‘16 years later, I’m not unhappy’: the rise of Britain’s multigenerational flatmates

When Nicola Whyte first moved into a four-bedroom house share in Balham 16 years ago, she never imagined she would still be living there at 45. But with rents soaring, and ongoing challenges in saving up for a house deposit, she has ended up as a housemate far longer than she anticipated.“I didn’t think I was going to be here 16 years later, but I’m not unhappy,” she said. “My friends sometimes think I’m a bit weird, they ask me how I can still do it. But I really enjoy it

Failure to compensate pelvic mesh implant victims ‘morally unacceptable’, say campaigners

The government’s failure to respond to calls for a compensation scheme for women harmed by pelvic mesh has been described as “morally unacceptable” by campaigners.Thousands of women were left with life-changing complications after receiving transvaginal mesh implants, with some unable to walk or work again.Saturday marks two years since plans for financial redress for women harmed by pelvic mesh implants were set out by England’s patient safety commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes.However, ministers have made no commitments to providing compensation to women harmed by the medical scandal. The plans, outlined in the 2024 Hughes report, included compensation for children left disabled as a result of their mothers using the epilepsy drug sodium valproate in pregnancy

UK’s ‘unsung army’ of full-time unpaid carers needs more support, report says

A growing “unsung army” of 1 million people with full-time caring responsibilities needs better support, according to a report that found one in three unpaid carers from poorer backgrounds were unable to work because of their duties.The trend is the result of an ageing society and rising ill-health and disability concentrated in the poorest half of the country’s working-age families, the Resolution Foundation’s research found.Almost one in three working-age adults in lower-income families had a disability, compared with fewer than one in five in better-off families, the thinktank said.It added that in homes of modest means, 1 million people had caring responsibilities of 35 hours or more a week – the equivalent of a full-time job – making it challenging to secure paid work.Mike Brewer, the deputy chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain is getting older and sicker, while a greater share of its population has a disability

NHS doctor struck off over botched circumcision still performing operation

A doctor who was struck off over a “reckless” circumcision that risked killing a toddler is still performing the procedure as a layperson, the Guardian can reveal.Campaigners say Zuber Bux’s private circumcision business highlights a “catastrophic failure of safeguarding”, as alarm grows about the absence of regulation of the procedure.Bux is one of three former doctors who have had their licence to practise removed by the medical regulator over complaints about botched circumcisions from 2012 to 2022, according to data obtained by the National Secular Society (NSS) under freedom of information.In 2021 the General Medical Council upheld a NHS complaint of serious misconduct over the circumcision of a 15-month-old boy, which Bux conducted in the community despite the boy’s known heart condition. A series of medical blunders by Bux led to the boy, referred to as Patient A, being transferred to hospital amid fears for his life

NHS hiring bans in cancer units shortsighted and dangerous, doctors warn

Hospitals have banned units that diagnose and treat cancer from hiring doctors as part of an NHS cost-cutting drive, despite the growing demand for care.Exactly half of the UK’s 60 specialist cancer treatment centres had a freeze on recruiting clinical oncologists imposed on them during 2025, more than double the 13 (23%) seen the year before.Similarly, more than a third (36%) of the 160 radiology departments – which perform and analyse scans – were subjected to a ban last year on hiring clinical radiologists, up from 19% in 2024, according to information supplied by 138 of the UK’s 160 such units.The Royal College of Radiologists, which collected the figures, warned that the dramatic rise in staffing freezes could lead to “dangerous” delays in cancers being spotted and treated.Dr Stephen Harden, the RCR’s president, criticised the bans as “shortsighted”, bad for patients, damaging to NHS personnel’s morale and likely to cost more money in the long term

Most statin side-effects not caused by the drugs, study finds

Almost all side-effects listed for statins are not caused by the drugs, according to the world’s most comprehensive review of evidence.Other than the well-known risks around muscle pain and diabetes, only four of 66 other statin side-effects listed on labels – liver test changes, minor liver abnormalities, urine changes and tissue swelling – are supported by evidence. And the risks are very small, according to the systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Lancet.Statins have been used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide over the last three decades and are proven to reduce heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths. At the same time, millions have been put off the drugs amid long-running safety concerns, with statin labels listing dozens of possible side-effects