Sue Wright obituary

My sister, Sue Wright, who has died aged 57, devoted her life to raising awareness about fostering and adoption as well as practising as a child protection barrister and becoming a successful businesswoman.Our upbringing was unhappy and Sue went into foster care aged 16, but the placement did not work out; by the age of 17 she was living in a Salvation Army-run establishment with a 17-year-old flatmate, living on a £40 a week allowance. From 1982 to 1984 she found part-time work cooking and cleaning in a nursing home in Southport. It was owned by a Mrs Smythe, who welcomed her in, saying: “There’s always more room at the table.”This became Sue’s own mantra and the title of the speech she delivered to conferences and corporate audiences to raise awareness of the need for more foster carers and adoptive parents

Four in 10 UK parents struggle to afford essentials for newborns, study says

Four in 10 parents across the UK are struggling to afford essential items for the care of their newborn babies, according to research.The survey of 2,000 parents with children aged under five by the charity Barnardo’s found that almost half (49%) felt their child had missed out on opportunities to learn or play because of the cost of living.Meanwhile, 44% said financial pressures had affected their child’s development, including speech, socialising and physical play. More than half (54%) said they wished they had been able to provide more essential items for their newborn.In Scotland, all parents are eligible for a box of baby essentials that includes clothes, books, a changing mat and a bath towel

Alarm in health service over Palantir staff being given NHS email accounts

Health service staff have expressed alarm that engineers working for controversial tech company Palantir have been given NHS email accounts.Employees using NHS.net email accounts have access to a directory with the contact details of up 1.5 million staff. Sources believe Palantir staff were granted the same access

Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikes

Oxford scientists have developed a simple AI tool that can predict the risk of heart failure five years before it develops.More than 60 million people worldwide have the condition in which the heart cannot pump blood around the body as well as it should. Spotting cases before they develop into heart failure would be a big step forward, experts say. Doctors could prepare better for and manage the condition at an earlier stage or even prevent it entirely.The AI tool, developed by a team at the University of Oxford, looks for signs in fat around the heart that indicate whether it is inflamed and unhealthy

Doctors’ strike timed to cause havoc over Easter break, says NHS England chief

The latest strike by resident doctors in England has been “deliberately timed to cause havoc” by coinciding with hospital staff’s Easter holidays, the head of the NHS has claimed.Hospitals have struggled to find enough doctors to replace those who have refused to work during the six-day walkout, Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England, said.Many thousands of resident doctors belonging to the British Medical Association were on strike on Wednesday, the second day of a six-day walkout – that is the longest yet in their long-running dispute with the government over pay and jobs. It is the union’s 15th strike since March 2023.In a letter to NHS bosses on Monday night, Mackey said that the doctors’ stoppage risked setting back the health service’s recent progress at improving waiting times for care and the public’s satisfaction with it

Landlords evicting tenants before law to prevent practice comes into force in England

Increasing numbers of landlords are evicting tenants at the last minute before the law changes to outlaw the practice in next month, charities have said.The renters’ union Acorn told the Guardian that no-fault evictions made up one in five of the reports they received from members in October, rising to nearly one in three by January.The Renters’ Rights Act, which was in development last year and will come into effect on 1 May 2026, will abolish section 21 of the existing Housing Act, which allows landlord to evict without providing a justification to the court.“This isn’t a coincidence. Landlords are clearly rushing to force through last-minute evictions before the ban comes into force