Global cyber-attack: NHS services among victims – live updates

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• This is not targeted at the NHS, it’s an international attack, says Theresa May

• NHS England declares major incident after ransomware blocks access to patient records, internal phones and emails

8.34pm BST

More than half of Scotland’s health boards have been affected by a large-scale cyber attack on NHS computer systems. GP surgeries and dental surgeries were among some of the locations hit by the ransomware attack on IT networks, the Press Association reports.

NHS Lanarkshire said only those patients requiring emergency treatment should attend hospital while they dealt with the issue on Friday.

7.50pm BST

The Agence France-Presse news agency reports that, in Spain, employees at the telecom giant Telefónica were told to shut down their workstations immediately through megaphone announcements as the attack spread.

Forcepoint Security Labs said that “a major malicious email campaign” consisting of nearly 5m emails per hour was spreading the ransomware.

7.44pm BST

Some more quotes from the prime minister. She has told reporters:

I think what is important is that we have recognised that increasingly we need to be aware of the need to address cyber security issues, that’s why the National Cyber Security Centre has been set up. It is now able to work with the NHS to support the organisations concerned and to ensure that patient safety is protected.

7.36pm BST

After the prime minister said she was “not aware of any evidence that patient data has been compromised”, Ross Anderson, a professor of security engineering at Cambridge university, advises caution.

The NHS are saying that patient privacy hasn’t been compromised, but if significant numbers of hospitals have been negligently running unpatched computers for two months after the patch came out, how do they know?

7.24pm BST

Some more on that statement from the prime minister, Theresa May, who says:

We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported that they have suffered from a ransomware attack.

This is not targeted at the NHS, it’s an international attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected.

7.21pm BST

There are reports around that as many as 40 NHS organisations have been hit by the cyber-attack. NHS Digital says it is not going to confirm the number until tomorrow.

7.08pm BST

The cyber-attack that has hit the NHS is part of a wider international attack, the prime minister Theresa May has confirmed.

She said there is no evidence that patient data had been compromised.

7.02pm BST

One expert who has worked closely with law enforcement says this would be seen as an attack on critical national infrastructure. He says investigators will be examining systems affected by the ransomware to see how badly they are affected and whether they, in turn, can or already have infected other computer systems connected to them.

He adds that the fear is that the ransonware cannot be broken and thus data and files infected are either lost or that the only way to get them back would be to pay the ransom, which would involve giving money to criminals.

7.00pm BST

One question arising from the attack on a sector of critical national infrastructure is whether the government has a policy on paying ransom to cyber hackers.

British government policy in the case of a terrorist attack or of the taking of a person hostage is clear: ransom will not be paid. But it is not clear if a policy exists for the 21st-century cyber equivalent. The lead agency dealing with the attack on the NHS is the National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of GCHQ.

6.57pm BST

The New York Times is reporting that 12 countries, including the UK, have been affected.

It reports that the attack struck “computers across a wide swath of Europe and Asia”, saying that Japan, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam and the Philippines are among those affected.

6.51pm BST

Prof Alan Woodward, a security expert from the University of Surrey, says the attackers appear to have taken advantage of a chink in the armour of Microsoft XP that was exposed in a recent leak of CIA hacking tools.

He says the problem may have been exacerbated because organisations have not updated their software with the fixes made available, or are using outdated versions.

From what we can see, it is a piece of ransomware called wanna decryptor. It goes by other names but it emerged in February 2017. Since then, it has been modified and there is evidence that it is spreading using a flaw in the Microsoft network protocol called SMB, which was exposed in the recent dump of exploits that were allegedly from US intelligence agencies.

It is not just the NHS affected: reports suggest it is a global problem. The virulence is likely to be because some organisations have either not applied the patch released by Microsoft, or they are using outdated operating systems (such as XP) that are no longer supported by Microsoft and hence no patch exists.

6.34pm BST

NHS England have released an updated statement. Dr Anne Rainsberry, the NHS incident director, said:

We’d like to reassure patients that if they need the NHS and it’s an emergency that they should visit A&E or access emergency services in the same way as they normally would and staff will ensure they get the care they need.

More widely, we ask people to use the NHS wisely while we deal with this major incident, which is still ongoing. NHS Digital are investigating the incident and across the NHS we have tried and tested contingency plans to ensure we are able to keep the NHS open for business.

6.31pm BST

Here’s a little background from my colleagues Damien Gayle, Alexandra Topping and Sarah Marsh. They report the situation as it stood at about 5pm today:

Hospitals across England have been hit by a large-scale cyber-attack, the NHS has confirmed, which has locked staff out of their computers and forced many trusts to divert emergency patients.

The IT systems of NHS sites across the country appear to have been simultaneously hit, with a pop-up message demanding a ransom in exchange for access to the PCs. NHS England has declared a major incident. NHS Digital said it was aware of the problem and would release more details soon.

6.25pm BST

The NHS has declared a major incident after it was hit by a cyber attack that is thought to have affected services across England and Scotland. Staff have been locked out of their computers and many trusts have been forced to divert emergency patients.

We’ll be updating you here as this story develops.

Continue reading…

Global cyber-attack: NHS services among victims – live updates

NHS tainted blood scandal: scheme to compensate victims to be scaled back

A scheme to compensate the victims of an NHS blood contamination scandal is to be scaled back under government plans announced on Monday.

Ministers believe the reforms are necessary because more people are now considered likely to develop serious health issues – and be entitled to higher payouts – pushing the programme as much as £123m over budget.

The government has proposed measures that would cut predicted costs, including limiting the availability of the higher level of financial support under the scheme.

Campaigners said they had significant concerns about the proposed changes. While the Haemophilia Society welcomed the greater clarity, it said it was not confident that the government would achieve its aim of ensuring that no one who received an annual payment would be left worse off.

The scheme was set up to compensate the victims of the tainted blood scandal in the 1970s and 80s, during which thousands of haemophiliacs were mistakenly given blood contaminated with hepatitis C.

“In July 2016, estimates suggested that the reform would be affordable,” the government’s review said. But the Department of Health now believes that more people with pre-cirrhotic hepatitis C would benefit from the scheme’s higher tier of payouts than previously forecast. “Under new assumptions, the reforms would lead to an estimated overspend of between £76m and £123m,” the department’s impact assessment says.

In a bid to cut costs, the health minister Nicola Blackwood outlined plans to limit the highest level of financial support under the new scheme to those infected with hepatitis C who have developed advanced liver disease. A £50,000 lump sum would no longer be offered to those with less advanced infections.

Other changes include dropping plans to introduce a fixed increase in annual payments and reducing the budget available for discretionary payments.

In a written ministerial statement, Blackwood said: “The government does not anticipate that there will be any reduction in current spending as a result of the consultation proposals. No one who currently receives an annual payment will be worse off than they are now as a result of the proposed changes to the annual payments.”

In July, the government unveiled plans to add £125m of funding to its compensation scheme, more than doubling the DoH’s annual spend on the scheme to 2021. That included the new special appeals mechanism for those with chronic hepatitis C infection.

The six-week consultation runs until 17 April.

NHS tainted blood scandal: scheme to compensate victims to be scaled back

GPs miss chances to save the life of victims of domestic abuse

GPs are missing vital opportunities to intervene and potentially save the lives of people experiencing domestic abuse, a leading charity has warned.

Two women are murdered every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner. The latest crime statistics show that 332 women and 78 men were killed by their partners or ex-partners between March 2012 and March 2015. An analysis of 24 domestic homicide reviews (DHRs) from murders committed over the same period show that in more than half of the cases examined, doctors missed vital opportunities to identify risks and seek help for the victim.

The research, by the charity Standing Together, also found that in 25% of cases GPs failed to make inquiries following disclosures or warning signs displayed by the perpetrator. Now it is calling for domestic abuse awareness training to be made compulsory after results from an initiative set up to help GPs spot the signs of domestic abuse found referrals to specialist services increased considerably when doctors’ surgeries had been given appropriate training.

As the only stakeholder group that consistently and actively engages with both victims and perpetrators, GP surgery staff play a crucial role in preventing murders. “Our research shows both parties are more likely to seek help or make disclosures to their GP than any other agency,” says Standing Together’s chief executive, Nicole Jacobs.

DHRs are multi-agency accounts of the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by someone they were related to, shared a household with or with whom they were in, or previously in, an intimate relationship. Murders between intimate partners accounted for the DHRs studied as part of a wider sample by the charity in partnership with London Metropolitan University. Of the victims murdered by a partner or former partner, 22 were women. The youngest was 20 and the oldest was 81. “When we use the term ‘missed opportunities’ we are talking about blatant warning signs that are indicative of domestic abuse,” Jacobs explains.

Most frequently observed was a “lack of professional curiosity about relationships with partners or children’s fathers”, according to the report. In one case a woman reported having “an accident or fight” and had been punched, but “also had tenderness in the abdomen”. Another review found that a surgery failed to make inquiries after a patient attended the clinic with an ear injury that she said was not self-inflicted. “In these cases the GPs may have treated the physical injuries, but have not referred the person to specialist support. And they certainly did not note an instance of domestic abuse in the patient’s medical records. So when we say ‘missed opportunities’ we mean quite specific key indicators,” Jacobs adds.

In one case the offender rang the surgery requesting a home visit for an injection to ‘put [the victim] to sleep’

DHR report

Six DHR reports also noted missed opportunities for GPs to ask the perpetrators about domestic abuse. In one case the offender even rang the surgery requesting a home visit for an injection to “put [the victim] to sleep”. He later presented with a painful shoulder, which he said was the consequence of him trying to “throw a bottle”, yet there was no follow-up. Another man presented injuries following three separate violent altercations, including one that involved assaulting a police officer – yet no further inquiries were made. And while one patient was “impulsive, controlling and had anger issues”, according to his GP, these were not considered to be risk factors in his relationship.

Lack of information sharing between GPs, emergency departments and mental health services was also cited as cause for concern. In one case a man told his GP he “felt angry and felt like destroying things” but was not asked about his family circumstances. Meanwhile, hospital records sent to the GP about the same man stated he had “consumed six cans of lager and phoned police to say he needed help or would kill himself and his girlfriend”. Yet there was no attempt by the GP, hospital or police to follow up.

More than 400 DHRs have been completed since they were made mandatory in April 2011. “These reviews are not intended to be about blame, but exercises in understanding the environments in which people made certain decisions and choices with a key purpose of making the future safer,” says Frank Mullane, founder of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, which has guided 160 families through the process of a DHR. Mullane says he regularly sees issues around missed opportunities in GP surgeries. “It seems many GPs are inadequately informed about domestic abuse and may not be spotting the risk indicators. Many don’t know what to do if they suspect abuse, or if it is disclosed to them overtly, or inferred.”

However, there have been marked improvements where specialist training has been provided. The Identification and Referral to Improve Safety – or Iris – project has been commissioned in 34 areas in England and Wales since 2010 and is in more than 1,000 general practices.

Medina Johnson, Iris national director, says research shows patients in practices using the initiative were 22 times more likely to have a discussion about domestic abuse and that resulted in them being six times more likely to be referred to specialist services. They were also three times more likely to have domestic abuse noted in their medical records.

She explains: “GPs always say we are so busy, we only have 10 minutes and now you are asking us to do something additional. And we are, but it could save someone’s life. The simplicity of our message is: ask about domestic abuse, give an understanding response, offer a referral and make a note in the patient’s medical records.”

Under Iris, one specialist full-time worker can support up to 25 general practices, with each named worker conducting training as well as dealing with referrals. Gene Feder, the domestic abuse lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners, admits that some of the failures by GPs are “spine-chilling”. But he points out that the issue is far more complex because most domestic abuse is hidden and the presentation is far more subtle.

“I’m not trying to make excuses for GPs, but it’s hard to blame professionals when most have had zero to one hour of training around domestic abuse as medical students,” he says.

While guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) now recommend there should be training around domestic violence at every level, it remains minimal or absent in most medical schools.

Feder says that while Iris has good evidence on how doctors can respond safely to women disclosing abuse, the project was still working towards the best model for when patients disclose perpetration abuse. He adds: “The other thing is when you have male victims and female perpetrators – they are a minority, but men can also be victims and suffer serious mental health consequences.”

In some areas where Iris operates, such as Bristol and the east London borough of Hackney, there is sufficient funding for all general practices to be trained, but elsewhere the level of investment is insufficient to cover all surgeries.

The government has recently invested £2.4bn into primary care, part of which is to provide ongoing training for GPs. And last week Theresa May announced she will oversee the creation of a new law, the Domestic Violence and Abuse Act, to increase prosecutions across England and Wales and eradicate a postcode lottery in the way victims are dealt with by police forces. “There are thousands of people who are suffering at the hands of abusers – often isolated and unaware of the options and support available to them to end it,” says May.

But Feder, who is also professor of primary healthcare at Bristol University and the architect of Iris, warns that the impact of any health initiatives on victims of domestic violence is likely to be severely constrained by threats to the funding of domestic abuse services – and GPs who are under huge pressure from the demands of an ageing population. Since 2010, 17% of specialist women’s refuges have closed due to funding cuts.

Domestic abuse charities insist that with hundreds of women being murdered each year by a current or former partner, it is vital to protect the funding needed to keep these important referral pathways open.

‘My stepfather was abusive and should have been sectioned’

Annabella Bell’s mother, Chloe, was murdered in January 2013 by her violent and mentally ill husband, three days before her 81st birthday.

The couple were registered at the same surgery in north London and Bell, a 59-year-old mental health practitioner from Newcastle, had contacted her mother’s GP in the south of England to warn them she was at risk. She explains: “My stepfather was becoming increasingly paranoid and delusional, believing there was a plot to kill him. He missed hospital appointments and my mother was asked to intervene, but this would make him very angry.”

The couple divided the house they were living in and used separate entrances, but Bell’s mother continued to suffer violence at the hands of her husband. Bell says: “I told her doctor I was worried about my stepfather, and my mother also went in to explain, but they continued to involve her in his health matters.”

Then both the hospital and GP failed to make inquiries after her mother presented with a black eye at A&E, a month before she was brutally murdered. Bell’s stepfather killed himself after the fatal attack.

Bell was left so traumatised by her mother’s death that she “struggles every day” and is unable to work. She says more should have been done to protect her mother. “I’m not saying he wouldn’t have killed her if the doctors hadn’t involved her, but I’m saying there should have been some kind of warning.”

She adds: “It’s textbook stuff, but people seem to miss it and then it’s too late because somebody is murdered. My stepfather was abusive and psychotic and should have been sectioned.”

GPs miss chances to save the life of victims of domestic abuse

Fewer but better clinics ‘will save more stroke victims’

Dozens of hospital stroke units should be shut and the service reorganised into fewer centres of excellence in order to improve care, the charity representing stroke survivors has insisted.

Centralising stroke treatment at a much smaller number of hospitals will increase patients’ chances of survival and reduce their risk of long-term disability, the Stroke Association says.

Juliet Bouverie, the charity’s chief executive, accused hospitals of risking lives by retaining stroke units when medical evidence suggests they should be moved. While reconfiguration is controversial, patients and their families generally understand that travelling longer distances to get a higher standard of care and reduce the risk of dying is worthwhile, she insisted.

“At the moment there are 126 hospitals in England which routinely admit stroke patients. That number needs to be reduced to somewhere between 75 and 100. But progress on that is very variable across the country and so unnecessary costs are being incurred and unnecessary mortality is happening,” she said.

She urged hospital and NHS chiefs to learn lessons from studies showing that scores of lives are being saved every year by the reorganisation of stroke units in the capital in the 2000s. “Previously there were more than 20 hospitals providing acute care in London and there was strong evidence that actually reducing the number of acute stroke units and creating a hub and spoke model [of bigger hospitals supporting smaller ones] on stroke would not only save lives but it would also save the NHS money.

“So they reduced the number of acute stroke units from 20 down to eight and the evidence shows that each year more than 100 patients extra are saved as a consequence. That’s now been replicated in Manchester, with equivalent numbers of lives saved.”

Tony Rudd, the national clinical director for stroke at NHS England, says: “The changes to stroke services in London have saved lives, proving it is right to concentrate expertise in selected centres. One advantage of the local planning arrangements is they can identify where there are opportunities to provide this more focused care for stroke patients.”

Centres of excellence would offer better care by having larger numbers of patients and would tackle the shortage of specialist doctors and nurses by concentrating them in fewer places. They could then offer patients clot-busting drugs and, potentially, 35 to 50 could undergo a new surgical procedure called mechanical thrombectomy, in which even large blood clots in the brain can be enclosed in a stent. Many more hospitals than the current handful should be offering the £7,000-a-time “game-changer” operation, said Bouverie.

Hospitals’ self-interest is “stalling” what should be an NHS-wide drive to improve stroke care, she claimed. “Too many hospitals are protecting their own interests and not doing what is in patients’ best interests. No hospital wants to give up some of those life-saving treatments, but it’s not in patients’ interests for these smaller hospitals to be delivering services.”

Too many of the sustainability and transformation plans drawn up by NHS leaders in 44 areas of England do not include clear ways of reorganising stroke care, despite evidence that fewer units reduce the risk of death and disability.

Hyper acute stroke units usually administer life-saving treatment for three days and then transfer patients to a stroke unit, with patients then moving to a rehabilitation unit or going home. Centres of excellence would help overcome the postcode lottery that means that 82% of stroke patients treated at Ipswich hospital, for example, receive clot-busting drugs within the recommended four hours but only 15% of those attending Wexham Park hospital in Slough.

Bouverie blamed the NHS for neglecting survivors after their discharge from hospital: “More than 46% of patients told us in our most recent survey that when they’re discharged from hospital they feel isolated and abandoned. They say that physiotherapy is not adequate and they’re not given access to the right psychological support. People are not getting access to speech and language therapy in a timely manner,” she added.

“Many stroke survivors have a physical disability, depression or psychological needs, suffer chronic fatigue or have aphasia, where they cannot speak. You’ve got stroke survivors at home with serious disability, often still in wheelchairs, unable to communicate, suffering the damaging psychological effects of what is a life-changing condition and not being given the proper support. ”

She criticised NHS bosses and ministers for refusing to draw up a strategy to reduce the UK-wide toll of 40,000 deaths caused by the 100,000 strokes that occur every year, despite the government’s pledge to reduce premature deaths. Stroke campaigners feel “ignored” because NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens is concentrating on improving cancer, mental health, maternity care and dementia services rather than prioritising Britain’s fourth biggest killer.

Fewer but better clinics ‘will save more stroke victims’

Skeletons Of Jewish Victims Of Inquisition Found In Ancient Portuguese Trash Heap

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Bones from the flip of the 17th century discovered in a trash pit in Portugal may be the stays of Jewish men and women imprisoned during the Inquisition.

Skeletons Of Jewish Victims Of Inquisition Found In Ancient Portuguese Trash Heap

Dont inquire victims of sexual abuse to communicate up till you can support them | Anonymous

As a victim of historical sexual abuse, at the moment beneath investigation, I view the every day news coverage with interest. Unquestionably, police inquiries and prosecutions are welcomed, as is greater exposure of the problem in a “post-Savile” era.

However, each and every headline and breaking news story, such as Wednesday’s arrest of 660 suspected paedophiles, is accompanied by a mixture of conflicting emotions. Each shocking new revelation brings a individual delight that this filth is getting uncovered at long final, but with it comes harm as it has been hidden for so lengthy – the two by society and within me. Extremely previous scars are opened, and considered patterns turn out to be an electrical storm – overloaded by adrenalin, cortisol and a malfunctioning hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which governs the fight or flight response. It is known as complex PTSD for a explanation.

But alongside the emotional exhaustion of the nervous program, I am reminded that other individuals cannot recognize the depth of ache that I feel. Pals are unable to give much meaningful help – the hole in which I locate myself is too deep and too dark – and sooner or later they end calling out.

And so with every phone for victims to come forward, I want to scream: “Do not inquire them to come forward if you are not going to assist them.” The trauma suffered is this kind of that victims need to have aid, nursing and wrapping in cotton wool. They want compassion, knowing and to be in a position to believe in – some thing that they have not been ready to do for so prolonged. Even so, what takes place is that police refer victims into the voluntary sector, the place agencies offer some immediate “first aid” and variety words – but tiny else. There is no funding to arrive at a suitable diagnosis of what psychological issues might exist – and the prospect of meaningful long-term treatment at no value is unrealistic. These organisations are so starved of funding, that often significantly much more than a helpline is impossible.

So, what of the NHS? My 1st physician stated “you seem OK”. The 2nd mentioned “the NHS are really bad at this kind of point – if I had been you I’d pay for it myself”. Eventually right after a yr I received to see a psychotherapist, who assessed that I would require limitless support. However, as they have been only ready to aid for two many years on the NHS, they explained that they had been ethically unable to begin any therapy as I may finish up in a worse state than when they started out. They agreed that I necessary support but the impending court situation meant that they did not “want to open my can of worms”. This only serves to compound my lack of trust for authority figures.

So, I am left delighting in the exposure of decades of abuse, but screaming for a wise victim help response – the absence of which traumatises me, and will traumatise other folks. I know my daily life will by no means be the same again. I have a criminal situation to endure, followed by inquiries into institutional abuse followed by inquiries into the failings of the criminal justice method – but the question I request myself is “after all of this … will there be enough of me left to enjoy the days I have remaining?”

All I can do is attempt to aid create change for the children I will never ever have.

Dont inquire victims of sexual abuse to communicate up till you can support them | Anonymous

Jimmy Savile latest: Jeremy Hunt apologises for the "sickening" abuse victims endured more than decades

Mr Hunt said Savile repeatedly exploited the “trust of a nation” for his own “vile purposes” and that victims who spoke up had been not believed.

The Health Secretary stressed it was crucial to recognise the “profoundly unpleasant reality” of what the victims went via.

Mr Hunt told the Commons: “I know this Home, without a doubt the complete nation, will share a deep sense of revulsion at what they (the investigations) unveiled.

“A litany of disturbing accounts of rape and sexual abuse committed by Savile on vulnerable youngsters and adults more than a time period of decades.

“At the time the victims who spoke up have been not believed and it’s crucial these days that we all publicly recognise the reality of what they have said.

“But it is a profoundly unpleasant reality.

“As a nation at that time we held Savile in our affection as a relatively eccentric national treasure with a strong dedication to charitable leads to.

“Today’s report (says) that in reality he was a sickening and prolific sexual abuser who repeatedly exploited the trust of a nation for his very own vile functions.”

His description of Savile as previously being held in the nation’s affection as a “relatively eccentric nationwide treasure” have been met with shouts of “no he wasn’t” from some on the Labour benches.

Mr Hunt mentioned the revelations painted a “terrible image” of victims being repeatedly ignored as people and institutions “turned a blind eye”.

The Health Secretary stated: “Today’s reviews will shake this Home and our country to the core.

“Savile was a callous, opportunistic, wicked predator who abused and raped people, several of them sufferers and youthful individuals who anticipated and had a correct to anticipate to be safe.

“His actions span five decades, from the 1960s to 2010.

“The loved ones favourite loved by millions courted recognition and utilized it to perpetrate and cover up his own evil acts.

“I, and I’m confident the whole Residence, will want to spend tribute to all the victims who came forward to talk about their experiences.

“It took excellent courage for them to relive their typically really distressing and disturbing experiences.

“These reports paint a terrible image as time and once more victims were ignored or if they were not, minor or no action was taken.

“The methods in spot to safeguard men and women have been both to weak or have been ignored.

“Individuals and institutions turned a blind eye.”

Jimmy Savile latest: Jeremy Hunt apologises for the "sickening" abuse victims endured more than decades

In their personal words: Jimmy Savile"s victims "badly allow down" by the NHS

“However Savile then French kissed me … for about ten seconds.

“This created me feel very uncomfortable and I went red with embarrassment. I remember individuals had been laughing at him they seemed to uncover it funny. Savile then stood up straight and he looked at me with his eyebrows up and a grin on his face.

“He did not say anything at all to me. I remember putting my hand on his shoulder as he kissed me to brace myself, but he was like a brick wall.”

In the early 1990s, G was a medical professional working at Leeds Basic Infirmary on a paediatric ward.

She was on the ward on a Christmas Day when Savile entered the ward accompanied by two other men.

As she walked in the direction of Savile to welcome him, he lunged forward, grabbed her hand and kissed her forcibly on the mouth. He then rubbed her breasts.

Savile then turned and left the ward quickly with out speaking, leaving the doctor “stunned and repulsed”.

She recalls being supported by the ward Sister, but did not feel about making a formal complaint.

“The Sister came more than to me and mentioned ‘are you all correct?’ and I said ‘no’ and I informed her what happened… I can don’t forget the nurses saying ‘why do you feel we stayed behind here?’ [which means the nurses’ desk].

“It was nearly an acknowledgement that that was the way he behaved and it was identified by the nursing personnel, the female workers, that you hold away from that man… I do bear in mind the consultant came on [the ward] and I remember telling him as in not ‘I am reporting it to XXX’, but telling him as in ‘you’ll by no means guess what occurred to me’… once again it was extremely sympathetic… not ‘I need to have to escalate it up and speak about it’.

“It was quite supportive and that was the culture at the time. ”

In their personal words: Jimmy Savile"s victims "badly allow down" by the NHS

Thalidomide victims launch substantial court battle for compensation

Thalidomide tablets. The drug was utilised by pregnant females to ward off morning sickness in between 1958 and 1961. Photograph: Reuters

Thalidomide victims have mounted a new bid for compensation from the drug’s producer and distributor a lot more than 50 many years right after they were born.

Papers have been filed at the high court on behalf of eight people whose mothers took the anti-morning sickness drug when pregnant in the late 1950s and early 1960s, law firm Slater and Gordon said.

They are in search of compensation from the drug’s German maker Grünenthal, and Diageo, which now owns the drug’s United kingdom distributor, Distillers Co (Biochemicals).

Lorry driver Brian Davies, 53, from Gwynedd, Wales, who was left with deformed feet, is a single of these in search of compensation, having been refused underneath a 1970s strategy since his arms had been not affected.

The father of two said: “It really is a disgrace that so numerous people have been denied justice in this way.

“In my eyes it was basically the drug businesses hunting to conserve funds and ignoring the duty of care they have to individuals whose lives they have ruined.

“Ever considering that I was a child I have missed out on each day pleasures, like enjoying football with friends or swimming, factors other folks consider for granted.

“Every day I am in soreness and each day is a struggle. I hope that now we finally get the justice that we have been demanding for so numerous many years.”

Amongst 1958 and 1961 thalidomide was utilised by expectant mothers to handle symptoms of morning sickness.

It was originally prescribed as a “wonder drug” for morning sickness, headaches, coughs, insomnia and colds.

Thalidomide infants usually suffered missing or deformed limbs and intense shortening of arms and legs, but the drug also triggered malformations of the eyes and ears, genitals, heart, kidneys and digestive tract.

By the time safety fears led to it currently being pulled from sale thousands of babies worldwide had been impacted.

According to survivors’ charity Thalidomide Uk, there are 455 victims in the United kingdom but it is estimated about forty% of victims died before their very first birthday.

In 2012 Grünenthal apologised for the drug for the very first time, with chief executive Harald Stock saying: “We have been silent and we are really sorry for that.”

Final year Diageo paid A$ 89m (£49m) to just in excess of 100 further Australians broken by the drug, in a deal that led to a claim towards Grünenthal being discontinued.

Fraser Whitehead, a attorney at Slater and Gordon, explained: “Grünenthal and Distillers have constantly claimed that the thalidomide disaster was an unavoidable tragedy and that they did every little thing expected of drug firms at the time. Our investigation has demonstrated that is nonsense.

“The two organizations knew their drug was leading to severe nerve harm and both have been explicitly warned of the likelihood thalidomide might result in significant malformations. Nevertheless the drug was left on the market for several months afterwards.

“It is time individuals accountable are last but not least held to account for the blunders of the past. Grünenthal, in specific, has accomplished minor to make good the immense damage that it has accomplished and it has to accept accountability for people affected in the United kingdom.”

Thalidomide victims launch substantial court battle for compensation

Hidden in her bedroom, a youthful cancer victim"s secret message of hope

She wrote: “Happiness depends on ourselves… Maybe it is not about the content ending, perhaps it’s about the story… The function of daily life is a existence of goal.”

Athena, who leaves behind 6 sisters and 3 brothers, additional: “I’m waiting to fall in love with someone I can open my heart to. Really like is not about who you can see paying your potential with it’s about who you cannot see investing your existence with out. Existence is a game for every person but really like is the only prize.”

At Christmas, Athena collapsed at property and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. In the following months, she underwent intense chemotherapy to treat the cancer in her spine, her left shoulder and her head.

She had to have a 7-and-a-half-hour operation to eliminate the tumour on her spine and wore a wig to cover her hair-loss.

Her father, Dean, explained: “It was a stand-up mirror in her area, and it was often lent up against the wall so we in no way noticed behind it. When I moved the mirror right after she died I couldn’t feel it, I noticed all this writing, it should have been about 3,000 phrases. I commenced reading through it but before long I had to stop since it was too considerably, it was heartbreaking.”

Her mother, Caroline, 37, explained: “We knew that Athena loved to create, that was component of who she was, it produced her satisfied. We’re keeping the mirror forever, it is a element of her we can keep in the home, it will often be in her space.

“Just studying her phrases felt like she was nonetheless here with us, she had such an amazing spirit.”

Hidden in her bedroom, a youthful cancer victim"s secret message of hope

Stephen Sutton vigil to celebrate young cancer victim"s lifestyle and inspiration

Stephen Sutton died on 14 May soon after a 4-yr battle towards bowel cancer, in the course of which he set an inspirational example of residing with the ailment. Photograph: PA

An inspirational teenager cancer victim’s memory will never ever be forgotten due to the fact of the example he set in dealing with the terminal disease, a charity boss has stated.

A two-day vigil will on Thursday at Lichfield cathedral in Staffordshire for Stephen Sutton, who succumbed to a number of tumours on 14 Could after raising practically £4m for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The trust’s chief executive, Siobhan Dunn, said it was tough to overstate the significance of Sutton’s function in raising awareness about the condition in youthful men and women.

Wellwishers will be in a position to spend their respects and say a final goodbye to the 19-yr-previous, whose dignity and zest for existence in the late stages of his ailment attracted consideration across the globe.

“I believe what is actually essential is Stephen will in no way be forgotten simply because he, like each and every youthful person who is diagnosed with cancer, lives on in the operate that we do,” Dunn stated. “They are a very essential part of our operate and Stephen’s an extraordinary young guy who has had the most incredible influence on the lives of so several youthful individuals with cancer.

“I feel it’s truly essential there’s a public celebration of Stephen’s life and I believe that is specifically what he would have needed.

“He was searching for us to put the exciting into his funeral so hopefully we’re going to do that.”

Sutton’s smiling encounter is portrayed on many pictures inside Lichfield cathedral, and a team of volunteers have dressed the stone dais where his coffin will lie in bright yellow and white flowers.

Dunn stated it was proper to celebrate Sutton’s lifestyle and that he would not have needed it any other way.

“It is just a fantastic possibility,and the family are delighted to be ready to give people the chance of coming together just to celebrate his life,” she mentioned.

Sutton’s mom, Jane, has asked that individuals do not put on black to the vigil, and to “do anything to make others content”.

Sutton, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 15, invested the rest of his lifestyle raising awareness about the condition in younger individuals and had embarked on a bucket record.

Ahead of his death, he mentioned: “I do not see the point in measuring daily life in terms of time any longer. I’d rather measure daily life in terms of producing a variation.”

Dunn mentioned Sutton’s illustration in sustaining a positive outlook had been as crucial as the cash he had raised.

“Usually, like Stephen, younger individuals deal with their cancer sickness with fantastic humour and it is quite crucial to have a optimistic mental frame of mind,” she explained.

“It is some thing Teenage Cancer Trust truly focuses on in terms of the companies and support that we give.

“We build units for men and women to come with each other and get help from other youthful folks in an environment that is as non-clinical as feasible, and younger people supporting other young people is totally critical. It is a truly crucial portion of our function.”

She said Sutton’s family members had told her they had been overwhelmed by the public’s outpouring of adore and goodwill.

It is estimated that as a lot of as forty,000 individuals may possibly attend the vigil.

Stephen Sutton vigil to celebrate young cancer victim"s lifestyle and inspiration

Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions: "I consider girls have had, as witnesses and victims, a raw deal"

Alison Saunders was on a train to Durham when she heard the guilty verdicts in the trial of Max Clifford.

“I usually travel in the quiet carriage, so I can’t get phonecalls, but I had a text telling me all about it.”

The director of public prosecutions is smiling. Did it truly feel like result in to celebrate?

“Yes and no. It’s never ever wonderful, is it? A guilty verdict signifies victims have been abused, and for them it is been a long journey. I was pleased they have been believed so from that point of view it’s a vindication.”

Two weeks ago, nonetheless, when the jury was sent residence the day just before Great Friday, it looked as if the sky might be about to fall in on Saunders’s head.

Six months earlier she had taken up her occupation as director of the Crown Prosecution Service’s 7,000 taxpayer-funded personnel with a pledge to make the organisation more sensitive to victims. Now it looked as if the selection to prosecute a clutch of public figures for sex offences dating back to the 1970s may well demonstrate disastrous – for Saunders and the CPS, for everyone who believes convicting rapists issues, but over all for the victims of sex crimes who may be discouraged from reporting them by the spectacle plastered across the media of so many substantial-profile failures.

Items acquired even worse when, following his acquittal for rape, Conservative MP and former deputy Commons speaker Nigel Evans attacked the CPS. His trial had been a “very public execution attempt”, he stated, and likened it to a “witch hunt”. He demanded the CPS repay his £130,000 legal fees, suggested a statute of limitations, and complained about the existing law, whereby accusers in sex circumstances – but not defendants – are granted anonymity.

Colleagues sympathised, with at least five MPs joining a chorus of complaints. At Evans’s request, Labour property affairs select committee chair Keith Vaz wrote to the CPS Inspectorate asking “no matter whether we need to make adjustments”. Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg agreed there had been “queries to response”.

Coming on the back of not-guilty verdicts in the trials of DJ Dave Lee Travis and Coronation Street actors William Roache and Michael Le Vell, Evans’ trial was witnessed by some as proof that police and prosecutors had received carried away. Established to prove themselves after the scandalous failure to consider complaints about Jimmy Savile seriously, they had gone “fishing” for complaints and then “bundled” them with each other, top to the several fees laid towards Travis, Evans and Clifford. Following the evidence offered by some witnesses in earlier situations, Lord Macdonald, a single of Saunders’s predecessors as DPP and now a Liberal Democrat peer, advised a newspaper that prosecutors were in danger of treating a series of weak situations as amounting to a powerful 1.

Sitting in her leading-floor workplace, with a view dominated by the Shard, but stretching from the City of London to Crystal Palace, Saunders dismisses this notion. “We don’t believe 3 weak instances make a robust a single,” she says steadily. “This is not a new phenomenon. With any variety of offending – assault or shoplifting or theft – if there’s a series of offences, we’ll place them with each other. If there’s a pattern of offending across a time period of time, that provides the jury a context.”

She will overview the Nigel Evans situation, as a lot of this kind of high-profile instances are reviewed. Does she anticipate to be hauled over the coals at her subsequent meeting with Dominic Grieve, her boss and the attorney standard?

“No,” she says, and laughs for the first time since we began talking. “He understands. The attorney basic understands how we make decisions.”

As well as the nation’s chief prosecutor, Saunders is now head of a massive public-sector organisation, and seems to delight in this element of her occupation. She peppers her conversation with modern day management-talk, talks of constructing “resilience” and “flexibility” in her workforce, is proud of the CPS’s e-finding out university, of “joint improvement plans” with police, “personal finding out accounts” for staff, a new “management development programme” for managers and “victim liaison units” in which skills is shared.

She joined the organisation in 1986, is the initial DPP appointed from within the CPS’s personal ranks, and says her appointment last November was the highlight of her job – alongside the conviction in 2012 of Gary Dobson and David Norris for the murder of Stephen Lawrence, following her selection to prosecute them for a second time. Rightly proud of her very own achievements, she also radiates loyalty to her organisation and sees herself as a manifestation of its achievement. “It truly is a reflection of in which the support is that it has grown 1 of its own. That is been a real boost, not just for me, but for the complete service.”

An expert in situations involving youthful and vulnerable witnesses, Saunders is now in a place to encourage this agenda, and has lobbied police and crime commissioners for a lot more expert support. “I feel ladies have had, as witnesses and victims, a raw deal,” she says. The new target on female victims, and difficult stereotypes by means of expert coaching in domestic violence instances, is welcome, but “lengthy overdue”.

Saunders is not the first female DPP. In the boardroom, exactly where portraits of all former DPPs hang, there is one female currently: Dame Barbara Mills. But she would like progress for girls to be portion of her legacy “from all kinds of perspectives. I give talks to college students about ladies in the law. That is the place I think the CPS is wonderful. We’re now more than 60% females, we have received a truly very good track record.”

When she took over the work she said that investing in education her employees was a priority, along with supporting victims. Born in Aberdeen, educated in south London, Saunders does not fit the posh, white, male mould of the legal elite in this nation, and obviously wants the CPS to supply an substitute profession path for girls. But with 28% cuts to the CPS budget, and lower scores in a recent employees satisfaction survey, is this probably?

“It’s really difficult. I’m not going to say it is simple,” she says, before listing efficiency cost savings like minimizing London premises from forty to two. In spite of cuts, she says with blue eyes gleaming, performance has improved. There are issues – this kind of as getting far better support from police forces and far more early guilty pleas – that cuts have “helped us to do, forced us to do”.

If cuts are so useful, would she like to see far more of them?

“No,” she says, and laughs. “I think there will come a time when we can not take any a lot more cuts with out sitting down and asking: ‘What does a prosecution service do? What can we do?’ We haven’t reached that level however. I’m not entirely sure when that point would be.”

Some individuals would say that in the wider legal context, that point is now. This week noticed a dramatic stand-off between government and judiciary when Alexander Cameron QC, elder brother of the prime minister, persuaded a judge to keep – or cancel – the trial of five males accused of fraud on grounds that it was not possible for them to secure the legal representation they needed to ensure a fair trial. Yesterday the Financial Perform Authority, prosecutor of the case, announced it would appeal.

Saunders will be viewing, not least since the CPS has three of its very own fraud circumstances in the pipeline. The situation arose simply because of cuts to legal help, and the refusal of barristers with the essential specailist encounter to work for fees which have been diminished by 30%.

Does Saunders feel barristers should agree to work for significantly less? She won’t say. Nor will she say what she thinks of the scenario in which justice secretary Chris Grayling will discover himself if this week’s choice is upheld.

She also refuses to comment on Britain’s above-total prisons – “that’s a matter for sentencing policy” – even though she does not get any pleasure from sending criminals there: “If that is what the law says has to occur, then it does. I get fulfillment from bringing instances to court and seeing justice being completed.”

Saunders’ predecessor, Keir Starmer, who was witnessed as an astute operator politically, is operating for Labour on a feasible “victims’ law” and may stand as an MP. Saunders insists her interest in the victims of crime is not political at all.

“The explanation I’m hunting at victims is because we have victims who seem every single single day. They’re the ones who allow us to deliver cases ahead of a court, and I consider we owe it to them to improve the operate we do and ask how we can assist.”

This consists of following up following trials have concluded, and Saunders has written to Max Clifford’s victims asking to meet them. She presumably would not meet the witnesses in a failed prosecution, such as these who accused Nigel Evans or Dave Lee Travis of abuse?

“I have,” she says speedily, before turning her answer into a generalisation: “Not automatically the ones in these cases, but I have met victims in other instances exactly where we have not succeeded.”

Saunders has the conviction of Roy Whiting for the abduction and murder of eight-yr-old Sarah Payne on her CV, and supports media campaigns on criminal justice problems. What did she think of Rebekah Brooks’ naming and shaming of paedophiles in the News of the Planet?

“Some of the campaigns run by papers, not just Rebekah Brooks, but other papers, have been extremely instrumental in changing factors and raising awareness of issues. I know Sarah’s law [making it possible for entry to the Sex Offenders Register] was campaigned for, which was a great point to do. With some issues, FGM [female genital mutilation] for illustration, the campaigns that papers have run have been really very good. The Evening Regular is undertaking some thing on asset recovery. I believe these campaigns are really essential and get issues to a wider audience than we can.”

Saunders’ decision to deliver the UK’s first prosecution for FGM against 31-12 months-outdated east London physician, Dhanuson Dharmasena, who is alleged to have committed the crime in the process of stitching a woman’s vagina soon after childbirth, has been criticised as properly as praised, due to the fact Dharmasena was not accountable for the first process, but Saunders is bullish.

“The situations in this situation do fit the legislation, otherwise we wouldn’t be prosecuting it. We are very keen to make certain that wherever attainable we are hunting at FGM situations. We’ve had extremely number of referred to us. We’re still in double figures.”

She says prevention is “far far better” than prosecution, and suggests a new strategy to the dilemma may well contain “more proactive perform by the police – police going to airports when they know there are times of 12 months individuals go for FGM ceremonies so they can talk to men and women on the way there or on the way back”.

She praises the awareness-raising amid teachers championed by the Guardian, which campaigned for education secretary Michael Gove to write to each and every college.

“There are some men and women in England and Wales who nevertheless do not know about FGM and may possibly not select up the signs. I think it’s significantly much better now, but five or 10 years in the past, if you had been a instructor, you may possibly not have thought, ‘Why is this woman currently being taken out of college to go to her home country at a certain time of year?’ Whereas now I feel teachers are extremely mindful, because of the campaigns that are going on, and we have had cases where teachers have contacted police or social solutions.”

Outside her constructing, the Guardian’s photographer asks Saunders to perch on the concrete barrier that divides the cycle lane from other targeted traffic with the dome of St Paul’s behind her – just as a picture of the cathedral sits behind the desk in her workplace.

Good-natured and jokey as she waits for the photographer to set up, Saunders says: “I really feel like performing this.” She flexes the muscle groups in both arms, strongman-design.

“You can do that,” I say eagerly, for the camera, being aware of she will not.

The director of public prosecutions drops her hands, and presses her brightly painted fingernails together in front of her.

Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions: "I consider girls have had, as witnesses and victims, a raw deal"

As Sudden Healthcare Costs Mount, Crowdfunding Web site Lifts Boston Marathon Victims

, with many attributing substantial numbers of yearly bankruptcies to healthcare expenses. No 1 knows these types of sudden charges like Pat and Jess, a couple who, both sustained serious leg injuries soon after a single of the bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15^th, 2013. When faced with an expected $ 500,000 lifetime expense for each and every amputee, with a lot of their requirements not covered by insurance coverage, the couple did not know in which to turn. Then their pals began a fundraiser for them on GiveForward, the brainchild of two individuals who wished to see .

Beyond Bankruptcy

In accordance to a Harvard examine (but with notable back links to political figures), particular sickness or damage medical costs are to blame for an estimated 30% of filings for bankruptcy, and another twenty% listed well being care concerns as a contribution to bankruptcy filing. Surprisingly, most of these folks had overall health insurance coverage when they 1st got sick or hurt.

Even more, in 2012, when wellness care costs for the common American household of 4 exceeded $ 20,000 for the initial time, Milliman utilized their Milliman Health-related Index (MMI) to liken the cost of a family’s wellness care to the cost of an typical midsize sedan. In 2013, with common fees at $ 22,030, they also compared other major purchases to the yearly cost of healthcare. For illustration, the cost of attending an in-state public university is $ 22,261 for the recent academic yr.

Even so, these fees do not account for numerous of the other OOP expenses that American’s endure such as additional daycare for youngsters of sufferers, charges for patients who travel across borders or out-of-network for far better care that is not accessible on their insurance coverage program. People costs are also not reflective of the travel bills, parking costs, and other expenditures that come to households needing comprehensive care.

Using their online platform to develop fundraisers for the varieties of overall health charges and nonprofit endeavors that assistance assisting OOP paying demands, .

How Does Giving Forward Perform?

Seeing the toll Hurricane Katrina took on victims and whole communities, GiveForward Co-Founder and CEO Desiree Vargas Wrigley wanted to donate to these in the spot, but had difficulties without having validated on-line sources that weren’t especially tied to a for-revenue organization with high overhead fees or a nonprofit focusing on specifically what she wanted. With Co-Founder and President Ethan Austin, she set out to, “take donation jars at comfort store registers to the subsequent level.”

As an alternative of putting a jar with a photo of a little one needing a heart transplant on a nearby counter, families can go on the internet and tell their story, as nicely as interact with donors and give updates on treatment progress.

“No a single ever strategies for an emergency health care crisis or getting involved in a catastrophic occasion like the assault last 12 months at the Boston Marathon. We hope to aid folks heal as they see other people from close to the world offer them with extra emotional support and monetary donations,” contends Ethan.

The Founders of GiveForward knew they were onto one thing massive when their very first on the internet raise netted $ 30,000 in thirty days using Facebook as the major strategy of outreach.

In accordance to the company, 99.5% of all donations go to the men and women and households of these fundraising, with the .5% taken by GiveForward as a “keep the lights on” fee.

To date, the firm has raised shut to $ 100 million in only a number of many years, with Patrick and Jess becoming the largest raise however. With only days left to go on their campaign, and approaching the 2014 Boston Marathon run, the couple is nearing $ 900,000 in donations.

As Sudden Healthcare Costs Mount, Crowdfunding Web site Lifts Boston Marathon Victims

Harold Shipman: investigation launched into police handling of victims" remains

They had been held in case Shipman, or later his widow Primrose, made a decision to mount a legal challenge to the 2000 conviction.

But in 2010 GMP sooner or later made the decision to destroy the samples with out telling the families in purchase to spare them any further distress.

At the time GMP Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said: “After considerably agonising and consultation individuals in essence took the choice not to result in people households even more distress by telling them about this.”

He insisted the procedure of destruction was dealt with in a ‘dignified manner’ though confirmed there was no ceremony.

It is not clear what the whistleblower has alleged but the IPCC said it would be investigating if the families had been misled over the disposals.

The force will also be subject to two other investigations which includes a single about the alleged bugging of a police workplace and claims that a intercourse abuse probe was poorly handled and then covered up.

GMP’s Assistant Chief Constable, Terry Sweeney, who had operating on the Hillsborough investigation, has announced that he is stepping down from the inquiry and will return to GMP although the IPCC probe is ongoing.

IPCC Commissioner Jan Williams mentioned: “These are serious allegations and the gravity and nature of the allegations, and the fact that they are created against senior officers inside of the force, implies they need to be investigated independently. We will also search at the wider organisational response by Greater Manchester Police in each and every of these investigations.

“We know that the households concerned will have been through very distressing instances, and we will be sensitive to this as we conduct our investigations. We have a statutory duty to carry out independent investigations in circumstances such as these, but we will make certain that we communicate with the households and do whatever we can to keep away from additional distress.”

Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy mentioned: “We will be cooperating with the Independent Police Complaints Commission as we want to make sure the allegations raised are brought to a satisfactory conclusion. We hope this can be done swiftly.

“On all the issues being regarded we will be supporting the IPCC investigation. As matters are now topic to an independent investigation I am unable to go into significantly detail. Even so, some of these troubles have presently been reported in the media and we offered in depth responses. I have stated prior to that the selections dealing with the aftermath of the Shipman investigation had been complex and sensitive, our priority was to steer clear of causing additional distress to the families.”

He extra: “Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney has voluntarily determined to stand down from his perform with the Hillsborough Enquiry as component of Operation Resolve although the investigation will take area. This is a personal decision created as he does not want the matter to distract from the operation’s crucial operate.

“I support the need for tough issues we face to be subjected to scrutiny and for there to be a transparent process for this. We have been working nationally with the School of Policing to develop Ethics Committees that will consider delicate issues of policy. Locally we see great benefit in the creation of an Ombudsman to provide a clearer route for men and women who want to raise issues of concern.

“These are significant allegations but this investigation will not distract us from the hard work of officers and personnel each and every day who are trying to keep the public protected and tackling criminals.”

Harold Shipman: investigation launched into police handling of victims" remains

Thalidomide victims get $89m compensation

An $ 89m compensation payment for individuals left with birth defects after their mothers took thalidomide has been authorized.

A lot more than one hundred Australian and New Zealand victims will be compensated in the landmark settlement soon after the Victorian supreme court signed off on the settlement on Friday.

Lawyer Peter Gordon, acting for the victims, informed the court the settlement was a honest and compassionate resolution.

He stated there were no objectors and no objections.

“No one particular has submitted any complaint,“ Gordon stated.

The $ 89m will be paid by the drug’s distributor, Diageo, with thalidomide’s producer Grunenthal not integrated in the agreement.

The settlement ends a long compensation battle by the thalidomide victims, numerous of whom had been born with missing or shortened limbs.

Thalidomide, a drug to counter morning sickness, was withdrawn from sale in 1961.

The drug was distributed in Australia and New Zealand about 1960 and 1961 by Distillers, which became portion of Diageo in 1997.

Thalidomide victims get $89m compensation

Ambulances taking longer to attain stroke and heart attack victims

An ambulance rushes to an emergency. Charities say lengthening response instances could end result in some sufferers dying. Photograph: John Li/Getty Photographs

Ambulances are taking longer to reach individuals with life-threatening conditions right after obtaining a 999 get in touch with, NHS overall performance information reveals.

In some parts of England ambulances are taking nearly two minutes longer than two many years in the past to get to patients who have suffered a stroke or heart attack or been stabbed, for instance.

Response times deteriorated in nine of the 11 regional NHS ambulance providers in between December 2011 and December last yr, the most recent efficiency figures published by NHS England demonstrate.

Well being charities warned that the lengthening waiting occasions could outcome in some sufferers dying. “Every single 2nd counts if someone’s getting a heart assault or stroke. Sadly each 7 minutes an individual in the Uk dies from a heart assault”, stated Amy Thompson, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Basis.

The East of England ambulance support saw the greatest rise in response instances for category A calls, involving the most critically unwell patients. Its median response time went up more than the two many years from 295.2 seconds to 405 seconds – an improve of 109.8 seconds.

That ambulance service has been beset by troubles over the length of time it will take to attain some individuals, prompting criticism from nearby MPs, patients and well being unions. Its interim chairman, Geoff Harris, stood down on Tuesday just before a Care Good quality Commission report stated that it had not done ample to boost response instances to 999 calls.

A nearby coroner last yr described ambulance crews as “chaotic” following presiding over the inquest into the death of three-month-old Bella Hellings. Paramedics took considerably longer than nationwide targets call for to reach her property in Thetford, Norfolk.

The services is also beneath scrutiny more than the truth that it took an ambulance two hours to get to Paul Nelson, a 26-yr-outdated chef who collapsed at house in Blakeney, Norfolk, and later died of a brain haemorrhage.

In the north-east of England the response time for 999 calls enhanced by 51 seconds from 330 to 384 seconds whilst West Midlands ambulance service cars are now taking an further 49.eight seconds to reach emergency patients compared with two many years ago and those in the South East Coast ambulance services some 49.two seconds much more.

Only two ambulance providers enhanced their response time: in the South Central spot (34.eight seconds more rapidly) and the Isle of Wight (15 seconds fewer than in 2011).

“These figures reveal lives becoming place at risk due to the fact of the expanding chaos in England’s A&ampEs,” stated Andrew Gwynne, the shadow well being minister. “Outside bursting A&ampE departments, 1000′s of sufferers are waiting in the backs of ambulances. The paramedics can’t discharge sufferers and so cannot reply their subsequent get in touch with. People dialling 999 – even for patients in a life-threatening problem – face agonising waits when each 2nd counts.”

Regardless of getting asked to do so, NHS England refused to react directly to the longer waiting occasions or explain them, amid concern that the ageing population, cuts to social care and overcrowded A&ampE units might be factors.

A spokeswoman , which seeks to increase care for patients, stated it could not comment on ambulance performance just before it took more than duty for the NHS final April. But she added that performance had improved with seven services, and worsened with only four, given that December 2012.

Even so, she additional that: “As eight out of eleven ambulance trusts have not met the common this month there is plainly more operate to be completed to make positive people get a consistent, large quality support.”

Ambulance services have to respond to 75% of class A calls inside eight minutes. The data displays that the median was less than that in all eleven services in December. Individuals should get “a large quality, quick and secure support wherever they reside”, she additional.

Lord Howe, the health minister, stated: “Despite the ambulance service obtaining busier, efficiency towards all 3 specifications has enhanced on the very same time last year with a higher proportion of ambulances arriving on scene in beneath eight minutes, prepared to aid individuals who require help the most.

“But we know winter is a tough time for the ambulance service and NHS England has taken early action to assist, offering £15m to reduce quick pressures.”

Ambulances taking longer to attain stroke and heart attack victims

DNP victims" households lead battle to have unwanted fat-burning drug classified

The households of two young men and women who died following taking the unwanted fat-burning pill DNP are campaigning for it to be classified as a class-C drug to criminalise its possession and supply in the hope of stopping a lot more deaths.

At least 4 men and women have died in the final 18 months in the Uk after taking DNP, a fertiliser packaged in capsules and offered online to dieters and bodybuilders. Much more than 60 deaths have been officially attributed to the drug around the world.

Lesley Mapletoft, the mother of Chris, 18, who died in June the day following taking his last A-degree, mentioned in an interview with the Guardian at her house in Twickenham, south-west London, that class-C classification would have deterred her son.

“Chris was not a wayward youngster,” she explained, speaking publicly for the first time. “I’m positive he would not have taken it if he knew it was an unlawful drug. He was really towards drugs. He did not smoke, didn’t actually drink.” He was, she explained quietly, the ideal son.

The Houstons, mothers and fathers of Sarah, who was learning medication at Leeds University, also think classification would have deterred their daughter, who died in September 2012. The two families have met MPs and the authorities to press for the alter in the law.

Other folks whose deaths have been attributed to DNP are Sarmad Alladin, an 18-yr-previous inventive arts student and bodybuilder who died last February, and Sean Cleathero, a 28-year-old father of a younger kid, who died a month later on.

Sarmad Alladin died right after taking DNP to help him get rid of bodyweight. Photograph: Facebook

Presently, DNP (two,four-dinitrophenol) can be purchased and offered legally as a fertiliser. The Medicines and Healthcare Items Regulatory Authority (MHRA) has no electrical power to avoid its use as a drug since it is not a pharmaceutical.

Theoretically, the Meals Specifications Agency (FSA) can get action if DNP is sold for human consumption, but as the horsemeat scandal showed, it can struggle with enforcement towards overseas suppliers.

The FSA has begun an schooling campaign, urgently warning the public not to take any tablets or powders containing the chemical. It says it is operating with the police and local authorities to end illegal income from web sites and to remind traders of the penalties for supplying the chemical in the United kingdom.

The police can pursue anybody who supplies DNP exclusively for human consumption in the Uk and have charged four individuals in Cleathero’s situation, 3 of them with manslaughter.

But blocking entry to DNP to end a lot more such deaths seems a lot tougher. So desperate are folks to drop weight that web sites marketing diet plan drugs are widespread, even however the drug business has failed to produce a protected, effective and acceptable medication.

Many internet sites promote DNP, even though it is not uncommon to discover warnings this kind of as “the extreme and improper use of DNP can lead to death!” on internet sites the place it is sold in £30 or £50 batches.

On one site, a user writes: “DNP is pure hell … I’ve cycled it eight instances since 2006. As quickly as the heat kicks in, the nausea sets in, and the lethargy kicks my ass … Physique temp can spike as substantial as 105-108 degrees … any greater and your brain will fry and you’d greater be ready to make funeral arrangements.” But, the writer additional: “I know it truly is operating.”

DNP is bought and offered very legally as a fertiliser – in capsule type. Photograph: Mark St George/REX

Chris played rugby for his college in Hampton, typically as centre in the very first XV. But his loved ones do not feel his sport was the cause for buying the pills. It had a lot more to do with the publish A-degree summer time break in Ayia Napa he and his pals had planned.

“He was a very good sportsman, but this was in no way about rugby, I’m sure,” said his mom. “This was about a whole gaggle of them going off for their first summer time holiday, obtaining worked truly challenging – he got an A*, A, B for his A-ranges, so would have gone to Bath University [to examine enterprise].

“I think this was about him seeking best on the beach. And he was a very good-looking lad. He did go to the health club, almost certainly four times a week for an hour and he did lift weights, but I would never call him a bodybuilder.

“I just think he believed: ‘You know, I’m searching really excellent, I am on leading of my rugby game, I am working really hard, I’m going to Bath, I am going to get my head down and perform actually hard.’ Which he did. He was very centered. What a waste.”

In his final 12 months at college, Chris wrote an extended essay on dietary dietary supplements and their results on the body. Even though his family members do not know if that was how he very first realized of DNP, his laptop showed he had researched the chemical ahead of purchasing it.

“Chris was not a daft kid. He was not stupid. He wasn’t reckless. He was considered and he’d done his research,” his mother explained. “He looked at DNP and I believe he just thought: ‘I’m 18. I’m invincible.’ And it was just the worst judgment he could have created.

“He had his whole future in front of him. He was very loved. We have got books and books of the things men and women have written about him. He was truly modest, really unassuming, talented.”

The Mapletofts talked to Chris’s buddies quickly after his death to warn them about DNP and urge anyone taking it to quit and get healthcare attention. Neither friends nor loved ones knew Chris had purchased the drug and have been shocked by his death. Word came back that no one in his circle was taking it.

His mothers and fathers also circulated warnings on social media. “I just never know what to do to quit it happening to anybody else,” stated Lesley.

If DNP became a class-C drug, there would be penalties for acquiring and selling it, she reasoned.

The police have attempted to track down the proprietor of the site who offered the capsules to Chris. “We asked what happens if you ever discover this particular person and the message was: ‘We might be in a position to caution him,’” she mentioned. “And you just consider, sorry, our son has died and other men and women have died – caution? Which is some thing you get if you nick a bar of chocolate, isn’t it?”

Lesley is also keen for younger people to understand that the drug can destroy even if they have escaped harm just before. Houston had been taking it for two years when she died.

Chris’s mom has witnessed feedback on web sites from people who claim it is protected prolonged-phrase. “Actually, it truly is not. And I come to feel which is a actually crucial message to get out to men and women: to say, you might think you have got this underneath control, but in fact it really is poisoning you.”

DNP triggers the body’s metabolism to pace up, burning body fat but triggering drastic overheating. Some who have died have been taken to hospital due to the fact of overheating. But there is tiny medical professionals can do.

At her inquest in April, Houston’s loved ones spoke of their horror that such medication are accessible on the web. “To shed somebody so younger in this way only adds to our devastation,” they explained in a statement.”There have been at least 62 more deaths associated to DNP. We as a family members are distraught and are keen to make confident no other household endure in this way.

“While the FSA has banned it from human consumption, its dangers are not widely identified and it does not appear to impact the ease at which it can be bought from the internet. It would seem incomprehensible to us that this kind of a toxic substance can be offered in tablet form to be sold in the Uk for human consumption across the internet.”

Healthcare student Sarah Houston who died although taking antidepressants and DNP. Photograph: Handout/Ross Parry

Houston had informed flatmates in Leeds she felt sizzling and unwell the night before she died, but insisted she did not require an ambulance. She was located dead the subsequent day by one of her pals.

The trigger of death was a mystery until exams have been run on some capsules identified in a brown envelope beside her bed. They have been DNP, which she had bought online and had shipped from Spain. The inquest in Wakefield heard she had also been taking antidepressants.

Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham, has held a meeting with the families and representatives of the police, FSA, MHRA and Department of Overall health, to attempt to unpick the regulatory complexities around DNP and perform out how best to proceed. She has also been in touch with Google – which said it did not enable promotion of drugs creating false or misleading well being claims, citing anabolic steroids and bodyweight-loss medication – and with the Property Office.

She stated she was still speaking to the a lot of companies concerned, and it appeared European regulation could also play a portion. But in principle, she has a basic objective: “I am hunting at no matter whether it will be beneficial to have DNP brought below the Misuse of Drugs Act [as a class-C]. My aim would be to make positive that this drug is not marketed as a fat-reduction drug.”

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, raised the problem in prime minister’s queries in October, calling for urgent action to block the importation of harmful chemical compounds sold in capsule type as diet regime medicines, which can be intended only for human consumption.

David Cameron responded by promising to appear at “regardless of whether further legislative or regulatory action can be taken in order to protect individuals from substances that might be risk-free in other conditions, but must not be marketed in this way”.

DNP has a variety of makes use of: as a pesticide, in explosives and in photographic building. But, Nokes says, “in capsule type, it can’t have any other perform than for human consumption. I think it must be banned in capsule type. There needs to be genuine scrutiny of what is coming in through our borders.”

Nokes also thinks much more demands to be done to warn younger people about buying it online. “Younger men and women are dying from taking this things. The desperation to lose weight is encouraging them to consider risks no one need to be taking. Simply because it is not licensed as a medication doesn’t indicate it is not becoming extensively regarded as one particular.”

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DNP victims" households lead battle to have unwanted fat-burning drug classified