We need new drugs for mental ill-health | Letter

It is not only veterans and emergency workers living with post-traumatic stress disorder who could benefit if ministers heed the call from Sir Nick Carter (Ex-British army chief calls on ministers to back MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans, 1 February). Thousands of people who have major mental illness, and those dealing with bereavement and trauma, could be helped too.The shocking lack of progress in developing transformative psychiatric medicines, and a dearth of innovation has left clinicians with few weapons in their armoury to relieve mental pain. Families and people scarred by long-term distress tell us they are desperate for new treatments and therapies.At the Prince of Wales International Centre for Sane Research, our research centre in Oxford, we host clinical trials researching the medical use of innovative interventions such as esketamine and cannabidiol for psychiatric ill-health

Does getting cold increase your chances of catching flu?

“Put your coat on or you’ll catch your death of cold.” It’s a common refrain that feeds the narrative that getting cold will make us sick. And it’s true that illnesses are more common during the winter months, but is it true that you are more likely to catch the flu if you forget your hat?Not exactly. Writing in The Conversation, medical microbiologist Manal Mohammed from the University of Westminster has explained that colds and flu are caused by viruses that spread either by respiratory droplets or person to person regardless of the temperature. However, there is a bit of truth in the idea – many viruses survive for longer in colder and dryer conditions, increasing the chances of them hanging around and infecting a fresh victim

Wes Streeting to offer resident doctors bigger pay rise to end dispute

Wes Streeting is to offer resident doctors a bigger pay rise than other NHS staff in England as part of a new package of measures to try to end their long-running dispute.The health secretary also plans to guarantee resident doctors that hospitals will be fined if they do not give them good working conditions, such as rest areas and access to hot food.Streeting is looking at making a series of improvements to previous offers he has made, which may persuade the British Medical Association (BMA) to call off its nearly three-year-long campaign of industrial action.Senior figures in the NHS briefed on Streeting’s thinking are increasingly optimistic that the measures he is finalising may prove enough to break the deadlock before the third anniversary of the first doctors’ strike of the current dispute on 13 March 2023.The health secretary hopes that by offering to significantly improve – but for resident doctors only – the 2

DWP chief accused of overseeing ‘culture of complacency’ that led to carer’s allowance scandal

The government’s most senior welfare official has been accused of presiding over a “culture of complacency” that led to thousands of unpaid carers inadvertently running up huge benefit debts.Debbie Abrahams, the chair of the work and pensions select committee, said the Department for Work and Pensions had repeatedly failed to prioritise vulnerable people, was unwilling to learn from its mistakes, and was slow to fix errors.Abrahams said she found it “difficult to have confidence” in the DWP’s permanent secretary, Sir Peter Schofield, who had promised MPs more than six years ago that he would fix critical flaws in the carer’s allowance benefit but had failed to do so.An award-winning Guardian investigation revealed hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers, most already in poverty, were landed with large bills for overpayments running into thousands of pounds as a result of DWP shortcomings. Several hundred carers are estimated to have also received fraud convictions

Pentagon threatens to cut ties with Scouting America over ‘core values’

The Pentagon is again threatening to sever ties with Scouting America unless the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America reverts to “core values” and realigns itself with service to “God and country”.A warning to end the US military’s longstanding partnership with one of the nation’s largest and most popular youth organizations came in a Monday night post to social media by the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who insisted the scouting movement “lost its way” in a 2025 rebrand that promoted inclusivity and included admitting girls and LBGTQ+ members.Donald Trump’s defense department under its head, Pete Hegseth, has previously railed against being “woke” in the US military, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and suggested that women lack the physical strength to be effective combat troops.Hegseth first proposed withdrawing government support for the scouting movement in a memo to Congress in November. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a separate draft memo outlining the plan has been circulating in recent days

Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledges

Three in four cancer patients in England will beat cancer under government plans to raise survival rates, as figures reveal someone is now diagnosed every 75 seconds in the UK.Cancer is the country’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths, and survival rates lag behind several European countries, including Romania and Poland. Three-quarters of NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, a Guardian analysis found last year, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.In a new plan to be published on Wednesday, ministers will pledge £2bn to resolve the crisis by transforming cancer services, with millions of patients promised faster diagnoses, quicker treatment and more support to live well.Some cancer performance targets have not been met by the NHS since 2015