Ambulance delays during power cut possibly contributed to man’s death, coroner rules

A family has welcomed a coroner’s conclusion that ambulance delays possibly contributed to a man’s death in 2019 after enduring “years of distress trying to pursue answers”.The family of Peter Coates said they had been met with “delays and resistance” from a regional ambulance service as they tried to discover the full circumstances of his final minutes.Kellie Coates, the daughter of Peter, said: “This process for us has not just been about managing grief it has been about challenging a system that seems to be more focused on protecting itself than it is on acknowledging and learning from mistakes in its processes.”Coates died aged 62 in the early hours of 14 March 2019 after a power cut stopped the mains-operated equipment he needed at home to breathe from working.An inquest in Middlesbrough heard Coates, of Redcar, rang 999 and an ambulance was dispatched by the North East ambulance service (NEAS)

Volunteers in the UK: what happened when your local charity shut down?

Across the UK, many small charities face increasing financial pressures, forcing some to shut their doors. When this happens, it can leave the people who relied on those services without support - and volunteers and communities trying to step in and keep things going.We’d like to hear from volunteers who have experienced a charity closing. Have you or others tried to continue the work informally and what were the challenges of doing that? Did you try to keep it going - and what difficulties did you face? What happened to the people who depended on the service?You can share your experience using this form.Please include as much detail as possible

‘It all feels very natural’: Britain’s sauna boom heats up as people seek warmth of human connection

From fields to floating pontoons, in horseboxes, barrels and beach huts, saunas are springing up across Britain. The British Sauna Society now lists about 640 saunas – up from 540 at the start of the year – while a recent report predicted that the UK could become the world’s largest sauna market by 2033, outpacing even Finland and Germany.“The continuing growth suggests that the peak has still yet to come – if there is one,” said Gabrielle Reason, the society’s director. But are saunas a tonic for the nation’s health – or a wellness fad with hidden risks?When it comes to measurable health effects, the strongest evidence relates to the cardiovascular benefits of sauna use. These are “substantial”, said Prof Setor Kunutsor, the Evelyn Wyrzykowski research chair in cardiology at the University of Manitoba in Canada

House of Lords has ‘signed its own death warrant’ by stalling assisted dying bill, says MP

The House of Lords “signed its own death warrant” over its stalling of the UK assisted dying bill, the MP Kim Leadbeater said as she joined more than a dozen terminally ill and bereaved people in protest outside parliament.Marking the second anniversary of the death at Dignitas of the prominent assisted dying campaigner Paola Marra, Leadbeater, whose private member’s bill for England and Wales looks set to run out of time, said many MPs, who had already voted by a majority to pass the bill, were “angry and upset” by the addition of about 1,200 amendments in the Lords, which will probably result in the bill falling without a vote.The protest, organised by the campaign group Dignity in Dying, came as the number of UK residents who had an assisted death at Dignitas rose to its second-highest level in two decades. Forty-three people travelled to Switzerland in 2025, up from 37 the previous year, and second only to 47 people in 2016, figures show.Leadbeater said of the teminally ill adults (end of life) bill: “MPs took this decision having entered into this debate in a really serious, considered manner

Kent meningitis outbreak may have peaked as UKHSA reports slowdown in cases

The Kent meningitis outbreak may have reached its peak after only two new cases were reported by officials on Friday.The UK Health and Security Agency said that as of 12.30pm on Thursday, there were 18 confirmed and 11 probable cases of meningitis linked to the Kent outbreak, taking the total number of people with the disease to 29. Of the confirmed cases, 13 were meningitis B.While the growth in cases may have slowed, the situation remains serious, with all cases requiring hospital admission

The Kent meningitis outbreak: what is happening and why?

The deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak has unfolded.Meningitis is a potentially lethal but uncommon disease caused by viruses and bacteria that trigger inflammation of the meninges, the protective linings that cover the brain. The Kent outbreak is driven by meningococcal bacteria which are found in the nose and throat of about 10% of the population