Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’

One in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because their GP referral is lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog has found.Three-quarters (75%) of those trapped in this “referrals black hole” suffer harm to their physical or mental health as a result of not being added to the waiting list for tests or treatment.Communication with patients is so unreliable that seven in 10 (70%) only discover they have not been put on a waiting list after chasing up the NHS because they have not been told a hold-up has occurred. In some cases referrals that GPs have agreed to make do not even get sent from their surgery to the hospital, Healthwatch England’s findings show.The research found that 14% of all referrals are getting “stuck” between GPs and hospitals, leaving patients in the dark and anxious about when they will be seen and treated

Spiteful or fair? Reeves’s mansion tax plan proves divisive | Letters

Jonathan Liew’s article (Won’t somebody please think of Britain’s poor £2m homeowners? Oh, wait – everyone already is, 2 November) entirely misses the point that underlies the spate of criticism against the “mansion tax”. While wealth disparity is no doubt an issue that needs to be addressed, this tax is a spiteful assault on hard-working taxpayers who already pay an enormous proportion of their salary to the Treasury to support a woefully mismanaged public sector and welfare state. Those who support the tax seem to be driven by a simple ideology that we need to “bash the rich” to create equality.In the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families who have made difficult choices and made huge sacrifices to get to where they are. I come from a working-class background, I worked hard at school and achieved good grades, I worked part-time jobs, paid my own way through university and chose a profession that pays well, relocating to London and making sacrifices to earn good money – spending 18 hours a day in the office – and I chose to buy property and invest in it

Young unemployed told to engage with jobs scheme or risk benefit cuts

Young unemployed people will be offered training or job opportunities in construction, care and hospitality as part of a UK government scheme, but could have their benefits cut if they do not take up offers.Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, announced on Sunday that 350,000 new training or workplace opportunities would be offered to young people on universal credit, but added there would be “sanctions” for claimants who did not engage.The policy is part of the Labour government’s plans to halt the increase in the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet). Britain has almost a million Neets aged 16 to 24, in what some experts have called a youth jobs crisis.Rachel Reeves announced £820m in funding at her budget last month for a “youth guarantee” of a six-month paid work placement for every eligible 18- to 21-year-old who has been on universal credit and looking for work for 18 months

Gambling addicts risk losing ‘life-saving’ help due to funding overhaul, say UK charities

Gambling addicts are at risk of missing out on “life-saving” help unless the government provides emergency support, charities have warned, after an overhaul of funding left treatment providers facing a cash crunch.Until this year, money for problem gambling research, education and treatment had been provided on a voluntary basis by casinos and bookmakers who contributed about 0.1% of their takings.Under new plans, put forward by the previous government and implemented by Labour since April this year, the £12.5bn-a-year gambling sector instead pays a mandatory levy of up to 1

New US seed ban risks driving cannabis genetics underground, growers warn

For the first time since 2018, the sale of cannabis seeds in the US will be restricted due to a last-minute provision in the spending bill that ended the government shutdown last month – a move that experts say will kill the market in this country.Cannabis seed companies have enjoyed comparatively relaxed regulatory standards for the past several years because seeds themselves contain a negligible amount of THC, the compound that makes cannabis federally illegal.Sergio Martínez, chief executive officer and founder of Spain-based Blimburn Seeds, said that the 2018 farm bill eased restrictions on seeds by defining hemp as any product containing less than 0.3% delta 9 THC.“This definition was reinforced in 2022 when the DEA formally clarified that cannabis seeds meeting this threshold are legally considered hemp and therefore are not controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, even if the plants grown from them may exceed the THC limit,” Martínez said

Gen Z office survival guide: how to overcome telephobia and get up early

If you are a millennial, part of gen X or a boomer, you probably do not give a second thought to picking up the phone to talk to someone or chit-chatting beside the office water cooler. But for gen Z, those common workplace moments are a huge source of anxiety.According to a study released this week, early mornings, working with older colleagues and making small talk are just some of the things employees born between 1997 and 2012 dread.The study, commissioned by Trinity College London, surveyed more than 1,500 people aged between 16 and 29 across the UK. It found that 38% of young people dread having to make small talk in the workplace