Health

Contributed Iris Scott, 73, was a patient at the Crystal Centre in Chelmsford A woman who took her own life while on a mental health ward had been threatened and bullied by staff, her family told a public inquiry. Iris Scott, 73, was a patient at the Crystal Centre in Chelmsford, run by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust …

A female health worker administering polio drops to a child during the 7-day Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme 2024 in Peshawar on September 9, 2024. — APP Twelve-month-old boy from Union Council Ghari infected. September surveillance finds 44 positive sewage samples. Sindh records the highest number of positive detections. A new case of wild poliovirus (WPV1) has been confirmed in district …

PA Media Denise Bacon experienced instant improvement in her finger movements A woman with Parkinson’s disease who played a clarinet while undergoing brain stimulation said she was “delighted” with how it went. Denise Bacon, 65, from Crowborough in East Sussex, experienced instant improvement in her finger movements as the electrical current was delivered to her brain, doctors at King’s College …

Japan has approved over-the-counter sales of an emergency contraceptive pill, its manufacturer says, allowing women in the country to take such medication without prescription for the first time. ASKA Pharmaceutical said wider access to the pill would “empower Japanese women in the area of reproductive health”. A date for it to go on sale has yet to be announced. The …

Fergus WalshMedical editor Sheila Irvine, who is registered blind, punches the air with joy at being able to read again A group of blind patients can now read again after being fitted with a life-changing implant at the back of the eye. A surgeon who inserted the microchips in five patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says the results …

Eben Morrish-CroadSomerset Conor Ogilvie-Davidson The centre is expected to deliver a wide range of services that will contribute towards delivering care in the community A Grade-II listed building is set to open as a health and wellbeing centre next month after a £2.2m renovation project. St Dunstan’s House in Glastonbury will provide a venue for community activities including talking and …

Alex PopeNorthamptonshire Higham Ferrers Riverside Angling Association A storage container of fishing and gardening equipment was destroyed in a fire The director of an angling club has said he has been left “devastated” after a suspected arson attack destroyed about £6,000 worth of fishing and electrical equipment. Craig Parkins, 40, from Fishing for Minds, part of Higham Ferrers Riverside Angling …

Divya Talwar and Natalie TruswellBBC News Investigations Family handout/PA Wire Bereaved mothers Amarjit Matharoo, Lauren Caulfield and Fiona Winser-Ramm have campaigned for years for an independent inquiry into Leeds Trust An independent inquiry into “repeated failures” at an NHS trust’s maternity units has been announced by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, following potentially avoidable harm to babies and mothers. Earlier this …

BBC Freya Mandapalli, 19, is among many medical students who are choosing to study abroad A growing number of young people are choosing to study in Eastern Europe due to a strict cap on medical school places in the UK. Freya Mandapalli from Preston is one of them. The 19-year-old has healthcare in her blood. Her parents both work at …

Commuters drive along a road amid heavy smog in Lahore on October 29, 2024. — AFP PM2.5 levels exceed WHO safe limits. Punjab launches anti-smog enforcement drive. Delhi, Mumbai also among worst cities. Lahore ranked as the world’s most polluted major city on Monday morning, as temperatures dip, with air quality deteriorating to “very unhealthy” levels, according to Swiss monitoring …