue. They can see, too, that the BMA's claim junior doctors need a 29 per cent rise to restore their earnings to 2008 levels is spurious to say the least. It is based on calculations using the Retail Prices Index, a long-discredited measure of inflation which tends to run well ahead of the official index now used for almost everything, the Consumer Prices Index. There are plenty of workers whose pay has fallen back in real terms over the past decade and a half, and for good reason. 3 Britain has been struggling to achieve any meaningful economic growth. Productivity is static, and in the public services has fallen lower than it was in 1997 when Tony Blair came to power. The Government had an opportunity to link last year's pay award to improved working practices, with the aim of improving lamentable NHS productivity, but chose not to do so. The public can also see doctors have a generous pension scheme, with taxpayers contributing an extra 23.7 per cent of doctors' pay in the form of pension contributions. When doctors retire, they will enjoy guaranteed, index-linked payouts. Few, if any, private sector workers enjoy pensions which are anything like as generous. Index-linked payouts Streeting has at least acknowledged the generosity of doctors' pensions, suggesting he might be prepared to offer pay rises in return for lower pension entitlements. As for the claim junior doctors were being paid less per hour than baristas in high street coffee shops, even the BMA has given up on that propaganda. Actually, with overtime payments, some of the junior doctors going on strike could be earning in excess of £100,000 a year. It is important to remember, however, that not all junior, or 'resident', doctors support these strikes. Only 55 per cent of BMA members actually voted in the ballot. Moreover, not all junior doctors are members of the BMA. Of the 77,000 working in the NHS the BMA claims 48,000. Many doctors have been horrified by the prospect of more strikes, with Lord Darzi and Lord Winston both condemning them in recent days. It even led to Lord Winston's resignation from the BMA. Doctors are being badly served by the BMA, which is really just a trade union like any other. Many may at present be pleased with last year's pay award, but the BMA is taking them down a blind alley of militant unionism which is unlikely to end well. What has always marked out the medical profession is very high levels of public support.
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
UK children taken to hospital after using vapes laced with Spice
An increase in vapes contaminated with synthetic drug Spice has led to secondary school children being rushed to hospital. The lab-made drug which mimics the effects of cannabis but with much stronger consequences, can cause breathing problems, heart attacks and seizures. Other symptoms include feeling dizzy, vomiting, heart racing, sweating, anxiety, and paranoia. Police have warned of a national increase in vapes being contaminated with spice in secondary schools and in severe cases children have been taken to hospital. It comes after a study in a university-led study last year heard from headteachers who reported children collapsing and ending up in hospital. 'We've seen vomiting and behaviour changes, and we've had an incident where there were concerns that a child was having a fit. The reactions can be very, very broad,' PSCO Jon Akehurst from Wiltshire Police warned. Working with Bath University, Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council, police are using a new device to test any suspected contaminated vapes to prevent any further harm to students. "I'd urge parents to have conversations with your child about the dangers and risks as well as what happens if they do use a vape which is contaminated with something,' PCSO Akehurst said. "Make it clear that if you do take these things, it has an impact on your life,' he added. Officers are urging parents to talk to their children about the dangers of using contaminated vapes from the health effects to the impact it can have on your life. PCOS Akehurst warned that there can be many different reactions to the lab-made drug. "You may have a substance addiction; you might need it constantly, it's going to cost you money, and you could end up in debt. There are real-life consequences for anyone taking drugs. If you are concerned about your child, there are people that can help and support you,' he said. The stark warning comes after an investigation by the University of Bath found one in six vapes confiscated from schools contained Spice. The study published in July last year saw vapes confiscated in 38 schools in England, finding more than 16 per cent contained the synthetic form of cannabis. Professor Chris Pudney, from the university's department of life sciences, conducted the tests using the device that instantly detects synthetic drugs. Professor Pudney said: "We know children can have cardiac arrests when they smoke spice, and I believe some have come quite close to death. 'Headteachers are telling me pupils are collapsing in the halls and ending up with long stays in intensive care.'
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fiona Phillips' husband reveals devastating moment star, 64, 'didn't recognise their son' amid her battle with Alzheimer's in latest heartbreaking health update
Fiona Phillips' husband Martin Frizell has recalled the devastating moment the TV star failed to recognise their son amid her battle with Alzheimer's. The former GMTV host, 64, who is mother to Nathaniel, 26, and Mackenzie, 23, was diagnosed with the progressive brain disorder in 2022 at the age of just 61. In Fiona's upcoming memoir Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer's, Martin shared how the broadcaster became 'terribly distressed' when she could not recognise their eldest son Nat. In an extract published in The Mirror he penned: 'One weekend, Nat was home from the Army and making tea in the kitchen while Fiona and I sat watching television'. 'She became terribly distressed. "Who's that man in the kitchen?" she asked me. "That's Nat" I said gently. "Our son. He's home for the weekend". She was in such a state that she didn't even seem upset that she had asked the question'. Martin said that Nat would have been 'devastated' to hear his mother being unable to recognise him, but thankfully he did not. It comes after Martin, 66, and Fiona detailed the worrying time they feared their sons could inherit Alzheimer's. When the couple first learned of her diagnosis, they were concerned if the disease was genetic and would strike their sons. After a genetic test, Fiona and Martin were relieved to discover their boys weren't in danger of inheriting the disease. In the Mail's exclusive extract from her upcoming memoir, Martin said: 'We did tackle one fear and talked to Fiona's consultant about whether she had inherited the illness from her parents. 'She then had a genetic test, because if she carried the gene for Alzheimer's there was a danger the boys would have it, too, which in turn might mean them thinking about IVF if they wanted children, in order to break the genetic line. 'Thankfully, the test was negative.' He added: 'That meant she didn't carry the gene so the boys wouldn't either. But the doctor said she was clearly predisposed to Alzheimer's. 'I didn't entirely understand what he meant. How could someone be 'predisposed' to a particular disease if there wasn't something in their genetic make-up that determined it?'. 'But he assured me this was the case. While Fiona's chances of getting the disease had always been a lot higher, that didn't mean she would pass it on to her children. 'A few months later we told the boys what was happening. By then, she was even more withdrawn and forgetful and they knew she'd had a series of hospital appointments. 'Rather than the terrible news landing on them like a bomb, I'd gradually shared with them the sense that something was very wrong. 'When the moment came and I used the dreaded 'Alzheimer's' word, I think they were prepared for it – however awful that news was. 'They were just heartbroken for their mum, though she didn't want to make a big fuss about it all. 'She was able to dismiss it from her mind and so the conversation quickly moved on. It may sound strange, but that is how it was.' Elsewhere in the memoir, Martin gave a heartbreaking confession on his wife's condition. Martin emotionally admitted the family are 'slowing saying goodbye to the woman they love', who soon will be 'wiped away' by the disease. Martin explained how he and their sons are 'enduring a living grief' as they watch the 'glittering star' deteriorate through time. 'Bit by bit, it [Alzheimer's] takes everything. Through time, even the most glamorous, glittering star – such as Fiona was – will be wiped away', he wrote. He added: 'Sorting the bank accounts, utility direct debits, hospital appointments, clothes, washing, parking permits, shopping, cooking, tidying the house – in fact, all the stuff I took for granted because Fiona dealt with it (as well as her own career) – became my responsibilities, along with a seven-day-a-week job. 'It was knackering. There were times I felt drained, physically and emotionally. 'On top of the stress, the boys and I are enduring a kind of living grief – a slow goodbye to the woman we love.' In the memoir, the pair - who wed in 1997 and share two children - revealed their marriage was 'falling apart' as a result of Fiona's then undiagnosed battle with the disease. Fiona explained: 'My marriage was coming under increasing strain. 'I'm sure the disease was at least partly responsible, but at the time neither of us could see it. I just became more and more disconnected from Martin and the boys. '"You've totally zoned out of our family and our marriage," he would say to me. "Don't be so bloody ridiculous!" I'd yell back. 'But, if I'm honest, I think he was right. I just didn't seem to have the energy for any of it any more. 'I didn't realise quite how seriously Martin felt about it all until one evening he announced he was moving out. '"Stop being so ridiculous!'" I yelled. "I'm just worn out. I'm tired – of everything." '"That's what you've been saying for years,'" he replied. "Maybe this – our marriage – is what's making you so tired."' Fiona first met Martin when she was working on GMTV as a presenter and he was its chief correspondent. He later popped the question after they had been dating for just four weeks, before they went to Las Vegas to tie the knot in 1997. Last year, he revealed he was stepping down as editor of ITV's This Morning after 10 years in charge, in order to be 'around much more' for his wife during her Alzheimer's battle. Having turned his back on his prolific job, in his own candid words, Martin revealed Fiona now needs 'a lot of help', with his care extending to showering Fiona, brushing her teeth, dressing her and ultimately 'making her feel as safe as possible'. He explained: 'It is January 2025 as I write this, and Fiona needs a lot of help. She needs help showering and brushing her teeth. She can do these things physically, but is unable now to think about how she should do them... 'I wash Fiona's hair because she wouldn't know what shampoo or conditioner to use or how wet her hair needs to be or that she must rinse the soap suds out afterwards... 'And most nights I'll say, 'Right, we need to brush our teeth before we go to bed,' and I'll put the toothpaste on the brush and hand it to her... Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer's, by Fiona Phillips will be published on July 17. What is Alzheimer's? Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, in which build-up of abnormal proteins causes nerve cells to die. This disrupts the transmitters that carry messages, and causes the brain to shrink. More than 5 million people suffer from the disease in the US, where it is the 6th leading cause of death, and more than 1 million Britons have it. WHAT HAPPENS? As brain cells die, the functions they provide are lost. That includes memory, orientation and the ability to think and reason. The progress of the disease is slow and gradual. On average, patients live five to seven years after diagnosis, but some may live for ten to 15 years. EARLY SYMPTOMS: Loss of short-term memory Disorientation Behavioral changes Mood swings Difficulties dealing with money or making a phone call LATER SYMPTOMS: Severe memory loss, forgetting close family members, familiar objects or places Becoming anxious and frustrated over inability to make sense of the world, leading to aggressive behavior Eventually lose ability to walk May have problems eating The majority will eventually need 24-hour care
