Latest news with #Dover
The Independent
6 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Coroner has ‘no doubt' diagnosis could have prevented death of baby boy
A coroner has said there were 'missed opportunities' from 'many' medical visits which could have saved the life of a one-year-old boy. Archie Squire died from heart failure in the early hours of November 23 2023, after successive cardiac arrests, days after his first birthday. He was suffering from a rare heart defect in which the heart's lower half is reversed, which was never diagnosed despite at least 16 visits to medical staff in his 368 days of life. On Friday, the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, heard that if Archie had been diagnosed earlier he would 'almost certainly not have died at the time he did'. Area coroner Sarah Clarke said: 'I have no doubt earlier recognition and diagnosis of a very rare heart condition would have made a difference to the outcome for Archie. 'There are many points in the chronology where there were missed opportunities to do something differently to make the diagnosis of Archie's condition more likely.' Archie's parents made repeated visits to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate, Kent, and to St James' Surgery in Dover, with concerns about Archie's breathing and constipation which did not lead to long-term diagnoses. The coroner continued: 'He died as a direct result of heart failure with an underlying congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries – a rare condition that could have been diagnosed by an echocardiogram. 'Despite many presentations to medical personnel in the weeks and months leading up to his death, an echocardiogram was not undertaken.' His mother, Lauren Parrish, from Dover, recalled her son being labelled a 'mystery child' because doctors were not sure what was wrong with him. 'It felt like every time we sought medical help for his breathing he was diagnosed with some form of chest infection,' Ms Parrish said in a statement read by the coroner. Ms Clarke added that if a diagnosis had been found for Archie 'he would almost certainly not have died at the time that he did'. A report by paediatric cardiac surgeon Professor David Anderson noted an 'unacceptable' delay in Archie receiving an echocardiogram after being referred to QEQM by a GP on October 6. He wrote: 'If his diagnosis had been correctly made, he almost certainly would not have died when he did.' It added that 'the delay in obtaining an echo was unacceptable'. Last week, Ravindra Kumar, a paediatric registrar at QEQM responsible for Archie on the night he died, cried in court describing how his work has changed since Archie's death. Asked what he would do differently, Dr Kumar said: 'I regret talking about Archie's condition in front of the family to others, to my colleagues, I learned a big lesson to be more compassionate.' Medical records and Dr Kumar's witness statement suggest he did not see Archie between 9.30pm and 1am on the night he died, the inquest heard. Archie's godmother Nikki Escudier read a pen portrait of Archie to the court. She said: 'Archie Squire was a shining light. A little boy whose laughter, love and joy touched everyone lucky enough to know him. 'Born on November 20 2022, Archie brought happiness into the world from the very beginning. 'In just 368 precious days, he filled every moment with warmth, laughter and the kind of love that stays with you forever. 'His smile lit up the room and his presence left a lasting mark on every heart he touched.' The coroner commended Archie's family on their support for each other throughout the process, and has asked the East Kent Hospitals Trust to provide further evidence of their updated action plans and procedures since Archie's death. At the conclusion of the inquest, Tracey Fletcher, chief executive of East Kent Hospitals, said: 'We offer our sincere condolences to Archie's family. We can only imagine the pain they have endured and we are truly sorry that we did not identify Archie's condition earlier. 'After meeting with Archie's family, we have made important changes to our service. These include one standard process for triage and booking of child referrals, and prioritising the assessment of children referred to us. We will examine further learnings identified through the inquest process. 'Staff across the trust now receive specialised training to improve how clinical concerns, diagnoses and plans are discussed with families in our care. The training for our children's health team specifically draws on lessons learned from Archie's death.'
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK citizens face fingerprint checks each time they visit EU
British citizens who travel frequently to the EU face having their fingerprints individually checked each time they cross the border into the Schengen area because of delays in developing an app to verify biometrics digitally, it has emerged. It will be 'business as usual' this summer but 'a big change' in travel will be phased in from November, Doug Bannister, the chief executive of the Port of Dover has said. 'Significant infrastructure' including reclaiming 13 hectares of land in the Port of Dover to handle passengers getting out of cars and buses has been put in place to try to minimise disruption, Bannister said. Under the system being built, all car passengers will have to get out of their vehicle to be individually fingerprinted and photographed. On every subsequent journey, a fingerprint or a facial image will be verified along with passport number, in a major shift designed to get rid of 'wet stamping' and allow the number of days British visitors stay in the EU in any given year to be automatically recorded. It is envisaged that an app that can be installed on a border force tablet can be passed into the car for verification of each individual's biometrics. Frontex, the European border agency, has developed the app, but confirmed it was up to each member state to implement its use. 'We have been told that any app won't be ready any time before November, but hopefully it could come swiftly after that,' said Bannister. '[It means] second, third, fourth time travellers still need to have a biometric captured at the border,' he said, meaning passengers will still have to get out of their vehicle for border checks until the app is ready. The ort prides itself on the speed with which it operates. Bannister says it can load and off-load a ferry 'with 120 trucks, 1,000 passengers and a couple of hundred cars in 45 minutes, faster than an A320 at Gatwick'. He is confident the biometric check regime being built will add just six minutes to a car journey. The new regime has presented particular challenges in Dover because the port is hemmed by the cliffs and there is no safe space for car passengers to be checked amid the flow of 10,000 trucks a day crossing the channel. 'In an airport you have a nice, air-conditioned, well-lit hall, and an orderly queue of foot passengers going through. But we needed to cater for a carload of four people on a large, stormy night. So we couldn't have people exit their vehicles [in the ferry queues]. That would be dangerous.' In an extraordinary solution supported by the UK and French governments, Dover will create a virtual frontier system, 1.4 miles across town for border checks on 12 hectares of reclaimed land. Peering down from the western cliffs, the first building to cater for coaches is already in place on a vast swathe of built-up ground currently topped with golden sand. A second bus and a separate car building will be installed in the coming months. To ensure the integrity of the border, buses will have their doors physically sealed with tape while they rejoin regular traffic across Dover town and continue a 1.4-mile journey from the western ferry to board the ferry at the eastern docks. Irregular movements between the biometric border and the ferry board will be monitored by a combination of AI and automatic number plate recognition. It isn't the only change Bannister is expecting in the coming months. He is also hopeful that the reset in the relationship between the UK and the EU will end the environmentally and economically damaging issue of trucks returning to the continent empty. Another byproduct of Brexit, it is estimated that on some days 30% to 40% of trucks have no cargo on them when they return to the continent because of strict checks on fresh food and farm products. These are expected to be scrapped as part of Keir Starmer's reset. With £144bn worth of goods traded over the channel every year, the Port of Dover is of critical economic interest to France and the UK, representing half of the total of UK goods exported to Europe, Bannister said. The EU and the UK have pledged to negotiate a new deal eliminating the checks on food, which will allow small food and farm producers to export to Europe once again.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Carnival Cruise Line passengers targeted by more travel scams
Carnival Cruise Line passengers targeted by more travel scams originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. Sophisticated scammers have targeted unsuspecting cruise passengers in a variety of ways lately. Multiple cruise lines have recently alerted passengers of a number of cruise scams, including schemes where individuals pose as cruise line employees or travel agents. The scammers attempt to trick passengers into making bogus payments for the balance of their cruise fare, cruise upgrades, or for airfare to their cruise departure Norwegian Cruise Line passenger reportedly lost nearly $20,000 to a new phone scam related to the cruise line's airfare deal. Along with these sorts of scams, cruisers are also being warned to watch out for new travel document scams, which can target all types of travelers, whether you're traveling by sea, air, or land. Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald recently alerted his more than 600,000 Facebook followers to two of these travel document scams that cruisers need to watch out for as they prepare for their vacations. While one of these scam warnings applies only to those visiting the UK, the other alerts cruisers of a scheme targeting those sailing from U.S. first travel scam that Heald addressed stems from the UK's new electronic travel authorization (ETA), a digital pre-clearance that most travelers must now obtain in order to visit the UK. Carnival Miracle recently kicked off its UK cruise season from Dover, England, and the brand ambassador has posted several reminders for passengers traveling to the UK for a cruise on the ship to make sure to obtain an ETA before their trip. If they don't, they won't be permitted to enter the country. An ETA is required for travelers of all ages visiting the UK who do not have a UK visa. It costs £16 (about $21) and can be applied for via the UK ETA app or online at applying for an ETA, it's vital that you double-check to make sure that you're applying via the official UK government app or website because fake ETA application websites are already popping up. 'There are once again despicable scammers targeting individuals trying to apply for ETA,' Heald told his followers. 'They are creating fake websites that resemble official government sites, charging inflated fees and potentially stealing personal information. We have had guests who have paid $90-$200 to sites and their approvals looked fake.' Heald also instructed passengers cruising from Dover to make sure to hold onto their ETA confirmation email. 'Please keep the copy of your email that you receive when you get your visa in case immigration officers at the airport or Dover need to see it.'Travel document scams are not just targeting travelers visiting the UK, however. Heald also warned passengers that a company posing as Carnival Cruise Line is tricking cruisers departing from U.S. ports into paying $400 to have travel documents needed for their cruise expedited to the cruise line. Of course, those documents don't reach the cruise line, causing problems for the passengers when they check in at the cruise port. 'Guests with document issues are showing up at our home ports stating that they called a company pretending to be CCL,' Heald explained. 'This company has their booking information somehow and tells them they will expedite copies of documents that they'll send to Carnival and that all is taken care of. They're charging $400 per transaction.' More Carnival cruise news:'And sadly, very sadly, some have fallen to this scam from these heartless, soulless creatures. So please be careful,' Heald urged. He also reminded passengers that they can always contact him on Facebook or call the legitimate Carnival Cruise Line phone number to verify or get assistance with anything related to their cruise. 'Even if you have a small dollop of doubt, ask us. Please write to me here on Facebook or of course call 1-800-carnival and we will make sure everything is confirmed and checked,' Heald promised. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on May 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Half term: Where to go for a family day out in Kent
Family days out don't have to cost the earth, according to a Kent Smith, who lives on the coast near Hythe, runs the Frugal Mum website and has written a top 15 of places to visit in the list of budget-friendly days out include locations that are either completely free or good value for money."You can spend a day and not spend any money," she told BBC Radio Sussex. One of the places she recommends is Brockhill Country Park, Hythe. "The kids can really roam free," she said. "It's massive - even when it is the school holidays you can find a corner for yourself, there's a stream, places for the kids to climb and roll down hills."Mrs Smith also includes Kearsney Abbey Gardens in Dover on her list. "There's a big lake, it's very pretty, loads of open spaces; huge fields to kick a football around and have a picnic," she said.A third place to enjoy in Kent, according to the Frugal Mum list, is the award-winning Mote Park in Maidstone. It has 450 acres of grassland and woodland, as well as a 30-acre lake, a river, pedalos and high ropes. Frugal Mum's Top 15 day trips Brockhill Country Park, HytheMote Park, MaidstoneFolkestone Three Peaks ChallengeWest Hythe river walkKearsney Abbey and Russell Gardens, DoverToddler's Cove, CanterburyDymchurch Beach, Romney MarshBetteshanger Country Park, DealLower Leas Coastal Park, FolkestoneViking Bay Beach, BroadstairsHeadcorn AerodromeThe Wye Downs, AshfordWalmer Paddling Pool, DealBedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, GoudhurstSamphire Hoe, Dover
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraskans to decide in 2026 whether to allow three four-year terms in Legislature
State Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk holds a stack of binders containing the budgetary work spearheaded by the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. March 12, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraskans now know the first ballot measure or constitutional amendment voters will consider in 2026: whether state lawmakers can serve up to three consecutive four-year terms, instead of two. The change comes with the 39-10 approval Wednesday of Legislative Resolution 19CA, from State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk and 22 other senators. Nebraskans implemented the current limits of two four-year terms for state senators via a voter-led initiative in 2000. It passed with 55.8% of the vote. Senators can sit out one term after being term-limited and run again. A term is counted if it lasts more than two years. So an appointed senator, such as State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, who was appointed in 2017, can serve up to 10 years straight. Dover has said term limits have particularly hurt Nebraska because of its Unicameral Legislature, limiting 'institutional knowledge' in the lawmaking body. 'In all other states in the U.S., there are two chambers, so that when a representative is termed out, they go to the other chamber and serve, taking their eight years of experience with them to continue to serve their state,' Dover said in a previous statement. Senators rejected multiple attempts from State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City to change LR 19CA so that the three four-year terms led to a lifetime ban or service, or prevented someone from returning to the Legislature until they had sat out eight years. Lawmakers advanced an identical measure to Dover's in 2012, in a 31-14 vote, which failed to pass at the ballot box, garnering 35.4% support. Lawmakers that same year, in a 31-15 vote, also advanced a constitutional amendment to increase lawmakers' salaries to $22,500 (up from $12,000). It failed with 31.6% support. The list of senators who have returned after being term-limited is relatively short: State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln is the only current senator to have done so, joining former State Sens. Ray Aguilar, Ernie Chambers, Steve Lathrop, Mike Flood and Rich Pahls. Chambers, across 46 years of service in two separate periods, is the only senator to be term-limited twice, in 2009 and 2021. He was a top target of the 2000 ballot measure. If voters approve LR 19CA next year, Dover is one senator who would be able to run for a third term in 2028. He was appointed in 2022, as was State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of the Millard area. Due to the timing of their appointments, Kauth had to run in a 2022 special election, but Dover did not have to run until 2024. Both supported LR 19CA. The remaining four-member class of senators elected in 2020 also would be allowed to run for a third term if voters approve LR 19CA: State Sens. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, Terrell McKinney of Omaha, Eliot Bostar of Lincoln and Rita Sanders of Bellevue. All four approved the measure. LR 19CA has supporters that include Civic Nebraska, the Civic Engagement Table, League of Nebraska Municipalities, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nebraska Farm Bureau and the OpenSky Policy Institute. Civic Nebraska has also been working with State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair to increase lawmaker pay through LR 25CA. This time, the proposal would create an independent lawmaker compensation commission that could more regularly raise (or lower) senators' pay. In efforts to not repeat the dual electoral defeats of measures to increase term limits and increase lawmaker pay in 2012, Hansen sought to get his lawmaker compensation change on the November 2026 ballot. He steered Dover's term-limit proposal to the May 2026 primary election instead. Such a tactic would have required Dover's LR 19CA to pass with at least 40 votes. Dover abandoned seeking a primary election vote when some supporters began to get cold feet at that approach. Had it passed unchanged and been approved by voters next May, the 10 senators who will be term-limited after 2026 could have instead run a write-in campaign for a third term that November. Hansen's effor to create the lawmaker compensation commission will not move forward in 2025 but could return in 2026. Other bills that passed on Wednesday include: LB 192, from State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island, to extend the current SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) income eligibility before it would return to pre-pandemic levels this October. An amendment from State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County prohibited the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services from waiving SNAP work requirements. DHHS 'may' require SNAP recipients to participate in an employment and training program. Passed 41-8. LB 290, from the Urban Affairs Committee and led by committee chair State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, to allow flexibility for a planned North Omaha area business park to be located outside a two-mile radius of Eppley Airfield. Problems complicated two proposed sites that a development team had prioritized for the project, which is seeded with a $90 million state grant. Passed 31-18. LB 346, from Speaker John Arch of La Vista at the governor's request, to eliminate or modify the membership or duties of 39 boards, commissions, committees, councils, task forces and panels. These range from the Nebraska Potato Development Committee and Advisory Council on Public Water Supply to the Women's Health Initiative Advisory Council and Whiteclay Public Health Emergency Task Force. Entities that faced opposition, such as the Racial Profiling Advisory Committee, were preserved as LB 346 worked through the Legislature. Passed 49-0. LB 371, from State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, to provide civil damages for the creation and release of computer-generated or digitally manipulated intimate, 'private' or nude images without the depicted person's consent. DeBoer created the underlying civil law for the nonconsensual sharing of any intimate images in 2019. Passed 49-0. LB 382, from State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender, to appropriate $4 million over the next two years for the state's eight designated agencies on aging in part to help keep Meals on Wheels afloat. The bill at one point included McKinney's LB 48, to create a family resource and juvenile assessment center pilot program in Omaha, which had previously failed to advance. McKinney's LB 48 was revived and removed from Meyer's bill. Passed 48-1. LB 398, from State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus, chair of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, would increase fees for driver and vehicle records beginning July 1. It also includes bills to create license plates honoring Arbor Day (LB 568, from State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha) and for those who have served or are serving in the U.S. Space Force or have been awarded a U.S. Army Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (LB 134, from State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue). Holdcroft's provisions would also allow disabled veterans or recipients of a Purple Heart to apply for specialty license plates. Passed 45-4. LB 504, from State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, and a priority of Gov. Jim Pillen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers, requires online services to explicitly protect minor users' data and personal information in the physical design of certain applications or websites, including social media. It would require default parental tools up to their child's 13th birthday, including ways to crack down on screen time, external communications, 'unnecessary' design features, in-game purchases, personalized recommendations and geolocation tracking. Notifications and push alerts for minors would also be prohibited during certain hours of the day. Passed 42-7. LB 513, also from Bosn, to give all 148 judges in the state a 1.5% raise each of the next two fiscal years. Judges have gotten increases in 30 of the past 36 years back to 1989, the last time that state lawmakers got a raise. Passed 38-11, the narrowest passage in about two decades. LB 521, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, as an election 'cleanup' package to allow hospice or disability services patient records to count as photo ID, stop petition signature verification on candidates or new political parties at 110% of the goal, prohibit petition circulation within 200 feet of ballot drop boxes, notify a voter if their voter registration is canceled and permit the Secretary of State's Office to distribute petition pages to counties 'by a secure method' rather than just by mail or law enforcement. The package included LB 659, from Andersen, which would allow political parties to appoint watchers to monitor county election officials' already mandatory three independent tests of vote-counting devices, the results of which would be published online. Also included was LB 19, from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, to allow Lincoln or Omaha to move odd-year city elections in April and May to be in line with even-year statewide primary and general elections. Passed 49-0. LB 558, from State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, to create an Infrastructure Review Task Force to review past, present and future transportation infrastructure needs every year. The task force would include the governor, a designee of the governor, director of the Nebraska Department of Transportations, the speaker of the Legislature, the chair of the Legislature's Revenue Committee (currently von Gillern), the chair of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee (currently Moser), tax commissioner and three other state senators. Passed 49-0. Nebraska Examiner senior reporter Cindy Gonzalez contributed to this report. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
