Huge rise in number of people in England’s A&Es for coughs or hiccups

Millions of people are turning to A&E departments in England for minor ailments including coughs, blocked noses and hiccups, according to data that health leaders say lays bare a failure to give patients prompt access to primary care.Emergency wards are designed for serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies only. But many are becoming swamped with patients whose health concerns should be dealt with elsewhere, including a near tenfold increase in people seeking help for a cough.A&E attendances for hiccups, dizziness and a myriad of other minor conditions have also soared. The trend of patients heading to emergency departments with non-emergency symptoms is underlined by the fact that doctors found nothing wrong with more than 2 million A&E patients in 2024-25

‘Absolutely frightening’: surge in ketamine cases hits urology wards in England and Wales

Experts have warned that urology departments across England and Wales could be close to breaking point as ketamine-related hospital admissions have “skyrocketed” in the past few years.Ketamine, a class B dissociative drug used for pain relief and sedation, is increasingly used recreationally in England and Wales. It is one of only three drugs, alongside magic mushrooms and hallucinogens, to have become used more regularly since 2015.Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that ketamine usage, while down slightly from the previous year, is still high. The numbers who say they have used the drug in the past month has increased by 251

Offenders in England and Wales to have alcohol levels tracked over new year period

Thousands of offenders in England and Wales will have their alcohol levels tracked over the new year festive period by electronic tags that monitor the wearer’s sweat.The tags, which are now worn by 5,000 people who have been released from prison or who are serving a community sentence, are designed to keep criminals sober over the festive season and drive down drink-fuelled reoffending.The deputy prime minister and secretary of state for justice, David Lammy, said: “Alcohol-driven crime causes real harm to victims and communities, and piles extra pressure on our emergency services. Tackling it head-on is vital to make our streets safer.“These tags act as a physical and constant reminder to offenders that there’s no room for slip-ups – one drink and they could find themselves back in court or even behind bars

Two new subtypes of MS found in ‘exciting’ breakthrough

Scientists have discovered two new subtypes of multiple sclerosis with the aid of artificial intelligence, paving the way for personalised treatments and better outcomes for patients.Millions of people have the disease globally – but treatments are mostly selected on the basis of symptoms, and may not be effective because they don’t target the underlying biology of the patient.Now, scientists have detected two new biological strands of MS using AI, a simple blood test and MRI scans. Experts said the “exciting” breakthrough could revolutionise treatment of the disease worldwide.In research involving 600 patients, led by University College London (UCL) and Queen Square Analytics, researchers looked at blood levels of a special protein called serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL)

A&Es in ‘big trouble’ because of ‘normalised’ corridor care, says leading UK medic

Emergency departments across the UK are “in big trouble” owing to the way corridor care has been “normalised”, a leading medic has warned.Dr Ian Higginson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said there should be “howls of outrage” over deaths linked to long emergency department waits, with just a few hospitals around the UK managing to avoid caring for patients on trolleys in corridors.Patients are now “not surprised” when they are cared for in a corridor because the problem is so widespread – yet doctors “can’t deliver care” this way, Higginson told PA Media.Earlier this year, the RCEM released estimates that suggested there were more than 16,600 deaths of patients linked to very long waits in A&E for a hospital bed last year – the equivalent of about 320 deaths a week. “If we had 16,000 patients a year dying in bus crashes or in aircraft crashes or anywhere else there would be such howls of outrage something would be done about it

From Adolescence to the manosphere: has 2025 been the year of the boy?

The prime minister said it was a “really hard watch”, while a British police force said it should be a “wake-up call for parents”. The Netflix drama Adolescence – which tells the story of a 13-year-old boy arrested for killing a female classmate – was hailed from the school gates to the Houses of Parliament for shedding a spotlight on the toxic influence of the manosphere.But the national conversation did not end with the final episode of the much-discussed drama. A series of high-profile campaigns, conversations, policy shifts and research have resulted in a sense that 2025 has been the year of the boy.At the start of the year the former England football manager Gareth Southgate warned about the dangers of “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers”, while Lost Boys, a study from the Centre for Social Justice, argued that “boys [were] being left behind” from educational attainment to mental health