Health Education England (HEE) is currently consulting on proposals which will see massive job losses among staff responsible for the recruitment and training of new doctors and dentists for London and the South East, while at the same time introducing new data systems and ways of working without trialling them first. Currently 180 staff oversee the recruitment and training of thousands of junior doctors and dentists every year. Under the new plans, there will be just 111 staff to do the same work AND take on new business in two areas they have no experience of. This is a 41% head count cut coming at the same time as a massively increased workload, proposed to be implemented by March 2017. Furthermore, this is just the start – this cut is just in one region, but similar cuts are currently being planned in other HEE regions of the country. We believe this represents a denigration of the service for trainee doctors and dentists, and as a consequence a real threat to the NHS and to patient safety. At a time when recruitment of doctors is already suffering due to the government’s health policies, the last thing we need is to undermine it further. These cuts should be stopped completely until the new systems and working patterns have been tested so that informed proposals for safe staffing levels can be made. According to Professor Allyson Pollock: ‘The Health and Social Care Act abolished the NHS and it is now being dismantled through budget cuts and services closures. There is no longer a duty on the Sec of State to provide key services throughout England and many areas will soon find they have decreased and limited access to NHS services and care as hospitals and services close and are sold off. Budgetary cuts are also decimating the organisations such as HEE which is responsible for recruiting and training staff including junior doctors. The destruction of the NHS is continuing apace and only legislation can stop it’.

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to sign or start the campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to sign or start the campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

The first hour of a patient who has had a stroke is vital and the following days essential when looking at their recovery. If there is a delay in treatment then the outcome can be detrimental to a patients recovery. It is hard enough for a patient and their relatives at such a time but to have them many miles away and could face a long journey to visit their relative puts extra stress on the whole family. Keep services local for best patient outcome.

Devon healthcare is being placed under special measures, to cut a predicted financial shortfall of £440m by 2020. Government identifies the position as an overspend. Special measures for reducing this overspend, drawn up in guidelines titled the Success Regime, are set to re-configure services at many Devon hospitals. North Devon District Hospital, in Barnstaple, is the largest in North Devon, currently with elective and acute services. The Success Regime does not rule out that Acute services of A&E, Maternity, Stroke, and Paediatrics could disappear. Senior figures in the local healthcare system have said it is extremely unlikely that these services would be withdrawn but at the same time we have been told that "there are no red lines" meaning that anything could happen. NHSEngland is trying to push changes through as fast as possible. If these services are lost, local people would have to travel to Exeter or Plymouth for treatment. For very many these hospitals are over an hour or more away; very serious complications and deaths could and would occur. Even if acute services are maintained, despite plans to increase care at home, other services will doubtless also be affected meaning unacceptable wait and travel times for routine surgery such as hip and knee replacement Cross-party Campaigners against such closures read the situation as underfunding rather than overspending and are protesting the loss of services vitally important to the region. Because of its rural nature Devon is suffering more than most, but cuts like these are taking place across the country. We want Government to re-think their health care strategy which at present is far from clear and transparent, with NHS England taking funding from budgets for public health, education and training, capital spend and national bodies such as NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence). Spending in these areas is being cut by more than £3 billion over the next five years with very little information on how this decrease in spending will be managed. Rather than cutting vital services and thereby opening the door for privatized health care, the government should be having free and frank discussion about increasing funding for healthcare to include such measures as an hypothecated healthcare tax, more efficient tax collection, compulsory insurance contributions and taxes on harmful products like tobacco and sugar. A Protest DEMONSTRATION, drawing a RED LINE around our hospital services, will be held 23 August. Meet at Pilton Park 10.00am or outside Barnstaple Hospital 10.30-12.30pm. Please come along. Wear red, bring red ribbon. For more information www.sohs.co.uk

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

A generation of Haemophiliacs were infected with HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products (Factor 8 & 9) on the NHS throughout the early 1980's. People with haemophilia can bleed into the joint space after an injury or, at times, without obvious cause. The pressure of blood filling the joint cavity causes significant pain and can lead to chronic swelling and deformity. This is a condition which can, at best, be delayed, but invariably leads to chronic Arthritis. Unlike modern clotting agents the Factors given to this generation weren't as effective as they are now and it's very rare to find a patient who hasn't suffered lasting multiple joint damage. In recognition of this many were awarded higher lifetime rates of Attendance Allowance and or Mobility Allowance (now combined into DLA). This has allowed many to live a much more productive and full life than they otherwise could. DLA is currently being replaced by Personal Independence Payment. This requires anyone in receipt of DLA, regardless of term awarded, to undergo an assessment which ranges from highly stressful to traumatic. Given that most surviving Haemophiliacs from this group have already been left traumatised by the multiple infections given to them many are viewing this assessment with much trepidation and concern. Some Haemophiliacs have surrendered the benefit rather than have to go through it. The Scottish Parliament has taken steps to alleviate the financial concerns of this group, well above the lamentable efforts by the UK parliament and should be applauded for their compassion and understanding. It would greatly help the survivors further if they were made exempt from this humiliating process.

Stepping Hill serves a large geographical area in Greater Manchester. It has been chosen as one of the specialist hospitals in Greater Manchester as a result of the Healthier Together reforms that were intended to improve patient care and save lives. The loss of jobs and beds at the hospital can only have the opposite effect. We want Ann Barnes to tell the people of Stockport and the surrounding area why, without consultation, the board have taken the decision to immediately and permanently close the surgical ward B3, to temporarily close 8 trauma and orthopaedic beds from October and to make 400 people redundant. This came as a shock to everyone. We want this decision reversed. We are aware that these are cost-cutting measures forced by a deficit estimated to be £40 million. This is an entirely predictable result of a policy of progressive under-funding of the NHS that began in 2010. We now spend 25% less of our GDP on healthcare compared with the European average and more pressure has been placed on all hospitals including Stepping Hill as a result of reductions in social care funding. We therefore also call on Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of State for Health to change the austerity policy of under-funding of the NHS, to increase spending to provide a publically run service, free at the point of need. The people of Stockport and the surrounding area own Stepping Hill Hospital and it must survive.

Wakefield Council is now responsible for ‘Public Health’ in the district. It contracts with NHS providers like the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) to deliver services such as Health Visiting. At the end of July it told SWYPFT it wants them to stop running the Health Trainer Service, the Community Food & Health service and part of the Safe at Home (domestic violence) service by 30th September. The jobs of around 40 NHS staff will go. We know that the Government is cutting the money it gives to local Councils for these services but this decision has been taken without proper consultation with the health professionals (such as GPs) who refer people to the services, the people who provide them, or the public who use them. The service was recently rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission and no discussions have taken place about how the cost of the services might be reduced or about winding down the service (people are still be referred to groups that should run until after the service is due to close).

Dear Squash Fan! We hope you can take a moment to sign our online 'e-petition' to help our squash courts in Scarborough. Four years ago we registered our interest to become part of the new Scarborough Leisure Village which is due to be completed in May 2017. The Council pledged to replace the existing facilities and 3 new glass back squash courts were centrally located in the plans. Today we face the threat of having no courts as the potential leisure service operators want a larger gym. So at this 11th hour the Council are wanting to change the original plans and completely remove the squash courts. This would leave us with no courts in the town centre and far too many gyms. Therefore we are starting this 'Everyone 4 Squash' campaign to secure the presence and long term success of squash in Scarborough fo our current players and generations to come. We would be grateful if you could show your support and by signing our petition and spreading the word to all fans of squash and other competitive sports. Many thanks for your support, 'Everyone 4 Squash' Scarborough Squash Players

Over 9,000 early deaths are caused by air pollution in London every year. There are areas in London that exceeded annual pollution limits just eight days into 2016. These pollution hotspots are on our high streets, by our children’s schools and where we work. We’re finding out more and more about how damaging air pollution is - not to just people with asthma, like myself, or other respiratory or even heart conditions, but to children whose lungs are smaller, whose growth is stunted, because of the dirty air they breathe. That’s why, despite living in Zone 3, I was shocked to discover that both of my children’s schools are in air pollution hotspots, where legal limits are regularly broken. Sadly, this is not unusual, as many primary schools are on roads with heavy traffic and this is the biggest source of air pollution in our city. Even more shockingly, under current plans by the UK Government, London won’t meet legal limits of air pollution until at least 2025 – 15 years after the original deadline. At the moment the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will mean only the cleanest vehicles can enter central London from 2020. This is still, however, not enough to clean up all of London’s air even by 2025. That’s why Sadiq is looking at whether the ULEZ should be expanded to the North and South circulars. Yet, there are pollution hotspots outside of this area. So, the ULEZ needs to be expanded to cover the whole of Greater London to protect all Londoners. The UK Government has been taken to court for failing to protect us from air pollution and the previous Mayor did very little to clean up our air. While I welcome the considerable efforts that the new Mayor has taken, I encourage him to be bolder, braver and faster with action to address this crisis.

Please accept the advice from the soil association and other word leading scientists that glyphosate is harmful to health when ingested in any quantities and the use of it as a pre harvest dessicant has been shown to cause high levels of glyphosate in the grain and humans who consume wheat soya barley based products show significant levels of glyphosate in their urine. It is a WHO suspected carcinogen a hormone disruptor damages the gut biome and may contribute to auto immune disease. The EU has refused a full license and given only a short temporary approval to glyphosate and deprecates it's use as a dessicant. My wife and I both have developed auto immune diseases and we both were exposed to glyphosate spray mist directly and in our food through no choice of our own as it is almost impossible to buy glyphosate free produce. Products that may contain glyphosate from pre harvest desiccation include flour, bread, sauces ,pizza, pastry, beer, soy sauce, biscuits, any meals using wheat as a thickener (most do) etc ... https://www.farminguk.com/news/Soil-Association-writes-to-major-bread-companies-asking-them-to-avoid-glyphosate_42519.html