JUST ONE EXAMPLE! March 30th 2026 A& E in next town (nearest) On arrival - It was absolutely packed to standing room only and the screen said there was a waiting time of 6 and a half hours. Around 7pm on a Monday night. I explained at reception that the doctor had insisted my husband attend A&E with some stroke symptoms. After about an hour my husband was triaged – blood pressure and heart rate and some basic checks taken by a nurse. After a couple more hours, he had blood taken. Meanwhile, the suggested waiting time slowly rose on screen from to almost 10 hrs. Elderly people were waiting with carers desperately trying to get taxis for them. People kept going to ask the staff when it was likely they would be seen. I spoke to someone who had been waiting longer than us who had brought his dad as an emergency after being told the ambulance would be a 5hr wait – he was told he would be seen on arrival. I saw him STILL in a cubicle when we were finally leaving. In that time his dad had fell off his seat and cut his arm in the waiting room and staff had to dress it. 5hrs passed. Around midnight, an announcement was made to say that they were moving over to night staff so there would be less staff and very few doctors. They said it had been an extremely busy night and ambulances were queueing and trollies filled the corridors. One nurse intimated that there were absolutely no beds available for anyone who needed admitting. We were asked to form a queue if we wanted to make an appointment to come back in the morning. We were told some may not be suitable for this – we presumed due to urgency – and some were knocked back. So we didn’t look at this option because we felt my husband was sent with a degree of urgency and also we had to get a lift there and would have to get one home then back. I can’t drive and my husband can’t presently with a numb right foot. On the TV screen spouting corporate adverts mostly – there was a campaign ad telling you to ACT FAST on stroke symptoms – sick with irony. Just after this announcement and with a packed waiting room, the screen showing waiting time was switched off. At 2am, my husband was called into the back of A&E and placed in another room with about 6 other patients and one relative allowed each. We were given water or a hot drink. It was an airless, windowless room with chairs and now contained around a dozen tired people. Most in pain – awaiting results, MRI and CT scans and to see a doctor. Between 2am and 9am NO ONE was called for anything and no more drinks or information was brought to us. A young nurse came in on 2 occasions to take blood pressure and heart rate. In that room were people who had been waiting since 8am the previous morning and others who had been there since lunchtime. Once all the staff came to work at 9am things started moving. We were the last ones to be called. At 9.30am I asked when we would be seen – I was told we were next. At 9.45 when I asked again, I was snapped at and told pestering won’t make it quicker and made to feel I should consider more important cases being seen! At 10am we were seen by a young doctor who said the blood tests were fine and who did some basic exercises with my husband. She then said she believed it was Diabetic Neuropathy and not a stroke and so no need for a EEG or brain scan. We were sent home at around 10.30am after being sat in the A&E since 7pm the previous day. To add depth to this horrific tale another lady who was in the room with us actually went home after waiting hours in A&E. She received a phone call in the early hours to tell her it was suspected she had had a heart attack and to come back immediately. She was then put in the room next door and later moved to our room. She was in the same boat as us between 2am and 9am with minimum monitoring and no bed or treatment. She was still waiting for a bed as we left. To conclude – we had been placed in a small room, away from main A&E under the premise we were closer to being attended to. Yet for the whole night – between 2am and 9am, we were ignored apart from occasional blood pressure/heartrate checks. We did not even have drinks provided. Mostly, the staff were running around trying to do their best but we couldn’t help but notice many at computer terminals. We have no idea why we were contained in a room waiting for services that the hospital did not have available during night hours. All of A&E looked like some third world clinic. If it is overwhelmed now, what will it be like when the thousands of new families move into the thousands of new-builds in the area?! As this is a relatively new hospital, why on earth was it not given a much bigger A&E considering the enormity of the area it has to serve?! I have witnessed similar before myself – and it is a dangerous situation. Patients AND staff deserve a better situation.

For too long people with eating disorders have been failed. For too long people with eating disorders have been neglected.    We are calling on the Government for a standalone eating disorder strategy.    Eating disorders are among the most serious and life-threatening mental illnesses yet they have been overlooked and underfunded for far too long. As a result, they now have one of the largest treatment gaps in modern healthcare. In the past decade, eating disorders have risen at an alarming rate, a crisis that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.    Right now, too many people are waiting for help. Too many are being turned away. Too many are deteriorating while services are stretched beyond breaking point. Eating disorders do not discriminate. They affect people of all ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds. Yet public understanding remains narrow, and services fail to reflect the true scale and diversity of need. Binge Eating Disorder is now significantly more common than anorexia, yet there are still no dedicated NHS treatment pathways for it in many areas. Children as young as four are being diagnosed with ARFID and are unable to access specialist support. Families are being left to cope alone. Clinicians are trying to save lives in systems that are underfunded, under-resourced and overwhelmed. Lives are being lost. Families are being torn apart. The human and financial cost of inaction is devastating. We urgently need a comprehensive, properly funded, cross-government National Eating Disorder Strategy that: • Delivers an Inquiry to urgently review the current services and why people are dying or getting worse in treatment • Guarantees timely access to specialist treatment for people of all ages • Provides dedicated support for all eating disorder diagnoses, including Binge Eating Disorder and ARFID • Invests in early intervention and prevention • Addresses workforce shortages and ensures proper training • Tackles inequalities in access and outcomes • Commits to long-term, sustainable funding • Treats eating disorders as the public health emergency they are. • Ensures treatment models are disability and neurodiversity-informed

Medical students in the UK face significant financial hardship during compulsory clinical placements, which are full-time and often require long travel, relocation, and additional living costs without any pay. This disproportionately affects students from lower-income backgrounds and risks widening inequality within the medical profession. We call on the Government and Parliament to introduce paid clinical placements or, at minimum, a standardised national stipend that reflects living costs and recognises students’ contributions to patient care within the NHS. In addition, a consistent system to fully cover travel and accommodation expenses should be implemented to eliminate regional disparities in support. Without action, financial pressures may force capable students to leave their studies, worsening workforce shortages. Ensuring fair financial support during placements is essential to widening access to medicine, supporting student wellbeing, and securing the future of the NHS.

The Scottish Government and the UK Government must take action to protect younger women. I was healthy. I had a good career, a family, and a full life ahead of me. Breast cancer was the last thing I ever expected. At 38, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer can be a silent killer. Like many women in their mid 20s, 30s and 40s, I believed screening was something that happened later in life. But cancer doesn’t wait for a certain age. Since my diagnosis, I have met many other younger women facing the same reality — mothers, daughters, professionals, women planning their futures. Many of them were told they were too young for breast cancer. Many were not picked up through screening. By the time cancer is found in younger women, it is often more advanced and harder to treat. I am sharing my story because earlier screening could save lives. Women in their mid 20s, 30s and 40s deserve the chance of earlier detection. It’s time for the Scottish Government to act and introduce annual breast screening for younger women.

The decision to close SARCs in Plymouth & Truro and expecting victims to travel to a central service in Bodmin would be devastating to many across Devon & Cornwall.  People who have been attacked would be expected to travel up to 3 hours to receive medical examinations.  Victims of sexual assault often feel embarrassed or nervous about seeking support after assault or rape. Expecting them to go out of their way for examination would only add to this feeling. 

Titanium Dioxide (E171) is a whitening agent used in everything from sweets and cakes to food supplements. In 2022, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) banned E171, concluding it can no longer be considered safe because concerns regarding genotoxicity (potential damage to DNA) could not be ruled out. While the EU, Switzerland, and Northern Ireland have removed this additive to protect their citizens, the UK Food Standards Agency has yet to follow suit for Great Britain. We believe the UK should adopt the Precautionary Principle. Consumers should not be exposed to unnecessary risks for the sake of making food look "whiter."  We urge the Government to: - Implement a ban on E171 in all food and food supplements. -Set a clear transition period for manufacturers to reformulate products. -Align UK food safety standards with the highest international protections.

Background Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Hospital Trust (LGT) which combines Lewisham University Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich has adopted a digital tool provided by the US conglomerate - Palantir – namely the Federated Data Platform (FDP) for part of its digital systems. In response to a Freedom of Information query LGT confirmed on 21st May 2025 that: “We use only one element of FDP which is the care coordination system or inpatient module for booking theatres. We recently presented our progress to NHSE on this which is mainly around use of the tool for 6:4:2 scheduling and theatres prep processes." What is Palantir? Palantir is a shadowy US firm which provides software to combine and analyse data. It was supported by the CIA and its systems are used for government surveillance and intelligence purposes. Its systems have directly targeted and killed unarmed Palestinians. Its data also underpins the ICE surveillance and targeting of immigrant communities in the USA. Palantir and the NHS Palantir won its first NHS contract in 2020 during the Covid crisis. The deal came just one year after an undisclosed meeting between Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings and Peter Thiel in August 2019. Palantir accepted a fee of £1 for trialling its data collection services during covid. This gave Palantir a foot in the door of the NHS.    Sure enough, in November 2023 Palantir won a £330m contract to build and operate a system to hold and analyse patient data across the NHS, as part of the NHS’s plan for a Single Patient Record.    Soon after winning the election in August 2024, NHS England made it obligatory for trusts to start using the FDP within two years. NHS England says trusts must start using FDP within two years   Palantir, Epstein, Mandelson and Wes Streeting   Palantir was co-founded by Peter Thiel, who was a close business associate of Jeffrey Epstein: Epstein was a major investor in Peter Thiel’s investment fund. Peter Mandelson was a best friend of Epstein and a business associate of Peter Thiel. In 2018 Palantir hired Mandelson’s PR firm, Global Counsel.     Since 2020 Palantir has amassed 34 government contracts worth £670m. In 2025 Mandelson arranged a meeting between Keir Starmer and Peter Thiel Palantir’s Washington showroom, shortly after which Palantir secured a large MoD contract. Wes Streeting, the current Health Secretary, is the man overseeing the enforcement of the adoption of Palantir’s product across the NHS. His emails with Peter Mandelson show the two were friendly and discussed politics. Both Streeting and Peter Thiel were at this year’s Bilderberg Group meeting of the rich and powerful.  We don’t trust Palantir with our health data, we don’t trust the methods by which Palantir has secured the NHS contract and we don’t trust Palantir to respect the values of our NHS.

We believe that this is important because there are no council provided outdoor youth facilities on the west side of the District and this contributes to rising levels of anti-social behaviour and poor physical health leading to potential issues in later life.

 Sleep apnoea is not a minor inconvenience. It can severely affect physical and mental health, increase the risk of road and workplace accidents, and contribute to life-threatening conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are critical. Yet persistent underfunding has led to excessive waiting times and limited access to essential equipment, leaving many without the urgent care that they need. 

Men in Scotland are facing a silent health crisis. They are significantly more likely to die by suicide, experience social isolation, and suffer poorer health outcomes than women—yet why does Scotland still not have a dedicated Men’s Health Strategy? While the UK Government announced its first ever Men and Boys’ Health Strategy for England in November 2025, and countries like Ireland (since 2009) already have targeted policies in place, the Scottish Government has confirmed there are currently no plans to develop one. This is all despite clear evidence—including recent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) research—showing men account for the vast majority of suicide deaths in Scotland. The Scottish Government has recognised that different groups have different health needs, demonstrated by the appointment of a Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health (2021-present) and a Women’s Health Plan (2021-29). Yet men, who face some of the most severe and persistent health inequalities, continue to lack a focused, national strategy to address their specific challenges. Is it because men are still influenced by the ‘Strong and Silent’ type Victorian male ‘worker’ cultural model and suffering in silence is seen as a badge of masculine honour so nobody ‘hears’ about it until it’s too late? In a recent response, Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, confirmed “There are no current plans for the Scottish Government to develop a specific strategy focused on men’s health”. This comes at a crucial time, as Scotland prepares a new Suicide Prevention Action Plan, and as the rest of the UK begins taking coordinated action to improve men’s health outcomes. The Scottish Men's Sheds Association (SMSA), as the national body leading support for male lifestyle health, wellbeing, and prevention through the Men’s Shed movement, has never received direct funding from the Scottish Government’s ring-fenced budget for suicide prevention which increased again to at least £3 million for the 2026–27 financial year. This is despite more than 11 years of proven impact since the first Men’s Shed opened in Scotland, and the SMSA now supporting and developing over 210 Sheds nationwide—engaging 12,000+ men in their communities, reducing isolation, and improving both physical and mental health. The Scottish Government has stated it wants to explore “new and creative” ways to reach and support men. We welcome this ambition. However, it is deeply concerning that the government has not invested in, from this pot, nor fully utilised the over a decade-long infrastructure, expertise, and trusted community engagement already established through the intergenerational SMSA central hub and the collaborative research done over a four-year period with Glasgow Caledonian University. Add your signature now to join our mission to support men and boys health - in it together. Thank you. Dr Jason Schroeder  CEO Scottish Mens Sheds Association

The current measles outbreaks are unnecessary & preventable.

This petition will save hundreds if not thousands of lives and raise more awareness of symptoms of breast cancer.