The Vivienne’s sister speaks out about drug use ‘stigma’

The sister of The Vivienne has questioned whether the “stigma” around drug use stopped the drag queen from seeking help.James Lee Williams, 32, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, died at home in Chorlton-by-Backford, Cheshire on 5 January after taking ketamine.Chanel Williams told the BBC Two current affairs programme Newsnight that The Vivienne did not discuss their relapse, including a hospital stay, to “protect” their family, after “a really long period of sobriety”.“It’s hard for me because I think, if that stigma wasn’t there, would my brother have sought the help he needed?” she said.“To think that, if we’d known, or if he’d have felt able to talk and really reach out for the help that was needed, the outcome could’ve been different

GPs in poor parts of England are paid £5,500 less a year than in wealthy areas, study finds

GPs working in the most deprived areas in England are paid an average salary £5,525 less a year than their counterparts working in wealthier areas, according to a study.The report, by researchers at the University of Manchester and published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, analysed data from more than 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 in the GP work life survey.Besides the difference in salary, the study found GPs working in the most deprived areas were more likely to face significantly higher pressures related to perceived problem patients, insufficient resources with the practice and finding locum cover.The study, which is the first quantitative analysis examining the relationship between population deprivation and the working lives of GPs in England, also said there was no difference in hours worked a week, job satisfaction and intention to quit between more deprived and less deprived areas.According to the report’s authors, the difference in earnings is down to a lack of funds in more deprived areas, as more is spent on resources

Patient satisfaction with GP services in England has collapsed, research finds

Patients’ satisfaction with GP services has collapsed in recent years as family doctors have switched to providing far fewer face-to-face appointments, new research has revealed.The proportion of patients seeing a GP in person has plummeted from more than four-fifths (80.7%) in 2019 to just under two-thirds (66.2%) last year.Telephone appointments have almost doubled over the same period from 13

Ministers privately ruling out scrapping two-child benefits cap

Ministers are privately ruling out scrapping the two-child benefit cap despite warnings from charities that a failure to do so could result in the highest levels of child poverty since records began.Government sources said charities and Labour MPs who were concerned that wider benefit cuts would push more families into poverty should “read the tea leaves” over Labour’s plans.“If they still think we’re going to scrap the cap then they’re listening to the wrong people. We’re simply not going to find a way to do that. The cap is popular with key voters, who see it as a matter of fairness,” one source said

Help to reduce high blood pressure lowers dementia risk, study finds

People given intensive help to reduce their high blood pressure such as medication and coaching have a lower risk of dementia, researchers have found.According to the World Health Organization, 57 million people around the world had dementia in 2021.However, experts have long stressed dementia is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. Researchers found about half of cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 risk factors including hearing impairment, smoking, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption and social isolation – as well as high blood pressure.Now researchers say tackling the last of these could reduce the risk of dementia by 15%

Graham Sergeant obituary

The British doctor Graham Serjeant, who has died aged 86, lived and worked in Jamaica for more than 50 years, researching sickle cell disease and treating patients with the genetic condition. His long-running research study and publications helped transform doctors’ understanding of the disease, as demonstrated by two contrasting experiences.At the beginning of his career in 1968, Serjeant found it difficult to get a medical journal to publish an article about Jamaicans aged 30 with sickle cell. The journal editors were sceptical because the textbooks of the day said few people with the condition survived beyond childhood.In 2009, Serjeant again had difficulties getting a paper published