Issues in social housing that Labour must tackle | Letters

The housing ombudsman’s latest report recorded a significant increase in social housing repairs and maintenance complaints since 2020 (Housing ombudsman for England warns of ‘simmering anger’ over living conditions, 29 May). We as a sector support the ombudsman’s campaign to raise awareness among tenants of routes to redress in cases where issues with their homes have not been resolved. It is also important to look at these figures in context.The increase represents one complaint upheld by the ombudsman for every 1,000 social homes. With many more residents now aware of the ombudsman’s service following an ad campaign, care must be taken when drawing any conclusions from the data

Police launch corporate manslaughter inquiry into Nottingham hospital trust

An NHS trust is being investigated on suspicion of corporate manslaughter after the deaths and severe harm of potentially more than 2,000 babies and women in Nottinghamshire.Police are reviewing more than 200 alleged failures of maternity care at Nottingham university hospitals (NUH) NHS trust but this figure could rise to about 2,500.NUH is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS led by the respected midwife Donna Ockenden, who is examining deaths and harm spanning more than a decade at the Queen’s medical centre and Nottingham City hospital.Nottinghamshire police said on Monday they were investigating possible corporate manslaughter at the trust.Det Supt Matthew Croome said the alleged offences related to “circumstances where an organisation has been grossly negligent in the management of its activities, which has then led to a person’s death”

Robert Jenrick’s call to arm prison officers is ‘nonsense’, governors say

Robert Jenrick’s demand for armed prison guards has been described as “headline-grabbing nonsense” by organisations representing governors and staff.The UK shadow justice secretary, who has made a series of eye-catching demands over the last few days, said on Sunday prison officers should be allowed to access guns and build up secure “armouries” to clamp down on violence from Islamist gangs and violent prisoners.Tom Wheatley, the president of the Prison Governors’ Association, said: “The firearms/lethal force armouries suggestion is just headline-grabbing nonsense. If this was needed, why wouldn’t armed police be deployed rather than creating another trained force in our service?“It is likely that the lord chancellor [Shabana Mahmood] is considering wider use of protective body armour, but the focus should be on the need for more investment to counter drones and serious organised crime,” he said.The Prison Officers’ Association (POA), which has warned that it is only a matter of time before a prison officer is murdered because of a rise in prison violence, also poured cold water on the Tories’ demand for guns in prisons

Younger generations less likely to have dementia, study suggests

People born more recently are less likely to have dementia at any given age than earlier generations, research suggests, with the trend more pronounced in women.According to the World Health Organization, in 2021 there were 57 million people worldwide living with dementia, with women disproportionately affected. However, while the risk of dementia increases with age, experts have long stressed it is not not an inevitability of getting older.“Younger generations are less likely to develop dementia at the same age as their parents or grandparents, and that’s a hopeful sign,” said Dr Sabrina Lenzen, a co-author of the study from the University of Queensland’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health.But she added: “The overall burden of dementia will still grow as populations age, and significant inequalities remain – especially by gender, education and geography

One in three Australian men say they have committed intimate partner abuse, world-first research finds

One in three Australian men has reported committing domestic violence, world-first research has found – and the same research has identified new ways to tackle it.The Australian Institute of Family Studies found fostering affectionate relationships between sons and fathers (or father figures) was associated with reducing the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) by as much as 48%.The AIFS Ten To Men Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health is the largest of its kind. It started tracking about 16,000 boys and men in 2013-14, and in 2023-24 added another 10,000 men to the database.The definition of intimate partner violence includes emotional as well as physical abuse

UK shortage of critical drug forcing pancreatic cancer patients to skip meals

People with pancreatic cancer are eating only one meal a day because of an acute shortage of a drug that helps them digest their food.Patients with cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis are also affected by the widespread scarcity of Creon, a form of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT).People who rely on the drug have also been taking reduced doses to conserve their supplies and travelling more than 30 miles from their home to find it, pharmacists revealed today.Thousands of people with pancreatic cancer need to take PERT tablets and those hit by the shortage are suffering “distress and frustration”, the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK said.The difficulties the Creon shortage is causing patients emerged on Monday in a survey of 300 pharmacies undertaken by the National Pharmacy Association