Why we washed our hands of Izal | Brief letters

In the 1970s, to save money, a London psychiatric hospital replaced soft toilet tissue with Izal medicated toilet roll (Letters, 13 April). Therapists conducting successful sessions for outpatients with compulsive disorders were surprised by a sudden increase in relapse rates, until they realised that each sheet contained the exhortation “Now wash your hands”. Its use was discontinued. ‌Prof David C SandersMortain, France Izal toilet paper made excellent tracing paper, but it also made a superb sound in a comb and paper. One member of a jokey interval band at the original Concorde Jazz Club in Southampton played an Izal bumphone to great effect!David WittMalmesbury, Wiltshire It’s not all doom and gloom when products are discontinued

Government’s 1.5m housebuilding target in England is suffering from subsidence | Nils Pratley

This is what the government didn’t want to hear when its target to build 1.5m homes in England during this parliament already looked out of reach. The country’s biggest housebuilder is trimming its purchases of new land because the Iran war has created “a less certain backdrop”.Barratt Redrow’s “disciplined approach” isn’t a downing of tools, it should be said. The company had previously expected to buy between 10,000 and 12,000 plots; now it will acquire between 7,000 and 9,000

One year on: how landmark ruling on single-sex spaces has changed lives

A year ago, the supreme court made its landmark judgment on single-sex spaces. In a long-running case against the Scottish government brought by gender-critical campaigners For Women Scotland (FWS), the court ruled that, for the purposes of the Equality Act, the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex.The judgment has significant ramifications for who can access women-only services and spaces, such as refuges or toilets. But most service providers are still awaiting practical guidance on how to apply the ruling.Guidance exists – contained in an updated code of practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – and on Tuesday it emerged that the commission has resubmitted this guidance for government approval

Nonnamaxxing: do Italian grandmothers hold the secret to a long and happy life?

Gen Z are turning to nonnas for inspiration on how to live to be 100. Will donning a flowery dress and making their own pasta sauce do the trick?Name: Nonnamaxxing.Age: 70 to 100, and beyond.Appearance: Elderly, lively, Italian.Like an archetypal Italian grandmother? Yes, but doing it to the max

Prison officers given more training to avoid being manipulated into illicit relationships with inmates

A new programme of instruction and support will be given to trainee prison officers to help them avoid being manipulated into illicit relationships by experienced criminals.The Prison Service in England and Wales is developing the scheme, which will offer mentors and advice to trainee officers on how to handle complex relationships with prisoners.It comes as statistics show that prison officers are more likely to be younger and have less experience than a decade ago. It also follows the prosecution of more than a dozen former prison officers after becoming involved in financial and sexual relationships with inmates.They include Alicia Novas, 20, who was jailed for three years after working at HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough where she became involved with Declan Winkless, 31, and smuggled cannabis into prison

Streeting relaunches women’s health strategy to tackle ‘medical misogyny’

Wes Streeting has vowed to stop women being “gaslit” by doctors as he relaunches the women’s health strategy for England.Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was “failing women” and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need.The government said the strategy would include a new standard of care to ensure women were offered pain relief for invasive procedures, such as fitting a contraceptive coil and hysteroscopies.Feedback would be directly linked to provider funding via a new trial, giving women more power to effect change if they have a poor experience.Action would also be taken to ensure women no longer face long waits for diagnoses for conditions such as endometriosis, which can take a decade to diagnose