Jean Willson obituary

My friend Jean Willson, who has died aged 82, was an inspiration to many, especially those who, like her, campaigned and cared for people with learning disabilities.Jean’s younger daughter, Victoria, was born with profound physical and mental disabilities. Aged four, and often screaming for up to 12 hours a day, she was placed in a care home 120 miles away from the family home in Islington, north London. Jean, with other families, campaigned for local provision for Victoria and children with similar issues.After a four-year struggle, which was supported by the organisation Kith & Kids, Islington council opened a small home on an old hospital site and Victoria returned to the borough

‘Complacent’ health chiefs in England lack drive to transform NHS, say MPs

Plans to radically reform the health service are at risk because senior leaders of both NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are “complacent” and lack dynamism, MPs have said.In an excoriating report the public accounts committee (PAC) warns that officials in England have neither the ideas nor the drive to implement the health service transformation required by Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting.The influential cross-party Commons committee did not identify individuals by name. But it reached its conclusions after questioning in November five top-level civil servants including Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, and Sir Chris Wormald, the DHSC’s then permanent secretary, who has since become the new cabinet secretary.“The scale of government’s ambitions is great but senior officials do not seem to have ideas, or the drive, to match the level of change required, despite this being precisely the moment where such thinking is vital,” the PAC said in its report on the health service’s financial sustainability

Prostate cancer becomes most common cancer diagnosis in England

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed in England, surpassing breast cancer for two consecutive years, according to analysis by a leading charity.In 2023 there were 55,033 prostate cancer diagnoses compared with 47,526 breast cancer diagnoses, according to the Prostate Cancer UK’s analysis of NHS England data.Prostate Cancer UK says the increase in diagnoses and awareness can be partly attributed to its awareness campaign launched with the NHS in 2022, which has led to 3 million men using its online risk checker tool.More than 14,000 men who should have been diagnosed with the disease and referred to treatment were not due to the pandemic, but by April 2024 this gap had been closed.NHS England’s Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset shows prostate, breast, bowel and lung cancer are the four most common in England, accounting for about 50% of all cases

New scheme offers diabetes-friendly twists on African-Caribbean meals

When Sandra Tomlinson’s husband, Kelvin, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, she set about figuring out how to cook healthier Caribbean meals without compromising on taste.Although she was offered education sessions on how to alter recipes to help him, she was concerned that serving them may lead to marital strife.The south Londoner says: “What they were asking me to feed my husband would bring divorce in the family.”But after their life changed overnight, something had to change. She set about finding help in creating healthier twists on traditional Jamaican dishes

Bill Cox obituary

My friend Bill Cox, who has died aged 83, was a youth worker and founder member of the Federation for Detached Youth Work. He worked for more than 50 years in the field, a commitment for which he was appointed MBE in 2014.“Detached” youth work supports young people in their own environments, such as on the street, in parks and in shopping centres. In 1974, after a period of volunteering and training, Bill became a detached youth worker with the Merseyside Youth Association (MYA).In the 1980s he was a senior field worker at the MYA and thereafter he took responsibility for training those working in the voluntary youth sector across the county

We need new hospitals now, not more delays | Letters

Hospital bosses are right to point out that “their decrepit buildings will not survive until the date they are now due to be replaced” (Work on some of Boris Johnson’s ‘40 new hospitals’ will not start until 2039, 20 January).Surgeons up and down the country tell us that too often they cannot take patients to operating theatres because of flooding, broken lifts and substandard equipment. The knock-on effect is terrible for patients, and for surgeons who are trying to do their best.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, says he is being honest about the new hospital programme (NHP) delivery, but there is genuine fear that some building programmes have been kicked into the long grass. Others have warned that if we don’t address our crumbling infrastructure, delays to the NHP will be a false economy