The BBC Radio 6 Music and Desert Island Discs presenter, from Sunderland, said the cancer had been ‘caught early’ as she updated fans from her hospital bed. Lauren Laverne has announced that she has been diagnosed with cancer, but is fortunately expected to make a “full recovery”.

The Sunderland-born DJ and presenter, 46, confirmed the news in an Instagram post on Wednesday morning (August 21), sharing a selfie from her hospital bed alongside a caption explaining that she is taking time off from her work while she receives treatment. Lauren did not state the type of cancer she has been diagnosed with, but said that it was “caught early” during a routine screening test.

Lauren, who presents the breakfast show on BBC Radio 6 Music and is also the host of Desert Island Discs, was flooded with supportive messages from fans over the news. The star, who was raised in Sunderland and studied at City of Sunderland College, married TV producer and DJ Graeme Fisher in County Durham in 2005, and the pair have two sons together.

Lauren shared on Instagram: “Right then, some personal news… I recently had a cancer diagnosis. It was (thank God) caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test and I am expected to make a full recovery.

“I’m in hospital at the moment and wanted to take this moment to say thank you: Firstly to the medical teams who have got me this far with incredible skill and kindness. To my family and friends who have been absolutely extraordinary every step of the way – I am so very grateful and love you so much.

Instagram Post

“Right then, some personal news… I recently had a cancer diagnosis. It was (thank God) caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test and I am expected to make a full recovery. I’m in hospital at the moment and wanted to take this moment to say thank you: Firstly to the medical teams who have got me this far with incredible skill and kindness. To my family and friends who have been absolutely extraordinary every step of the way – I am so very grateful and love you so much. And of course thank you to my colleagues – including those at @itg_ltd, @bbc6music, @bbctheoneshow and #DesertIslandDiscs for their support – and for giving me the time off that I need to get better. I also want to say that if you’re avoiding a test or putting off an appointment to get yourself checked out please, please do it today. Half of us will get cancer at some point, and if you do, finding out asap is everything. It’s usually my job to bring the good vibes on air but any you have to spare are very much welcome here. Sending loads of love to anyone in a similar boat, or who has made it back to shore. xxx”

“And of course thank you to my colleagues – including those at @itg_ltd, @bbc6music, @bbctheoneshow and #DesertIslandDiscs for their support – and for giving me the time off that I need to get better.”

She went on: “I also want to say that if you’re avoiding a test or putting off an appointment to get yourself checked out please, please do it today. Half of us will get cancer at some point, and if you do, finding out asap is everything.

“It’s usually my job to bring the good vibes on air but any you have to spare are very much welcome here. Sending loads of love to anyone in a similar boat, or who has made it back to shore,” she concluded.

The post BBC Star Lauren Laverne Diagnosed with Cancer appeared first on Promoting Health.

Police issued 126 fixed penalty notices to 83 individuals over events held in and around Number 10 in 2020 and 2021. At the time, Boris Johnson said he “fell short” of his own rules.

Lord O’Donnell, then known as Gus O’Donnell, led the civil service from 2005-2011 under the administrations of three former prime ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. He now sits as a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.

Asked about the impact of lockdown breaches by Downing Street officials during the pandemic, he said “without a doubt” the revelations were destructive to public trust.

“You can imagine – there having been lots of lapses this time – if you were trying to do this again, would you get the same levels of compliance?” he said. “You really need maximum trust [in government]. So yes, it has been damaging, and damaging to the future ability of governments to get across behavioural issues.”

Earlier, the inquiry’s chief counsel, Hugo Keith KC, read out a diary entry written by the government’s then chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, on 11 November 2020.

Sir Patrick quoted cabinet secretary Simon Case as saying Downing Street was “at war with itself”, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was “caught in the middle”, amid disagreements between government advisers and other officials.

“He [Simon Case] has spoken to all his predecessors as cabinet secretary and no one has seen anything like it,” wrote Vallance, in his 2020 diary.

Lord O’Donnell confirmed he was one those predecessors referred to in the diary entry: “To my mind, it means that Simon Case was dealing with a far, far more difficult situation than I ever had to face.”

In other testimony, Lord O’Donnell suggested the type of scientific and technical advice available to ministers should be expanded to include experts in more areas.

The Sage group of scientific advisers, which met regularly through the pandemic, was largely made up of epidemiologists, who study the spread of disease, alongside mathematical modellers and behavioural scientists.

Lord O’Donnell suggested, in the future, Sage needs to be part of a broader group which includes specialists in other subjects as well.

“If the question you are asking is ‘shall we close schools?’, then you need experts on the impact on education, on children, on parents, on the general effect on the economy,” he elaborated. “As well as the things which Sage would be really good at answering, which is the impact on transmission. You need to balance these things together, which is a hard thing to do.”

This second stage of the Covid Inquiry is examining political decision-making during the pandemic, from January 2020 until February 2022, including the timing and effectiveness of lockdowns and other social-distancing restrictions.

It is taking witness evidence in London until Christmas, before moving to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to look specifically at the decisions made by administrations in those parts of the United Kingdom.

The post Partygate Revelations Destroyed Trust in Government, Inquiry Told appeared first on Promoting Health.

The study reveals that 80% of UK residents still use the term ‘tradesmen’ to refer to all people working within the industry, and gendered language is also still being used in career advice in school, which is having a negative effect on the number of young people considering a career in the industry.

Three quarters (73%) of 16-18-year-olds heard the term ‘tradesmen’ as a collective term for all people who work in trade professions, and over 40% (42%) say they would be more likely to consider a career in the trades industry if more inclusive language was used in career advice.

So, Rated People is now calling for UK schools to stop career advice from using gendered terms like ‘tradesmen’ as a collective term for everyone in trade professions, in a bid to drive positive change within the industry.

Findings from Study

>>> 80% of people in the UK still use the term ‘tradesmen’ as a collective term for all people working in trade professions
>>> 42% of 16-18-year-olds said they would be more likely to consider a trade career if more inclusive language was used in career advice at school
>>> Nine in 10 (87%) tradespeople think it would be good for more women to work in the industry
>>> Rated People is calling for career advice in schools to stop using gendered terms (e.g. tradesmen) when referring to all people working within an industry
>>> The study is released to coincide with ‘National Tradesmen Day’, a celebration Rated People wants to rename ‘National Tradespeople Day’ to further promote diversity

Ahead of ‘National Tradesmen Day’ (16th September 2022) – a day that was created to celebrate incredible people working in trade professions – the find-a-tradesperson platform Rated People highlights the need for more inclusive language to break down stereotypes and encourage more people into trade careers.

Researchers at Rated People interviewed 3,000 UK residents, tradespeople and 16-18-year-old school leavers to uncover how much binary non-inclusive language, like ‘tradesmen’ is still being used and what effect it’s having.

Why it needs to change

Rated People wants to make it easier for more people, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexuality to get into the industry and thrive.

According to the Chief Executive of The Federation of Master Builders, the industry is experiencing a serious skills shortage.

“We’ve been experiencing a severe shortage of bricklayers and carpenters for quite some time —[and] skills shortages are now seeping into other key trades such as roofers and plumbers. Indeed, of the 15 key trades and occupations, we monitor, 40% show skills shortages…” Sourced from UK Construction Media.

So, encouraging a broader range of young people into trade careers will be a key avenue to close the skills gap. There’s a huge support for a more diverse workforce among existing tradespeople – almost nine in 10 (87%) tradespeople think it would be good for more women to start working in the industry.

Current career advice appears to be falling short though, as the study also discovered less than half (42%) of 16-18-year-old girls were even given a trade career as a potential option at school. Whereas 65% of boys had trade careers communicated to them as viable career choices.

Added to that, just 4% of school-leavers opted for an apprenticeship last year (according to Government reports), so it’s obvious that much more can be done to promote trade careers to young people.

How Rated People is campaigning for change

By releasing this study, Rated People hopes UK schools will evaluate the quality of career advice and the effect that non-inclusive language is having on young people who are making further education and career choices.

As a result, the find-a-tradesperson platform is calling for change by making 16th September 2022 the first ‘National Tradespeople Day’ – renaming the antiquated ‘National Tradesmen Day’ to better reflect ALL the amazing people who work in the industry.

And in order to boost awareness about the issue, Rated People is launching a new nationwide TV campaign to further promote the diversity message. The newly launched TV advert shows ‘if you’ve got the skills, we’ve got the jobs’ to highlight the most important thing is how skilled you are, and nothing else.

To show this, the TV advert intentionally features tradespeople from a first-hand perspective, showing the work they’re doing, and not who they are, or what they look like. Rated People hopes the advert will show no one judges a skilled pair of hands for who they are, they just care they’re doing a good job, the 5-star kind of job.

“Many factors have contributed to the workforce shortages across the industry – from an aging workforce and reduced numbers of young people getting into trade professions, to Brexit and poor career advice.

With demand higher than ever, it’s critical that more is done to encourage young people into the industry. For an industry that offers great financial security and job fulfillment, more needs to be done to ensure young people see this as a welcoming environment where they can flourish – where everybody, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or sexuality, can thrive.

One of the biggest ways to break down stereotypes is to use more inclusive language and we hope our campaign for diversity will start to drive a positive change in the industry.

It’s also important to say that this is no way a slight to all the hardworking and incredible tradesmen within the industry – we salute you and all the amazing work you do. We acknowledge the historical workforce shortage in Britain right now and want more people to get into the industry. We hope that using more inclusive language will help to achieve that.”

Source : Rated People

The post Rated People Campaigns For A More Diverse Trades Industry appeared first on Promoting Health.

The findings, which call into question the ability of an incoming government to rebuild the NHS and improve standards of care following the pandemic, are part of a wider research report on the future of the NHS workforce in England.

It argues that the government, in setting the target of an extra 50,000 nurses, fails to grasp the growing demand for care driven by an ageing population and an increased number of people with complex health conditions. The UK has fewer nurses per head of population than the OECD average. While NHS nurse numbers in England have increased over the past 3 years, they have not kept pace with demand. NHS nursing shortages vary by geography and service area. The current government target of 50,000 extra NHS nurses does not focus on targeting nursing recruitment where it is most needed, such as in primary, social and community care, and learning disability and mental health services.

Longer term challenges

The analysis also explores potential gaps in the nursing workforce over a longer time period beyond the next election by looking at three different scenarios. Under the ‘current policy scenario’ where current trends continue and nurse workforce policies are unchanged, the nurse shortfall in NHS trusts in England is projected to be 30,300 FTE by 2030/31. This nursing shortfall over the next decade would pose a serious threat to the level of care the NHS was able to provide for patients.

In a ‘pessimistic scenario’ where more nurses leave the profession early and the number of newly registered internationally recruited nurses declines after 2023, NHS trusts could face an even greater shortfall of around 140,600 FTE nurses by 2030/31.

The analysts warn that some areas of nursing face bigger shortfalls than others, with general practice and adult social care in England facing persistent shortages to the end of the decade.

Policies to help improve the longer-term picture

However, the report authors highlight that the situation can be turned around with better long-term planning. Specifically, policymakers need to fund and deliver sustained increases in students starting nursing degrees; reduce student nurses leaving before qualifying; reduce the proportion of nurses leaving the NHS before retirement age whilst also continuing to recruit international nurses. In this ‘optimistic scenario’, the analytical projections suggest it would be possible for the number of nurses in NHS trusts – although not in general practice and social care – to match projected demand by the end of the decade.

Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and REAL Centre at the Health Foundation, said:

‘Nurses are indispensable to the delivery of NHS care but due to a lack of long-term planning, persistent high vacancy rates mean the NHS cannot deliver the level and quality of care people rightly deserve.

‘The NHS in England appears to be on track to recruit the additional 50,000 nurses promised by the government by 2023/24, but this relies heavily on sustaining historically high levels of international recruitment, very much a ‘quick fix’ and does not replace the need to train and retain more nurses in the UK. The 50,000 target is arbitrary and not based on the number of nurses the NHS needs; nor does it ensure that nurses are recruited to the areas and types of care where the need is greatest. 50,000 extra nurses will still leave the NHS almost 40,000 short of what is needed.

‘If the new prime minister wants to rebuild the NHS and return it to pre-pandemic levels of care, they need to make nursing a more attractive career choice and put in place a robust, costed long-term plan to address workforce shortages, backed up by independent projections of how many staff will be needed.’

As well as specific projections on the nursing workforce, the REAL Centre’s report also assesses future supply and demand trends for the wider NHS workforce. It says that, if current trends continue, the NHS could face a shortfall of around 160,000 FTE staff across all staff groups by 2030/31. This is around 55% higher than an estimated NHS workforce shortfall of around 103,000 FTE staff in 2021/22.

Source: The Health Foundation

The post NHS Target Short of Nearly 40,000 Nurses by Next Election. appeared first on Promoting Health.

Ministers are negotiating the status of the badges – which were recognised when the UK was in the EU – with 11 nations. France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy are among those “undecided” on recognising the discs, which help people park closer to a destination.

The AA said keeping blue badge users in “limbo” was “simply unacceptable”.

Bulgaria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia are also undecided on the issue, but all other EU nations accept UK badges.

The government website tells badge-holders to check with the embassy of their destination country for the latest guidance.

But the AA said most embassies were unable to provide them with any assurances or advice.

The motoring group said disabled drivers may leave themselves open to parking fines if they use their permits in undecided countries, saying it was “simply unacceptable” that the issue had not been resolved.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “Blue badges are issued because of specific health reasons, and to not have their status confirmed two years down the line [after the UK left the EU] is simply outrageous.”

Mr Cousens advised badge-holders to use drop-off and collection zones where possible, adding: “While problematic, it reduces the risk of a vehicle being given a ticket or towed away.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Negotiations on blue badge recognition are ongoing between the UK and individual EU states, and motorists should check our guidance to find out where the blue badge is recognised in the EU.”

The post Blue Badges May Not be Accepted in Some European Countries appeared first on Promoting Health.