Elizabeth Bacon obituary

My friend Elizabeth Bacon, who has died aged 86, was an orthoptist – an expert in eye movement disorders and visual impairment – who spent most of her career at the Royal Infirmary in Leicester, managing a children’s eye care team.She was also a prominent figure in community activism in Leicester, including as a member of the Leicester Environmental Group (LEAG), which campaigned on environmental issues in the city, and with the local Women’s Refugee project, providing a safe place for female asylum seekers and their children.Elizabeth was born in Leeds to Connie (nee Dyall), a housewife, and Bernard Bacon, a political agent. During the second world war, Elizabeth, her mother and her sister, Margaret, were evacuated to live with a family near Loch Lomond, giving her a love of Scotland and its landscape, although less so of porridge. When her father was on leave from war service, they all walked the hills around the loch

John Smith obituary

“It’s not common, its popular,” my father, John Smith, would say when asked about his name. For 35 years, John, who has died aged 83, was an ever-present feature of public life in Bury, Greater Manchester, variously serving as the mayor of the borough, deputy leader of the borough council and the council’s cabinet member for finance.But his passion was housing, as he had himself been the beneficiary of slum clearances in the early 1950s. He was the first chair of Six Town Housing, the arm’s-length management organisation for the council housing in stock, and in that role he gave tenants a real voice and pushed through the government’s Decent Homes Standard.Born in Jarrow, Co Durham (now South Tyneside), John was the sixth of the seven children of Elizabeth (nee Middleton), who worked in various part-time jobs, and James Smith, a carpenter and joiner at the local shipyards

Thirty English councils granted exceptional financial support packages

A record 30 English local authorities have been granted effective “bailouts” enabling them to borrow money to avoid bankruptcy, as ministers advised them against selling off prized local assets such as historic buildings, parks and allotments.The councils, all of whom were experiencing “unmanageable” financial pressures, were given the green light by ministers to collectively borrow £1.5bn to plug significant budget gaps caused by underfunding and soaring demand for social care and other services.Three councils – Birmingham, Bradford, and Windsor and Maidenhead – will each be allowed to borrow more than £100m this year to stay afloat, while also being allowed to issue cap-busting council tax bill increases of up to 10%.Six councils who are in special measures after declaring effective bankruptcy in recent years – Birmingham, Croydon, Nottingham, Slough, Thurrock and Woking – have again been granted special financial help

Number of norovirus patients in English hospitals hits record high

The number of norovirus patients in hospital in England has reached an all-time high, figures have revealed, with experts saying a return to pre-pandemic behaviours could be fuelling the situation.Norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, is highly contagious. While most people get better at home in a couple of days, it can be more serious in older adults, younger children and people who are immuno-compromised.According to data from NHS England, on average 1,160 patients a day were in hospital with norovirus last week, a 22% rise compared with the week before. In the same period last year the rate was 509 patients a day

The cannabis farm scandal: how a rogue lettings agency destroyed countless homes

Imperial Property Group said it rented homes to NHS staff. In fact, they were torn apart to create drug factories, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. Why has the culprit not been brought to justice?When Hajaj Hajaj decided to rent out his house in south London in the summer of 2020, his daughter, Kinda Jackson, urged him to use a reputable lettings agent for peace of mind. Her father had enough on his plate. Hajaj, a 79-year-old retired garage owner, is the primary carer for his wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease

Dissatisfaction among gen Z staff is ‘ticking timebomb’ for NHS

The NHS in England is facing a “ticking timebomb” when it comes to retaining young staff, nursing leaders have warned, after new analysis showed its generation Z workers are becoming more stressed and unhappy over time.A new report by the Nuffield Trust shows soaring dissatisfaction rates among staff in the health service’s youngest cohort, aged 21 to 30 – based on analysis of NHS surveys.Researchers found that, between 2013 and 2023, stress levels in clinical staff aged 21 to 30 rose by 14 percentage points. In 2023, more than half (52%) said they had been made unwell through work-related stress in the previous year, compared with 38% in 2013.But the proportion of older NHS workers – aged between 51 and 65 – who had become ill for the same reason decreased across the same period, dropping from 43% to 40%