Wes Streeting's plan to fix the NHS
The government has put improving the NHS at the heart of its plans, but will it be able to deliver on its promises? And how long could it take to turn the health service around? Pippa Crerar asked health secretary Wes Streeting at a special Guardian Live event. In a wide-ranging discussion, he also took questions on others issues including assisted dying, transgender rights and the war in Gaza.
To purchase the full event video on demand, go to the theguardian.live
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Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Best friend's ultimate act of kindness for midwife born without a womb
Daisy Hope made a promise to best friend Georgia Barrington when the pair were 16. All these years on, she's finally set to fulfil it Stroking her best friend's pregnant bump and marvelling at her scan pictures, midwife Georgia Barrington can barely contain her delight. She delivered her pal Daisy Hope's daughter Emilia, three, and her services will soon be called upon again. Only this time one thing will be very different…. For she will be delivering her own biological baby, which Daisy is carrying as her surrogate - because Georgia, 28, was born without a womb. Daisy, 29, is keeping her teenage promise to lend her friend - diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome aged 15, meaning she was born without a uterus - her womb. Georgia, from Maidstone, Kent, says: "It was always my dream to be a mum. But I was born without a uterus, so I knew I couldn't carry my own baby. When I was diagnosed with MRKH at 15, Daisy wasn't super maternal and said, 'I'll carry your baby.' It was kind of a joke, but that promise always stuck. It felt like the end of the world at the time, when I was diagnosed. I thought 'what am I going to do?' That's what I wanted." Daisy, who is head of a school weekend programme, adds: "I was always meant to do it. At 16 I genuinely did mean it when I offered. Now I realise how incredible it is to be a mum and if I'm able to do it, Georgia deserves it." Friends since they were toddlers, the women now live 20 minutes drive apart and see each other every week. Incredibly close, when Daisy, of Maidstone, had Emilia in April 2022, with her partner, Oliver Millson, 30, who has a family business, Georgia was the only person she wanted as her midwife. 'I delivered Daisy's daughter. I always knew I would be the one to do it,' smiles Georgia. 'I knew the date she was being induced, so I cleared all my other clinic appointments to be there for her. Once in the delivery suite, at one point, Oliver was asleep while Daisy and I chatted – it was like we were hanging out, but with a baby on the way.' There was talk of a caesarian, when the baby's progress was a little slow and Georgia also left for a while to take a required break. But she came back and everything was back on track in time to deliver Emilia. 'Daisy did amazingly and it was so special that I got to be a part of that day,' says Georgia. 'She told me 'you have to experience this.'' And she meant it. 'It was a magical birth," says Daisy. Just months later, over a coffee, Daisy renewed her offer to be her friend's surrogate. "Emilia was only little and we went for a coffee in Costa,' she says. "I said 'it still stands, and I want you to know I'll still carry for you.'" With that, Georgia and her partner Lloyd Williams, a welder, started looking into how surrogacy could work and discovered they could get £5,000 NHS funding for egg collection and creation of embryos. The couple still spent £15,000 in total on IVF and had egg collection in October 2023. After a year of counselling and health checks, in October 2024 their first egg transfer took place. The two women went to the appointment in secret, so Georgia could surprise her family if Daisy became pregnant. Doctors implanted embryos from Georgia's extracted eggs, fertilised using Lloyd's sperm, in Daisy,'s womb. And 14 days later, her wish came true, when Daisy had a positive result. 'We were excited to tell everyone,' says Georgia. 'Daisy even had pregnancy symptoms and thought her tummy was getting bigger. But IVF treatment is quite cruel and can mimic the signs of pregnancy. 'Driving to the scan I remember seeing one magpie and thinking, 'that's not a good sign.' But going into that appointment, we were so excited.' Sadly, the pregnancy was not to be. At their seven-week scan they were told the baby wasn't progressing normally and at nine weeks Daisy miscarried. Georgia said: 'Finding out she had miscarried was a massive shock. We had no indication before the scan that anything was wrong. Starting the scan, the midwife had the screen facing away from us. I knew from her face something wasn't right. We were devastated. 'Daisy had to get checked over to make sure it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy – where the egg fertilises in the fallopian tube. I was terrified that I'd put her at risk of losing her fallopian tube. Luckily it wasn't that, but the whole thing was a knock back. And I've never seen Lloyd that upset.' Daisy was really worried that her body had let everyone down. She says: 'It was a very sad day for us all. ' But Georgie and Lloyd, 31, had three viable embryos and Daisy was determined her friend would experience the joy of motherhood. Daisy went for her second transfer on January 31, 2025 and, in February, they were all delighted to discover that Daisy was pregnant. Georgia recalls: "We were on FaceTime on day five and Emelia pulled out a box of pregnancy tests. We got carried away and she did one and we saw a faint positive line. Each day the lines got darker." Georgia and Daisy were able to have an early scan at six weeks. "I saw a little heartbeat,' says Georgia. "It felt like 'OK, this could be happening'. The second time around was anxiety inducing after the miscarriage, but the little one was a fighter.' Daisy's first trimester hasn't been smooth sailing, and she has had episodes of bleeding - which has been worrying for them all. "Being a midwife I know too much - I see more of the unfortunate cases than the normal person,' says Georgia, who does not want to know her baby's sex before the birth. "I've been extremely anxious." Now 23 weeks pregnant, Daisy looks blooming and the friends feel more relaxed - and excited. Georgia says: "You can tell her tummy is getting bigger. Every little symptom she messages me. 'The response from everyone we know to the pregnancy has been so positive – from everyone. Our parents have been so excited. Daisy is like a second daughter to my mum, Emma, and she's so thrilled. Our dads are best friends, which make it even more special, too. 'My dad, Peter, called Daisy's dad, Malcolm, and said, 'your baby is carrying my grandbaby.' When I uploaded a video about it on TikTok the response was incredible, as well. Complete strangers were saying the nicest things like 'I'm crying my eyes out' and 'this is amazing.' We've even had funny comments like, 'I can't even get a text back from my best friend.'' And Daisy loves telling people that she's her best friend's surrogate. 'Every day people are 'congratulating' me and I explain it's not my baby - it's my best friend's baby,' she says. 'They're always shocked but supportive. It's been such a good thing to talk about and help educate people - from strangers to my own daughter, Emilia. It really opens a conversation on fertility, and so many more people are affected than you realise.' Daisy also bought Georgia bond touch bracelets - so when she feels a kick she can tap her bracelet and it will buzz Georgia's so she knows. 'Still feels surreal,' says Georgia, who will be delivering her baby, which is due in October. "She's delivering, with my help, in the hospital where I work. Colleagues at work are desperate to be on the shift. They joke about 'rolling out the red carpet' for her. It's been a long time in the making. There's not going to be a dry eye in the house.' Daisy adds: "It's going to be magic. I can't wait to see Emilia and Georgia's baby become best friends, too. If you have a loved one or someone you really cherish and you're able to do this for them, I would definitely encourage it." Georgia adds: 'The birth plan is for all four of us - me, Daisy, Lloyd and Oliver - to, hopefully, be there. I'd be happy for any colleagues to be there, but hopefully a close friend will be helping us too. Of course, things can change, and we'll take things as they come. But if all goes to plan, I'll be there to catch the baby at the end. I can't wait.' Daisy's partner, Oliver, says: 'Daisy told me on our very first date that this was something she would do for her friends. Now those friends are my friends, so to have the opportunity to give Georgia and Lloyd their chance to be parents was a no brainer.' Dad-to-be Lloyd adds: 'I am so grateful to Daisy for everything she has gone through for us, and Oli too. I think it is amazing.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Reform the NHS, not our shopping baskets
This week, the NHS will publish its 10 Year Health Plan. The most we can expect from this exercise in Soviet-style planning is tinkering around the edges of an edifice that was erected when Joseph Stalin ruled in Moscow. By 2035, the end date of this 10-year plan, the country will almost certainly be unable to afford the NHS in its present form – if, indeed, it hasn't collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions by then. Unable to address the fundamental problems of the NHS, the dirigistes of Whitehall have come up with a new plan to direct us how to lead our lives – telling us what we should or shouldn't be allowed to choose to put in our shopping baskets. Supermarkets will be expected to cut 100 calories from the average shopping basket by limiting sales of sugary and salty snacks or other 'junk food'. Ever since Napoleon Bonaparte sneered at England as 'a nation of shopkeepers', we have worn his insult as a badge of honour. We are proud to be a people who earn our living by trade and we cherish the liberties that are the glory of a commercial society. Even those of us who are not shopkeepers are at least customers. So little does this Labour Government know the British people that it is about to resort to distinctly Napoleonic measures to punish both retailers and consumers. Yet previous attempts to control consumption have never succeeded in changing enduring patterns of behaviour rooted in human nature. It is outrageous that officials feel empowered to tell us what we can, and cannot, eat. The public is being infantilised and robbed of agency. Centuries have passed since Parliament abandoned sumptuary laws that prohibited the lower orders from imitating the luxurious dress of the aristocracy. But the bureaucratic mind is obdurate in its disdain for popular tastes in food and drink. Combined with Labour's instinct to meddle, along with its insatiable fiscal appetite, it is no surprise that, as we report today, a modern version of the sumptuary laws is about to land on an unsuspecting nation. Obesity is a genuine and growing problem, but, hitherto, all attempts to address it by fiscal means have failed. The latest obesity tax – supermarkets will be fined if they don't reduce the nation's calorie intake, and this will inevitably be passed on to consumers – now emerging from the bowels of the Health Department and the Treasury, claims to be aimed directly at our waistlines. In reality, like all its predecessors, it will target our wallets. There is a certain grim irony in the fact that this policy should have been adopted at the same time as the decision by the NHS to prescribe the weight-loss drug semaglutide (contained in Ozempic and Wegovy). It is fairly obvious that the underlying rationale of the new regulations is less about obesity than about the Government's failure to control spending. No doubt figures will be trotted out about how many lives will be saved by cutting consumption of ultra-processed foods or any other category of comestible that attracts the ire of the health bureaucrats. But the truth is that new rules are being concocted because the Government is running scared of its own MPs, who have effectively imposed a veto on cuts in welfare spending. What would genuinely make a difference to life expectancy and health outcomes would, of course, be a radical reform of the NHS, a more active population, and a reduction in the numbers wasting their lives on benefits. Rachel Reeves has just poured another £29 billion into the health service, without any clear cost-benefit calculation. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is intelligent enough to know that he has inherited an obsolete behemoth that is crying out for root-and-branch reform. But building a new consensus for a new NHS would require the Labour Party to rethink its assumptions about the social contract, as well as the role of insurance and individual responsibility. The original 1946 NHS Act created 'a comprehensive health service designed to secure improvement in the physical and mental health of the people of England and Wales'. Today, the nation's health is not safe in the hands of a dysfunctional Labour Party that would rather do anything – even introducing an assisted-dying service – than take on the overdue task of making the NHS fit for purpose. These new directives are at best a displacement activity, at worst an act of fiscal condescension. A nation of shopkeepers deserves better than to be bossed around by its own government.
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Bereaved urge ‘truth' as Covid inquiry shifts focus to care homes
Grieving relatives will give evidence this week as the module looking at the adult social care sector begins. The first week of what is to be a five-week module will also hear from former health secretary Matt Hancock. Former health secretary Matt Hancock has given evidence to the Covid inquiry multiple times (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Mr Hancock, who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting breaking social distancing guidance by having an affair with a colleague, has given evidence to the inquiry multiple times. He will return on Wednesday for a full-day session to face questions specifically about the care sector. In 2023 he admitted the so-called protective ring he said had been put around care homes early in the pandemic was not an unbroken one, and he understood the strength of feeling people have on the issue. At a Downing Street press conference on May 15 2020, Mr Hancock said: 'Right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.' Bereaved families have previously called this phrase a 'sickening lie' and a 'joke'. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, hospital patients were rapidly discharged into care homes in a bid to free up beds and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed. However, there was no policy in place requiring patients to be tested before admission, or for asymptomatic patients to isolate, until mid-April. This was despite growing awareness of the risks of people without Covid-19 symptoms being able to spread the virus. The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) campaign group said people want answers about decisions made 'at the highest levels of government'. From Monday, module six of the inquiry will look at the effect the pandemic had on both the publicly and privately funded adult social care sector across the UK. Among the issues to be examined will be decisions made by the UK Government and devolved administrations on moving people from hospitals into adult care and residential homes in the early stages of the pandemic. The module will also consider how the pandemic was managed in care and residential homes, including infection prevention and control measures, testing for the virus, the availability and adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the restrictions on access to such locations by healthcare professionals and loved ones. Charlie Williams' 85-year-old father, Vernute, died at a care home in April 2020. The latest module will focus on the care sector (Alamy/PA) Mr Williams, a member of CBFFJ, said: 'We have been waiting years for this moment. What happened in care homes during the pandemic was not a tragic accident, it was the result of decisions made at the highest levels of government. 'Covid-positive patients were knowingly discharged from hospitals into care homes. There was no testing, no PPE, and no plan to protect the most vulnerable. 'Those in care were left to die. Bereaved families deserve to know who made those decisions and why.' The CBFFJ group has written to inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett, to express their concern at some 'key decision-makers' not expected to be called in this module, including former prime minister Boris Johnson. Mr Williams said not calling Mr Johnson and other senior figures was 'shocking', adding: 'They were at the centre of government when these choices were made, and the inquiry's decision to exclude them is baffling and deeply damaging to any sense of justice.' He said: 'This is the moment for those responsible to finally tell the truth. We want answers. We want accountability. We want justice.' Members of bereaved groups from across the UK will give evidence on Tuesday, while representatives of the National Care Forum and Royal College of Nursing will give evidence on Thursday. Public hearings for the care sector module are expected to run until the end of July.
