1 day agoAbout sharingMaddy (L) and Victoria (R)By Rachel SchraerHealth and disinformation reporter
"Seven days, 18 hours, 39 minutes ago my beloved... died suddenly of cardiac arrest". When Victoria Brownworth logged onto Twitter to post these words about her partner of 23 years, she didn't know that two of them in particular would provoke a storm of online harassment.
Because, as Victoria waited at her home in Philadelphia on Sunday night for her wife's ashes to be delivered, a video titled Died Suddenly was about to drop.
In an hour and eight minutes of dramatic music and out-of-context
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1 day agoAbout sharingBy Michelle RobertsDigital health editor
Contrary to current advice, getting pregnant within a few months of an abortion or a miscarriage does not appear to be extra risky for the mum and baby, say researchers who have looked at recent real-life data.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least a six-month gap.
This is to give the woman time to recover.
But a study in PLoS Medicine, analysing 72,000 conceptions, suggests couples might
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2 hours agoAbout sharingDr Rowena Christmas says she is seeing more respiratory problems
Growing numbers of people are refusing doctors' sick notes as they cannot afford to take time off work amid the cost of living crisis, some GPs say.
Dr Rowena Christmas said patients on contracts with little or no sick pay are too worried about paying bills.
She believes there is evidence the cost of living is damaging health.
Royal College of GPs chair Dr Kamila Hawthorne has told The Guardian that it was often clear that patients would not take time off when they needed
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1 day agoAbout sharingBy Jim Reed and Elena BaileyBBC health and wellbeing team
For the first time, more than 2.5 million people in the UK are out of work because of a long-term health problem. The number has jumped by half a million since the start of the pandemic - but, BBC News analysis reveals, the impact is spread unevenly across the country, with some regions and types of job far more affected.
For Mary Starling, there are good days and bad days.
The 61-year-old is on strong painkillers, for arthritis. She needs a knee replacement - but that could mean another 18
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2 hours agoCommentsAbout sharingBy Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
Ambulance crews are facing crippling delays when they arrive at A&E with sick patients, NHS bosses are warning.
Over the past week, nearly three in 10 ambulances were caught queuing outside hospitals in England.
It is the worst start to winter since records began - before the pandemic about half the number of delays were recorded, NHS England data shows.
Ambulance chiefs said the problems were
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17 hours agoAbout sharingRichard Warwick was infected with HIV when given contaminated blood products as a childBy Jim ReedHealth reporter
Almost one out of every three people infected with HIV through contaminated NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s was a child, research has found.
About 380 children with haemophilia and other blood disorders are now thought to have contracted the virus.
The new estimate was produced by
17 hours agoCommentsAbout sharingBy Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
Nurses belonging to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union have voted to strike.
Action is expected before the end of the year, and would be the union's first UK-wide strike in its 106-year history.
The walkout will involve RCN members in more than half of hospitals and community teams - but emergency care will be protected.
What was the result and what happens... Read More
18 hours agoAbout sharingBy Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
Nurses across the UK have voted to strike over pay with action expected to start by the end of the year.
The walkout will involve Royal College of Nursing members in more than half of hospitals and community teams, but emergency care will still be staffed.
Nurses in every
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6 hours agoAbout sharingBaby Aria is one of thousands of infants who need hospital care for RSV every year in the UKBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporter
A new treatment to protect babies against a common and potentially dangerous winter virus has been approved by the UK regulator.
The single antibody shot helps stop infants getting chest infections, such as pneumonia, for about six months.
A large study has now begun to find out whether nirsevimab should be offered to all babies in the UK.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main reason children under five end up in
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1 hour agoAbout sharingBy Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
There has been a sharp rise in long waits for cancer therapy in the past four years, BBC analysis shows.
The number waiting more than the 62-day target time for therapy in the past year has topped 67,000 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland - twice as many as the same period in 2017-18.
Waits are also getting worse in Wales, but data does not go that far back.
The national cancer director for the NHS in England said staff were striving to catch up on the backlog of care.
But experts warned the
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2 days agoCommentsAbout sharingBy Jim ReedHealth reporter
Extreme disruption to NHS services has been driving a sharp spike in heart disease deaths since the start of the pandemic, a charity has warned.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said ambulance delays, inaccessible care and waits for surgery are linked to 30,000 excess cardiac deaths in England.
It has called for a new strategy to reduce "unacceptable" waiting times.
The government has said it is
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1 day agoAbout sharingJean and Claire Iles called 999 six times to request an ambulance for Steven Iles' internal bleeding and two of their calls were unanswered for 10 minutesBy Matthew HillBBC West health correspondent
South West Ambulance has the longest waits in the country for people to get through to the operator. It takes almost a minute on average for ambulance control to answer 999 calls compared with just five seconds for the West Midlands service.
"He just looked at me and he just passed away before they could even get to him," 41-year-old Claire Iles said.
"I
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1 day agoAbout sharingBlackpool GP Dr Susan Green says hearing patient criticism is hard to takeBy Sean Clare and David GrossmanBBC News
The gap between the number of GPs per patient in richer and poorer parts of England is widening, according to analysis by University of Cambridge.
The study for BBC Newsnight saw "stark inequalities" in GPs' distribution.
Separate BBC research also found patient satisfaction on measures such as how easy a practice is to reach by phone is lower in deprived areas.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it was focusing support on
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1 day agoAbout sharing
Covid infections have fallen in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The ONS figures show levels have increased in Northern Ireland and the trend is uncertain in Scotland.
Overall about 1.9 million people have the virus, or one in 35 people. This down from 2 million, or one in 30, the week before.
But experts warn levels are still high in the over-70s and say vaccines are key.
Other viruses, including flu, are on the rise.
The
1 hour agoAbout sharingBy Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
The biggest ever strike by nurses looks set to go ahead.
The Royal College of Nursing is due to unveil the results of its ballot, which ended last week, in the next few days.
The final results are being counted but RCN sources say a large majority of nurses have voted in favour of action in a dispute over pay.
The RCN had recommended to its 300,000 members that they walk out. If strikes take place, they would affect non-urgent but not emergency care.
The vote has involved a series of individual workplace-based
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