Russ Cook run the entire length of Africa. That’s 9,940 miles. Russ ran the equivalent 385 marathons in 352 days across 16 countries. His efforts have raised over £900,000 for charity so far! Along the way he was kidnapped, held at knife point and had numerous issues with his body that stopped him from running. Russ Cook deserves to be recognised for his efforts and I think he should be included in the nominations for Sports Personality of the year. Let's make this happen and give the man the kudos he deserves! Russ encouraged health and fitness and showed what the human body is capable of, if you commit your mind to something. He is nothing short of an incredible inspiration to a lot of people and more people need to hear his story!

My name is Dr Adam Janjua, and I’m an NHS GP in Lancashire. In my job, there’s nothing more important to me than making sure that everyone is able to access good care in their community. But I’m very worried because due to funding cuts, there are hundreds of practices across the country that risk closure. In 2023 alone, nearly 60 GP practices closed their doors. In my own area, over a hundred practices have seen reduced income and rising costs, while 10 are at risk of closure. I'm working with 38 Degrees to demand our political leaders come up with a serious plan to fix the impending crisis of GP practices closing. The benefits are obvious. Investing in local doctors creates a ripple effect throughout the healthcare system. If we strengthen our GPs it helps make us healthier, reduces the burden on hospitals, and creates a healthier society. We need to change how GP surgeries are funded so they can afford to stay open without charging patients. In the past few years, money meant for individual surgeries has been split between hundreds of practices. This has made it harder for GPs like myself to keep up with costs. We need leaders who care about the health system to step up and make sure the NHS doesn't fall apart. Our politicians should listen to doctors and patients, and stop trying to divide us by trying to shift the blame for the problems in the NHS on to staff like me who care. This is a serious problem, and we need a solution NOW!

it is important we keep the day centre open to meet the needs of the individuals and families who use this service currently, and for those to come. it allows families to have peace of mind to go to work or recharge their batteries, in the knowledge that their loved one is safe and receiving person-centred care

The Barnes community was really happy when our local post office reopened along with a Morrisons shop. It was a welcome addition to our town. However, we are all shocked at the blatant marketing of vapes to young people. The colourful stand of vapes is directly facing the glass door of the shop (seen from the street) offering an array of sweet flavoured Vapes such as strawberry and mint. These colourful, flavoured vapes are attractive and enticing to children. Children's doctors say vaping may cause long-term damage to young people's lungs, hearts and brains. The vapour inhaled contains a small amount of chemicals, including the addictive substance nicotine. It is well know and well researched that nicotine: - is highly addictive - can cause anxiety and depression - can cause bronchitis - leads to lung damage (which can be life threatening) Vaping also exposes the user to cancer-causing chemicals.

NHS dentistry is broken and we need a plan to fix it. 12 million people are unable to get NHS dental treatment, nearly half our kids are no longer getting checkups, and DIY dentistry is becoming commonplace. We're struggling to get these services, but incredibly the Government have announced a hike in NHS dental charges from 1 April 2024. This hike is a slap in the face for hard-pressed families. It won’t put a penny in to bring NHS dentistry back from the brink - and the Government is asking the public to pay more for less of a service. Instead of hiking NHS fees, it’s time the government to come up with a proper plan to fund NHS dentistry for all.

It is important that people sign this petition, as people have already lost their lives, paramedics are put under severe pressure, you might need an ambulance at anytime and if you have to wait hours for one you could die, if you cannot access a defibrillator because they cannot find the number you could die, it’s happened, if you think there is a rapid response vehicle they have been disbanded, Staffordshire had the most volunteers for RRVS until they were wiped out. It’s your life, yours family and friends lives this is really important we deserve better, Mr Marsh CEO is responsible for 5.6 million people 5000 sq miles, if lots of people died in Staffordshire Moorlands it would not affect his targets, he has admitted they will never meet the rural needs, they should they did until he changed the system, it was the best not anymore it’s broken

This is a particular problem because aplastic anaemia is frequently confused with "being anaemic" (having an iron deficiency.) Not only is aplastic anaemia absent as a condition on the NHS website, but when you search for it you are presented with pages about iron deficiency and other, less serious, conditions making this confusion worse.  This makes it difficult for people with aplastic anaemia to ask for the support they need from family and friends and leads to difficulty with taking extended time off work for life altering treatment, including bone marrow transplants. It also results in people who are seriously ill struggling to access the UK benefits system.  Many patients go to clinicians for letters that explain the impact of the condition, to take to employers. Having aplastic anaemia on the NHS conditions website would save NHS staff time and improve the mental health of aplastic anaemia patients. The Aplastic Anaemia Trust have leading NHS haematologists on their Research and Clinical Advisory Panel and have offered to draft text for a web page.

The NI Children's Hospice provides support and care to hundreds of children with life threatening and life limiting conditions on an annual basis. Rising costs have forced the charity to reduce bed capacity for respite stays for families from across Northern Ireland. The Department of Health have it within their power to ensure the relatively small funding shortfall is met.

I’m Tom Thayer, a hospital consultant. I treat patients left with horrifying mouth injuries after trying to pull out their own teeth out. Everyone who needs an NHS dentist should be able to get an appointment. But overstretched and underfunded, there are now fewer and fewer NHS dentists available. A recent survey found nine out of ten practices are no longer taking on new NHS patients. The Government’s own figures shows that 12 million people are unable to get NHS dental treatment. While nearly half our kids are no longer getting regular NHS check-ups. The Government has just announced a new plan that's meant to encourage dentists to see new patients. But the money they've offered to fund it is less than half what's already being scraped out of dentists' budgets, and dentists like me can see straight away that it's not good enough - it won't stop dentists leaving the workforce or help the millions who can't get care. Dentistry isn’t a nice to have, or an optional extra. The oral health gap between rich and poor is widening. Tooth decay remains the no 1 reasons a child will end up in hospital. Day in, day out my colleagues are seeing scenes that belong in the Victorian era. Simply because they can’t get an NHS appointment. None of this is inevitable. This is a wealthy 21st-century nation. This is all the result of choices made in Westminster. Rishi Sunak ran for the leadership on a promise to “restore NHS dentistry”. His ministers have set out big ambitions but offered little more than sticking plasters. Join me, The British Dental Association and The Mirror in telling him that deeds need to match words.

By Catherine Burns & Alison Benjamin Health Correspondent & BBC Verify Well well well truth finally now @bbcpointswest didnt listen to me so you did thank you people . England's healthcare regulator has told BBC News that maternity units currently have the poorest safety ratings of any hospital service it inspects. BBC analysis of Care Quality Commission (CQC) records showed it deemed two-thirds (67%) of them not to be safe enough, up from 55% last autumn. The "deterioration" follows efforts to improve NHS maternity care, and is blamed partly on a midwife shortage. The government said maternity care was of the "utmost importance". The Department for Heath and Social Care (DHSC) said £165m a year was being invested in boosting the maternity workforce, but said "we know there is more to do". The BBC's analysis also revealed the proportion of maternity units with the poorest safety ranking of "inadequate" - meaning that there is a high risk of avoidable harm to mother or baby - has more than doubled from 7% to 15% since September 2022. This is not an isolated incident; it underscores a critical gap in our healthcare system - the lack of training for midwives, doctors, and nursery nurses in managing pregnancies complicated by type 1 diabetes. According to Diabetes UK (2019), approximately 700 women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes experience serious health complications during pregnancy each year that could be prevented with better care. We need urgent action to ensure that all healthcare professionals involved in prenatal and postnatal care are adequately trained in managing pregnancies affected by type 1 diabetes. This includes understanding how to interpret blood glucose monitoring devices accurately and how to respond effectively when these devices give incorrect readings. We cannot afford more near-miss stories like my daughter's or worse still - tragic outcomes due to inadequate training. We urge health authorities across the country to prioritize this issue immediately.

Every day, every night, Winchester's A&E department is extremely busy. Saving lives. Patching up injured children, agricultural workers, OAPs from care homes, students, casualties from road traffic accidents, revellers who've overdosed on alcohol or drugs, and all kinds of people. Virtually everyone in the city and the surrounding towns will have a family member or friend who has passed through this department. There is currently a consultation - open until 17 March. We need people to respond to this consultation and express their views on the proposed NHS changes. Save our Winchester A&E! IMPORTANT - Please make your views known on the Hampshire Together Consultation: https://www.hampshiretogether.nhs.uk/

Our collective appeal is centred around the urgent need for a clear road map on targeted investment in biomedical and health research. We propose a comprehensive 5-step strategy that includes: 1. Dedicated Research Funding: Allocate resources specifically earmarked for biomedical and health research into both adult and paediatric Long Covid. By doing so, we can accelerate the pace of discovery by uncovering the intricate pathophysiology of the condition. 2. Collaborative Research Initiatives: Foster interdisciplinary collaboration between research institutions, healthcare providers, charitable organisations and those with lived experience to create a unified approach with shared expertise, resources, and data, leading to more robust and impactful studies. 3. Treatment Trials: Fund and expedite clinical trials for potential treatments. By streamlining regulatory processes and providing support for innovative therapies, we can fast-track the development of interventions that improve health outcomes. 4. Public Awareness and Education: Invest in public awareness campaigns to educate individuals about the potential long-term consequences of COVID-19 and the barriers and stigma they may experience with it. Early awareness can prompt proactive healthcare-seeking behaviour and contribute to more effective management of the condition which in turn will reduce the impact on healthcare services. 5. Service Provision: Continue funding specialised services to support adults, children, and young people (along with their families) who are suffering from Long Covid. Long Covid, identified as a chronic condition, has demonstrated varied outcomes in paediatric services, with 56% improving one functional severity category while 40% remain broadly the same level of impairment and 0.4% show deterioration. At 6 months, the largest UK service has demonstrated that the number of children and young people with over 50% school attendance has more than doubled. Moreover, individuals with Long Covid exhibit the highest healthcare utilisation over a 2-year period, spanning general practice, emergency department, and outpatient care. They also demonstrate the second-highest rates of hospital and critical care admission when compared to both pre-pandemic and pandemic control groups. Long Covid care, estimated at over £3000 per person per year, is nearly four times more than care for the same individuals before the pandemic and nearly three times as much as care in age- and comorbidity-matched individuals before and during the pandemic. Given these substantial healthcare needs and associated costs, patients require ongoing management, monitoring, and support through specialised clinical networks. These networks should be designed to seamlessly integrate research findings into clinical care, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to addressing the challenges posed by Long Covid.