Coroner expresses concerns over NHS menopause care after death of teacher

A coroner has expressed wide-ranging concerns about how the NHS cares for women during menopause after the death of a 54-year-old teacher who killed herself after a decline in her mental health.Jacqueline Anne Potter took her own life during overnight leave from an acute psychiatric unit in Somerset where she was being looked after because of mental health issues exacerbated by menopause.In a prevention of future deaths report, senior coroner Samantha Marsh said she was concerned about the “lack of importance” given to menopausal care available on the NHS.She said: “Women who are not fortunate enough to be able to access private clinics and facilities may not be able to access the services and expertise they need at a very crucial transitional phase in their lives. Menopause is not a lifestyle choice, it is an unavoidable part of a woman’s natural biological cycle

UK’s first trans judge appeals to European court of human rights over supreme court ruling

Britain’s first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European court of human rights over the supreme court’s ruling on biological sex.The UK supreme court ruled earlier this month that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex, with subsequent guidance from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.Victoria McCloud, a retired judge, is applying to the European court of human rights to bring action against the UK for infringement of her article 6 rights.Article 6 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial in both criminal and civil matters.Last year, McCloud sought leave to join the litigation in the supreme court case brought by the gender critical campaigners For Women Scotland against the Scottish government, arguing it could significantly affect legal protections for transgender women, but was rejected

Labour’s benefit cuts will cost UK economy billions, charity says

Keir Starmer has been warned that Labour’s tough stance on benefits is costing Britain’s economy billions of pounds each year while adding to the pressure on public services by pushing more people into poverty.With the government under fire over its planned benefit cuts, the anti-poverty charity Trussell said that failing to tackle hunger and hardship would have severe human costs and cause damage to the wider economy and public finances.Attacking Labour’s drive to find savings from the welfare bill despite repeated promises that there would be no return to austerity, it said the UK’s elevated levels of poverty meant the economy was missing out on more than £38bn each year in potential output.The intervention comes as the government prepares to publish its long-awaited strategy for tackling child poverty in June, amid the heightened risk of a rebellion by Labour MPs opposed to the £5bn benefit cuts announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her spring statement.It emerged last week that ministers are privately ruling out scrapping the controversial two-child limit introduced under the Conservatives, despite warnings from charities that a failure to do so could result in the highest levels of child poverty since records began

Drinking champagne could reduce risk of sudden cardiac arrest, study suggests

Drinking champagne, eating more fruit, staying slim and maintaining a positive outlook on life could help reduce the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, the world’s first study of its kind suggests.Millions of people worldwide die every year after experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), when the heart stops pumping blood around the body without warning. They are caused by a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm, when the electrical system in the heart is not working properly. Without immediate treatment such as CPR, those affected will die.The study identified 56 non-clinical risk factors associated with SCA, spanning lifestyle, physical measures, psychosocial factors, socioeconomic status and the local environment

Leading baby food brands making high-sugar meals, study finds

Top brands such as Ella’s Kitchen and Heinz are making sugar-heavy, nutritionally poor baby food that fails to meet the needs of infants, a study has found.The discovery has spurred groups to call for ministers to strengthen regulation in the market, saying that the current state of affairs will negatively affect child growth and development.Researchers at the University of Leeds School of Food Science and Nutrition found that some brands also carried misleading marketing claims, leading them to urge the government to “act now” in imposing the same traffic light system found on chocolate bars and ice-cream.Ella’s Kitchen pear and peach baby rice was found to have a rice content of only 3%, while sugar made up 60% of its calories.Heinz fruity banana custard gets 71% of its total calories from sugar, with its ingredients only containing 4% milk powder, while its baby oat porridge is 29% sugar

Letter: Elizabeth Sclater obituary

In the early 2000s Elizabeth Sclater and I collaborated on the rights of older people. At the time I was working with HelpAge International.Elizabeth was an indomitable advocate for older people in general and for older women especially, founding the Older Women’s Network, Europe (OWN-EU) and speaking out fearlessly from many global and international platforms on the “internalised ageism” that holds back the championing of their rights.I was last with her at the UN in Geneva in 2023, when she spoke out on the subject. At the start of this month I was again in Geneva to witness the historic consensus decision by UN member states at the Human Rights Council to form an intergovernmental working group to draft the text of a legally binding convention on the rights of older persons