‘Selfless parents gave their child’s organs to save my son. I’m in awe of them’

One year after Ralph was given a life-saving multi-organ transplant, his mother Katie Tatham tells why she is calling for more people in the UK to come forward to helpJust over a year ago, the parents of Ralph Tatham didn’t know if they would make it to Christmas, or if liver cancer would take away their three-year-old son.Now the little boy is just a few weeks away from celebrating his fifth birthday, after receiving a lifesaving multiorgan transplant to replace his liver, pancreas and intestines.“It was the hardest moment of my life,” says his mother, Katie Tatham. “It’s a risky operation, so you don’t know if you’re going to see him again. Obviously it was his only chance to live, to have this operation

Algorithm could help prevent thousands of strokes in UK each year

Thousands of strokes could be averted in the UK each year after doctors developed an algorithm that spots patients at risk by scanning millions of GP records.The tool uses machine learning to scour medical data for red flags that could identify patients with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart condition that significantly increases stroke risk.About 1.6 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with AF. Doctors believe there could be thousands more who are unaware they are living with the condition because they have no symptoms

Black cancer patients in England less likely to feel supported in hospital, says charity

Black cancer patients and people living with a disability are less likely to feel they are getting enough support while receiving treatment in hospital, according to analysis by a leading charity.Analysis of the 2023 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey for England by Macmillan found that 71% of black patients with cancer feel like they are getting enough support with their overall needs while in hospital, compared with the national average of 76% of patients.According to the survey, black patients were also less likely to say that their family or carers were involved in treatment decisions as much as they would like them to be, at 75%, compared with 80% of white patients.The survey also found that people living with a disability or another long-term condition alongside cancer were less likely to feel like they are getting enough support with their overall needs during their cancer treatment, at only 61% of cancer patients who have autism, 68% of those with a mental health condition, 69% of those with a neurological condition such as epilepsy, and 70% of those with a learning disability. This is in comparison to 77% of people who do not have another long-term condition

One in five Britons would use weight-loss drug if free on NHS, poll reveals

One in five Britons would use a weight-loss drug if it was free on the NHS, according to polling that also shows one in seven have either taken a jab themselves or know someone who has.But almost one in four people would not tell others if they were using them, suggesting the growing popularity of weight-loss jabs is accompanied by persistent stigma about them.Drugs such as semaglutide, better known as Wegovy or Ozempic, are booming in popularity globally as fast-growing numbers of people turn to them to shed unwanted pounds.The drugs, which belong to a group known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists – have been proved to aid weight loss, help type 2 diabetics manage their blood sugar levels and prevent heart attacks and strokes.The polling firm Ipsos surveyed a representative sample of 2,161 UK adults aged 18-75 between 13 and 17 December about their attitudes to and experiences of weight-loss drugs

‘Bullets can make a real mess of bones’: the hospital where the war wounded have their lives put together again

At MSF’s pioneering centre in Amman, Jordan, the dedicated team deal with lives that have already been saved. Here they make those lives worth livingA girl slips through the corridors of the hospital’s fifth floor with her friend, the pair bright-eyed and shy. Today is her last chance to wear her sparkly new shoes, bought for a party last week. Tomorrow, the 12-year-old Iraqi will have a leg amputated.The operation was due two weeks ago but the surgeon, who had tried not to weep as he broke the news that amputation was necessary, agreed to delay surgery

Assaults in prisons in England and Wales rise to average of 74 a day

Assaults in prisons have been rising with an average of 74 a day recorded in England and Wales last year, including 25 assaults a day inflicted on staff, House of Commons library research has shown.The figures, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, show that of the 26,912 assaults that took place over the course of the year, about 3,200 were deemed to be serious – an average of eight a day.The research also revealed the most violent prisons in England and Wales. HMP Wandsworth in south-west London saw by far the most assaults, recording 1,044, with more than half of these (571) being on staff. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, north Wales, had the next highest number with 783 assaults, and then Thameside, in Thamesmead, south-east London, recording 667