Northumbria healthcare staff to strike for 48 hours over pay row
Unison previously said the changes came after the trust recognised healthcare staff jobs had become "increasingly complex" over the years, yet they had been paid "the lowest hourly rate in the NHS".Clare Williams, Unison's northern regional secretary, said: "For years, staff worked way above their pay grade. "It's only right that having moved them up the NHS salary scale, their managers give them a sensible amount of compensation to cover all the wages they were denied."She said the trust needed to the "right thing" and "come up with a significantly improved offer".A trust spokesperson said the role was "re-banded" with effect from 1 July 2024, and pay was backdated to 1 April 2022.They added: "We acted quickly to make the banding changes and pay backpay to those who were entitled to it before Christmas."It is the fourth trust in north-east England to be in dispute with staff over wage banding, with workers in Teesside, South Tyneside and Sunderland negotiating a higher backpay deal.
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Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Dad of tragic Scots boy in government help call after selling home amid treatment nightmare
Jamie Tierney, whose son is terminally ill, has sold the family home. The dad of a tragic Scots boy has called for more help for families with terminally ill children - after selling their home while shelling out thousands of pounds on his treatment. Devoted dad Jamie Tierney believes there should be a body set up to help families navigate the difficulties a terminal diagnosis brings, from accessing benefits to help with housing and other issues. The 33-year-old, of Dunfermline, Fife, said he was forced to make his family homeless as it was the best option due to the difficult circumstances they find themselves in. They can put money from the sale of their home towards treatment for their six-year-old son, also Jamie, who suffers from rare muscle wasting disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Jamie senior said the youngster's condition meant the family home had become unsuitable for him, and they are now staying with different family members as they wait to hear if they will be given a council house. They receive support from the Muscular Dystrophy UK charity, and the NHS, as well as carers' allowance, but have to deal with each organisation individually, and Jamie believes a streamlined service would make it easier for families. Jamie's call for change comes after the family were denied the chance for Jamie junior to get a wonder medication which is provided free to the NHS. The family has headed abroad on a number of occasions for Jamie to receive treatment. Givinostat, a groundbreaking new life-extending treatment which slows the progress of the condition, has been cleared for use in the UK and is being used in England. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. But Scottish health boards have not given the drug to any patients through an early access programme, despite patients south of the border benefitting from it. Jamie, 33, said: "We sold our family home for many reasons — it was a townhouse with too many stairs, completely unsuitable for Jamie. We needed to find a way to give him independence. " Jamie's needs are increasing year by year. Our street is on a hill, and watching the kids play there breaks my heart — knowing Jamie can't join in this summer. "We need to keep money for future treatments and medical needs for Jamie. I think there should be supportive pathways for families who are in this situation and to aid them with options and help as currently we are jumping through hoops. "We were told we were the last family accepted on a clinical trial in the U.S. We were petrified but ready to move for Jamie. It fell through — we were devastated." The family have headed to the United States and Mexico for treatments for Jamie, paid for with the help of fundraising from raffles and GoFundMe pages. The incurable muscle-wasting disease, which gradually weakens all muscles in the body, affects one in 5,000 boys and sees sufferers having a life expectancy of around mid-20s. Jamie added: "As of this Friday, we're technically homeless. We can't buy again — my wife had to give up work to care for Jamie, and I'm in the early stages of building a new business that just about keeps us afloat. "Housing are trying to help, but we're told we just meet the criteria of 'homeless'. Yes, we could rent privately — but a suitable ground-floor property would cost double our old mortgage. "The system isn't built for families in extreme, complex situations and when you don't fit the system the system forgets you. How are families supposed to survive like this? I think there's certainly got to be some sort of help. "If we weren't in this situation my wife and I would both be working. She is no longer working and the stress and worry on your child's health affects your work. I'm in a first year start up struggling to support us. "If we had to go private rent it would financially cripple us. We are self funding Jamie's treatments with fundraising but fundraising has become harder and harder for us. We just feel sorry for other families in this situation. "There's families that are being affected every day. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. We would live on the streets for Jamie to be healthy, but the system doesn't seem to consider us." You can donate to their GoFundMe page here. The Scottish Government said: "We have every sympathy with the Tierney family and the hardships they're facing. We want disabled people and carers to get the support they are entitled to, making sure the application process is as straightforward as it can be. " Child Disability Payment is designed to mitigate some of the additional costs of caring for a disabled child or young person and we have a fast-track application route for people who have a terminal condition. "We have also transformed financial support for unpaid carers in Scotland, in recognition of the impact caring can have on a family's finances. "Local authorities will be provided with £15 billion this financial year for a range of services, including housing options services – an advice process councils use when someone approaches them with a housing problem."
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Covid XFG cases rising: What is known about new strain
Covid XFG, or 'stratus' as it is also known, is a descendant of the Omicron variant and was first detected back in January 2025. It has also been referred to as a "Frankenstein" or "recombinant" strain. Today, WHO's Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a group convened by WHO, released a report on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the #COVID19 pandemic. For this report, SAGO reviewed peer-reviewed papers and reviews, as well as… "This means it emerged when a person was infected with two Covid strains at once which then became a new hybrid variant," The Mirror explained. Reports of the new variant are "growing rapidly", according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and it is showing some signs of "additional immune evasion" compared to others. The WHO has placed Covid stratus "under monitoring" due to the rise in cases worldwide. It is one of seven COVID-19 variants currently being monitored, along with the NB.1.8.1 strain, which is the dominant variant worldwide. The coming COVID-19 Winter Surge in Australia will show the world where we are actually headed is happening in South-Eats Asia and East Asia are just the 'preludes'...watch how NB.1.8.1 spawns are evolving including PQ.1, PQ.2 and even sub-lineages like PE.1. However, the WHO stated that the risk posed by the new variant was "low," and that approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be effective against it. The world health experts, in a recent risk evaluation, said: "Several countries in the South-East Asia Region have reported a simultaneous rise in new cases and hospitalisations, where XFG has been widely detected. "Current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness or deaths than other variants in circulation." The WHO added: "The available evidence on XFG does not suggest additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages." Covid Stratus has already been detected in 38 different countries around the world. The WHO added: "The detection of XFG is increasing across several countries in various regions that are consistently sharing SARS-CoV-2 sequences with stable to slightly increasing trend in viral activity and hospitalizations." The new Stratus strain of Covid is currently the "most prevalent" in the UK, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Health organisations are yet to list any symptoms unique to Covid Stratus. However, common symptoms of other COVID-19 variants, according to the NHS, include: COVID-19 vaccines are available in the UK, and are usually offered on the NHS in spring and early winter. The vaccine is available for those: RECOMMENDED READING: The common disease medical experts believe will cause the next global pandemic Am I eligible for free prescriptions? Yes, if you have 1 of these 11 conditions The 6 beers that are good for your health (and the ones to avoid) The NHS said: "The COVID-19 vaccines are offered because viruses change and protection fades over time. It's important to top up your protection if you're eligible." The vaccine helps: Eligible people can book in for a vaccination via the NHS website, the NHS App, or by attending a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
We're all crazy for sleep tips, so try mine
As someone who reads four or five newspapers daily, I am in a position to assert confidently that a day does not go by without at least one of them carrying a massive, illustrated feature on how to sleep better. Generally speaking, you get a standard introductory paragraph by a house writer (or, I suspect, AI bot) with two quotes from some sort of bogus health professional (or, I suspect, AI bot), and a picture of a hot young model (or AI bot) wearing an eye mask, followed by a list of increasingly bonkers-sounding tips. Just at the moment, for example, I'm looking at: '4 hacks for better sleep during UK heatwave' in the Daily Express; 'Tired? Here's five tips for a good night's sleep' in The Independent; 'I teach people to sleep for a living — here's how I ensure I always rest well' in The Daily Telegraph; '66 days to build better sleep habits' in The Guardian (always with the doomsday clock countdowns) and a BBC website plug for a Woman's Hour special headlined, 'Can AI help you get better sleep?' Yes, I know, The Times does them too, we've probably got one somewhere in the paper this very morning and you'll write in to say what an irony that is. Except it isn't, it's a coincidence. And not much of one, because, as I say, every newspaper has one almost every day. Why? Have we all suddenly stopped sleeping well and genuinely need help, or has our collective post-lockdown hypochondria mated with the 'wellness' boom to engender this furious new national hysteria? And who is profiting from it? No doubt the authors of such volumes as Why We Sleep, The Sleep Book, 4 Weeks To Better Sleep, Sleep Smarter, Fast Asleep, Teach Yourself To Sleep and The Sleep Solution have generated a few hundred quid for their hard-working, under-slept authors, but just on its own that won't be keeping the wolf from the door (who is presumably there for the sheep being frantically counted inside). Sleep advice has become the number one clickbait option for the modern hack (as I hope digital statistics for this column will reflect) and it's all rubbish. I sleep like a log every night, thank you very much, you didn't ask and you don't care, and I think it's all such balls that if I rolled out my own '33 Tips For A Top Night's Sleep', I'll bet you wouldn't be able to tell which were drawn from genuine articles by 'experts' in the national press, and which ones I'd made up for a lark. Go on, try — it might send you to sleep. 1 Wear socks at night to keep your feet warm.2 Put your socks in the fridge before bed to keep your feet cool.3 Wear anti-blue light goggles before bed to optimise melatonin production.4 Wear soft gloves before bed to reduce skin stimulation.5 Wear a thick jumper for an hour before lights out on hot nights then remove it to allow your body to cool naturally.6 Tape your mouth shut.7 Tape your nose shut.8 Tie your feet together.9 Eat no eggs after 3pm.10 Masturbate.11 Keep terrapins in the bedroom.12 Stare at the sky for ten minutes when you wake in the morning to reset your circadian rhythm.13 Stare at the moon for five minutes if you wake in the night, to reset your lunar cycle.14 Go to bed as late as possible so as not to associate your bed with sleeplessness.15 Give your bed a friendly name such as 'Archie' or 'Ned' to avoid hostile feelings towards it.16 Do not discuss finances in bed (unless you're shagging your accountant).17 Avoid reading poetry, as rhythm and rhyme can create a 'circular preoccupation' on the resting brain.18 Eat your last meal at least four hours before going to bed.19 Take a laxative two hours before bed as a big poo will send you right off.20 Drink no alcohol in the evening.21 Get battered in the evening.22 If you wake up in the night, turn the light on, read for a bit, even get up and go for a walk; it's what we did in the olden days, and most people sleep in two separate cycles anyway.23 Set an alarm to wake you up at three in the morning, to ensure you get two full cycles and not one-and-a-half.24 Write down preoccupying thoughts before bed.25 Write down the names of all the people you hate, including neighbours, colleagues and close family.26 Buy a Slypwel Kooling Nek Pillo for £1,000.27 Buy a Tempur Pro Air SmartCool mattress for £2,000.28 Buy a really thin sheet for £3,000.29 Soak your earplugs in water and freeze them, to cool your inner ear.30 Avoid citrus fruits in the evening as the acid breaks down crucial sleep enzymes.31 In a heatwave, pile the whole family into the air-conditioned bedroom in the loft.32 Keep a sleep diary.33 Sell your sleep diary to The Daily Telegraph for £10,000 and buy a lifetime supply of zopiclone. Answers (and by 'true', I mean that it truly was given as advice in a national paper, not that I necessarily believe it works):1 True. 2 True. 3 True. 4 False. 5 False. 6 True. 7 Don't be silly, you'd die! 8 False. 9 False. 10 Works for me. 11 False, duh. 12 True. 13 False. Why not try howling at it too? 14 True. 15 Come off it. 16 True. 17 False. 18 True. 19 Sadly not. 20 That's what they say. 21 Much more like it. 22 True. 23 Ha, ha. Of course not. 24 True. 25 False. But great fun anyway. 26 Nope. 27 Yup – see Monday's Telegraph: 'The best cooling mattresses to make falling asleep a breeze'. 28 You'd fall for that? In that case I've got one for you right here. 29 False. 30 Sleep enzymes? Mate, get a grip. 31 We used to, but Kitty's 14 now and literally locks the door when she hears us trooping up the stairs with our pillows. 32 True. 33 Worth a try. Listen to Giles discussing his columns on his podcast, Giles Coren Has No Idea
