Digital landline switch could sever telecare alarms, Gloucestershire council warns
Telephone providers are upgrading the landline network across the country from analogue to digital as copper networks become increasingly unreliable and spare parts are no longer available.But this switch may disrupt telecare alarms, as many older telecare systems rely on the analogue infrastructure to communicate with monitoring centres.Alerting your landline provider can enable them to update your equipment, or make the necessary arrangements to ensure you stay connected.Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: "We cannot afford to leave anyone behind during the vital transition to digital landlines."I urge anyone with a telecare alarm – or anyone close to a user of a telecare alarm - to pick up the phone and contact their provider to access the help that's available."
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Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Pupils who want to be doctors 'barred' from vital work experience at NHS hospitals - because they go to private school
Some of the UK's largest hospital trusts have effectively barred private-school pupils who want to be doctors from undertaking vital NHS work experience. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that official schemes at world-famous London hospitals, including Barts and University College London Hospital (UCLH), are only open to local state schools. Meanwhile King's College Hospital Trust, which includes King's College Hospital – one of the largest teaching hospitals – gives 'priority to those not attending a private school', as does South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. Last night critics accused the NHS of discrimination and being 'infected by Labour's vendetta against independent education'. The British Medical Association strongly advises pupils who want to be doctors that they need clinical work experience to even be considered for a medical degree. But now thousands of children, including those on bursaries – around a third of the estimated 650,000 private-school pupils in the UK – are struggling to find work experience at key hospitals. One would-be medical student from Emanuel School in south London was told by King's College Hospital Trust – their local NHS trust – that pupils from private schools were not admitted on to their courses, even if they lived in the area. And the MoS has learned of another, on a 100 per cent bursary, who 'applied to every hospital trust and GP practice within an hour of her home' including Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Northampton General Hospital and Milton Keynes University Hospital but 'received either rejections or no responses from almost all' because of the school she attends. Last night, Gordon West, head of careers at prestigious independent school Stowe, said: 'This young woman is not from a wealthy background at all; she's from one of the highest priority groups there are. 'Policies like King's College don't account for stories like hers. By excluding private-school kids, they also shut out students on 100 per cent bursaries, many of whom come from families with very limited means.' He added that it was a common story for sixth formers desperate for medical experience to be turned away. 'Even where independent students aren't officially barred, they are often de-prioritised. Unfortunately, missing out on clinical work experience really does put them at a disadvantage. 'This is essentially indirect discrimination. The silence and rejections they face when seeking placements are very telling.' It is the latest in a series of NHS policies which discriminate against private pupils revealed by the MoS, including the case of an eight-year-old boy turned away for treatment by Kingston and Richmond NHS Trust because he went to a private school. This newspaper also exposed the cases of a girl in Somerset who was refused mental health treatment by her local NHS Trust as she was privately educated. A King's College Hospital NHS Trust spokesman said: 'In 2024, we facilitated 396 work placements. The vast majority were for students from state schools.' At Barts Hospital, a spokesman said that placements for private-school pupils could be offered – but only through a staff referral. South London and Maudsley NHS Trust said its aim was to 'support applicants from local schools who meet the participation criteria' such as 'being from a lower income family', but it warns 'priority will be given to those not attending a private school'. On its website, UCLH says it cannot 'accommodate' students outside of its partnerships with The Social Mobility Foundation and 'selected local schools', however a spokesman said placements were possible 'for friends and family of UCLH staff members'. Sources at NHS England said it was for individual trusts to allocate work experience placements. By Karol Sikora, British Medical Expert The NHS is often revered on account of it being available for everyone, regardless of their means. Yet it is all too happy to discriminate against you if you went to a private school. Now it has extended its petty class war to sixth-form pupils considering a career in medicine. Several trusts are refusing work experience to those educated in the independent sector. It is true that pupils from middle-class backgrounds have an advantage when it comes to organising work experience. One of your parents might be a doctor, or know someone who is. So, yes, it is important for hospitals and medical schools to make sure that work experience is given to people from all backgrounds. But instead of putting up spiteful barriers, they could approach state schools and invite them to apply. Banning people on account of what school they go to is just as wrong as discriminating against people on the basis of their race or sexuality. This crude form of social engineering is the work of rogue junior managers, no doubt addled by socialist drivel spouted by the British Medical Association, the profession's hard-Left union. No one has ever complained to me that their doctor was 'too posh'. They do, however, object when they cannot understand their physician. How much hand-wringing do these social-justice managers perform over requiring English language fluency – something patients actually want? My guess is not half as much, lest they be accused of discrimination – a word with an elastic meaning, it seems, when it comes to what school a candidate attended.
The Sun
7 minutes ago
- The Sun
I tested three meal delivery services that are a great alternative to high-calorie ready meals
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
AI to help slash NHS hospital discharge delays, officials say
Technology is being piloted to help free up NHS hospital beds which are occupied by people fit to be sent home, officials have announced. The platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help complete the documents needed to discharge patients, potentially saving hours of delays. The move will allow doctors to spend less time on paperwork and more time focused on care, cutting waiting times in the process, according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. The technology, which is being piloted at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, extracts information from medical records, including diagnoses and test results. This helps medics to draft discharge summaries, which have to be completed before a person is sent home from hospital. The document is then reviewed by healthcare professionals responsible for the patient and used to send them home or refer them to other services. The tool will be hosted on the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), a shared software system aiming to make it easier for health and care organisations to work together and provide better services to patients The current manual system can sometimes leave patients waiting for hours to be discharged, as doctors may be too busy to fill in forms, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Mr Streeting said: 'This potentially transformational discharge tool is a prime example of how we're shifting from analogue to digital as part of our 10-year health plan. 'We're using cutting-edge technology to build an NHS fit for the future and tackle the hospital backlogs that have left too many people waiting too long. 'Doctors will spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, getting people home to their families faster and freeing up beds for those who need them most.' The AI tool for discharge summaries is one of a number of projects to be backed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. In January, he said AI will be used to 'turn around' the economy and public services. Elsewhere, the Government has announced that technology shown to halve the time probation officers spend organising notes will be given to all 12,000 probation officers later this year. The system helps to transcribe and take notes from meetings that officers have with offenders after they leave prison. Speaking on a visit to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: 'This is exactly the kind of change we need, AI being used to give doctors, probation officers and other key workers more time to focus on delivering better outcomes and speeding up vital services. 'This Government inherited a public sector decimated by years of underinvestment and is crying out for reform. 'These AI exemplars show the best ways in which we're using tech to build a smarter, more efficient state. 'When we get this right across government, we're talking about unlocking £45 billion in productivity gains, delivering our plan for change and investing in growth, not bureaucracy.'
