
Women's Prize for Fiction ‘greatest honour' as an intersex woman, says winner
The book, which explores repressed desire and the unresolved aftermath of the Holocaust in post-Second World War Netherlands, was described as an 'astonishing debut' by the head of the judges.
The ceremony, held in central London on Thursday, saw the non-fiction prize awarded to physician Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story Of A Heart, which explores the human experience behind organ donation.
In her winner's speech, after thanking the judges, van der Wouden said: 'I was a girl until I turned 13, and then, as I hit puberty, all that was supposed to happen did not quite happen.
'And if it did happen, it happened too much, and all at once my girlhood became an uncertain fact.
'I won't thrill you too much with the specifics, but the long and the short of it is that, hormonally, I'm intersex.
'This little fact defined my life throughout my teens, until I advocated for the health care that I needed.
'The surgery and the hormones that I needed, which not all intersex people need. Not all intersex people feel at odds with their gender presentation.
'I mention the fact that I did, because in the few precious moments here on stage, I am receiving, truly, the greatest honour of my life as a woman, presenting to you as a woman, and accepting this Women's Prize.
Aria Aber, Miranda July, Nussaibah Younis, Elizabeth Strout, Sanam Mahloudji and Yael van der Wouden at the ceremony (Ian West Media Assignments/PA)
'And that is because of every single trans person who's fought for health care, who changed the system, the law, societal standards, themselves. I stand on their shoulders.'
The NHS website says intersex, or differences in sex development (DSD), is a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs that mean a person's sex development is different to most.
In contrast, people who are transgender identify as a gender separate to the sex they were born in and sometimes go through gender-affirming surgery.
Van der Wouden's novel follows Isabel, a young woman whose life in solitude is upended when her brother's girlfriend Eva comes to live in their family house in what turns into a summer of obsession, suspicion and desire.
The chairwoman of the judges for the fiction prize, writer Kit de Waal, said: 'This astonishing debut is a classic in the making, a story to be loved and appreciated for generations to come. Books like this don't come along every day.'
Van der Wouden will receive £30,000 and a limited-edition bronze statuette known as the Bessie, which was created and donated by artist Grizel Niven.
Rachel Clarke won the non-fiction prize (Ian West Media Assignments/PA)
The judging panel for the Women's Prize for Fiction included novelist and journalist Diana Evans, author and journalist Bryony Gordon, writer and magazine editor Deborah Joseph, and musician and composer Amelia Warner.
Clarke said she has 'literally been a feminist since I was too young to know what that word even meant', as she collected her award.
The physician's book recounts two family stories, documenting how medical staff take care of nine-year-old Kiera in her final hours after a car accident, while offering a new life to nine-year-old Max who is suffering from heart failure from a viral infection.
Clarke, who is behind the books Breathtaking and Your Life In My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story, will receive £30,000 and a limited-edition piece of art known as the Charlotte, both gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust.
The judging panel for the non-fiction prize included writer and broadcaster Dr Leah Broad, whose work focuses on women's cultural history, and novelist and critic Elizabeth Buchan.
Previous winners of the fiction prize include Tayari Jones for An American Marriage and Madeline Miller for The Song Of Achilles, while the first non-fiction prize was awarded last year to Naomi Klein for Doppelganger: A Trip Into The Mirror World.
The awards were announced by the Women's Prize Trust, a UK charity that aims to 'create equitable opportunities for women in the world of books and beyond'.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
A fundamental flaw in Labour's 10-year plan for the health service
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They've been messed around by politicians for years and morale is low – but they will suffer even more if these reforms fail. Let's hope they give it their best shot. Kevin Liles Southampton SIR – If Labour wants to provide a 'neighbourhood' NHS, it should start by reopening all the cottage hospitals that were closed down. David Carter Worcester SIR – I am old enough to remember when the two Dr O'Keefe brothers in Eltham held two surgeries a day without an appointment system, went on their rounds, and would come out in the middle of the night in an emergency. Everyone was seen eventually, and the doctors knew all about patients and their families. My local surgery in south-east London, a bigger practice, used to offer appointments with your named doctor, as well as having a GP who saw all-comers in the order they arrived. Now you can't book an appointment via the receptionist, even if you go to the surgery. Instead you are directed to a website; you describe your symptoms, then wait to be contacted. I wish Sir Jim Mackey, the new head of NHS England, the best of luck in attempting to restore a system in which patients do not feel like an inconvenience. Frances Braithwaite London SE6 SIR – Recent letters (July 2) have discussed the standard of NHS food. After a triple bypass, my husband's first hospital meal was ham crumble. Anything higher in salt and saturated fat is hard to imagine. Sandra Hancock Exeter, Devon Tearful Chancellor SIR – I have been a Conservative Party member for more than 40 years. I don't agree with the Labour Government's policies on a number of issues. However, I was shocked at the photographs (July 3) of the Chancellor in tears and looking exhausted. The Prime Minister and his backbenchers should be ashamed. This lady has a very difficult job, and she seems to be undermined from every quarter. It is Sir Keir Starmer who should stand down for being incompetent. 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Mark Venmore-Rowland Saxmundham, Suffolk Ofcom's role SIR – It is wrong to suggest that Ofcom takes a position in gender debates, or that we do not respect the Supreme Court's judgment on the legal definition of sex under the Equality Act ('Ofcom has just demonstrated its contempt for women, the truth and the law', Comment, June 30). We considered the Supreme Court ruling very carefully, including its clear statement that it is not the role of the court 'to adjudicate on the arguments in the public domain on the meaning of gender or sex'. This is not Ofcom's role either. We never instruct broadcasters how to cover any issue, which is an editorial matter for them. We only assess content after it is transmitted, on the facts and context of the case. Last year we assessed almost 10,000 pieces of content on television and radio. Each time – as required by law – we took full account of freedom of expression, broadcasters' editorial discretion, and viewers' and listeners' rights to receive a range of information and ideas. In the final analysis, only 33 breached our rules. For the record, none related to discussions about the meaning of gender or sex. Wallet essentials SIR – John Barnett (Letters, June 30) mentions the eclectic contents of his wallet. He reminded me of Mr Thompson, the geography master at Dartford Grammar School in the 1960s, who urged us boys always to carry a length of string, a penknife and four pennies (for an urgent call home from a phone box). I never had need of any of them. Bob Clough-Parker Chester Ill-informed activists SIR – I was moved by Sharone Lifschitz's article on the BBC ('Israelis like me deserve better than corporation's simplistic reporting', July 2). Those who joined in with Bob Vylan's offensive chanting at Glastonbury – and probably felt it appropriate as a result of ill-informed media coverage (much of it from the BBC), disinformation or ignorance of Middle Eastern conflicts – should be made to read it. I remember when Ms Lifschitz's mother, Yocheved, was released by Hamas after 16 days in captivity; she was so dignified, offering to shake the hands of her captors and saying how kind they had been to her. Oded, Ms Lifschitz's father, died in captivity. Once again, this family has shown wisdom, humility and dignity, which self-righteous activists and politicians could learn from. Liz Martin Eyam, Derbyshire SIR – That Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, is still in post following the broadcast of Bob Vylan's anti-Semitic Glastonbury set tells us all we need to know about the BBC: it is full of people who think they are right most of the time and, when they are not, that they are never actually wrong. Jonathan Baldwin Nantwich, Cheshire Number plate crime SIR – John Archibald (Letters, July 3) writes that the police told his friend that displaying cloned number plates is not a crime. Whoever said this should be retrained. Displaying forged plates is an offence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. The maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment. James B Sinclair St Helier, Jersey Fruity filling SIR – When I lived in South West Africa (now Namibia) as a child, we ate fig sandwiches, and avocado sandwiches with sugar sprinkled liberally (Letters, July 2). Very tasty indeed. J Green Little Kingshill, Buckinghamshire SIR – The best sandwich is tuna in olive oil, with plenty of Marmite, between thick brown bread – preferably a triple-decker. It's highly nourishing, and guaranteed to bring about a refreshing 40 winks after lunch. Richard Willcox Southampton The fragile economics of rural bus services SIR – Charles Moore (Notebook, July 1) touched on a thorny issue in his comments about the problems with rural bus services. However, in espousing smaller vehicles, I think he overlooked a couple of points. First, if an operator requires full-size buses for 'peak' operations (such as school runs), it is more economical to also use them for off-peak services, rather than purchasing additional, smaller vehicles. Secondly, the principal element in the cost of operating a bus is the driver's wages. These vary very little with the size of the vehicle being driven. David Dunbar Willersey, Gloucestershire SIR – In the 1990s, when I lived in a small hamlet on a major road just outside Bath, there was a weekly bus that stopped. However, it didn't return until the following week. Rob Dorrell Combe Down, Somerset SIR – Some years ago, I lived in the Powys village of Bettws Cedewain – population 400 – which had one bus a week to Newtown, about four miles away. It left the village at 10am and returned from Newtown at 2pm. There was, however, an alternative: enterprising villagers could cadge a daily lift to and from Newtown, but they had to fit in the back of the red Post Office delivery van. The village also had a small shop, but it closed due to lack of business. When explaining the situation to me, the very polite husband-and-wife owners revealed that their total sales that afternoon had amounted to one lemon. David S Ainsworth Denton, Lancashire Losing top predators has upset nature's balance SIR – Here in our suburban garden in Kent, we see daily the disaster caused by the historical hounding to destruction of top predators such as wolves, lynx and eagles (Letters, July 3). It has led to an explosion of mesopredators, such as badgers, foxes, corvids (crows, magpies and jays), kites and buzzards. Every spring, small birds rear their young, only for them to be gobbled up by the insatiable corvids. Our ground-nesting bees, which we were delighted to find in the shrubbery, were dug up and eaten by the local badgers, as were the hedgehogs. Meanwhile, the rise in domestic cat numbers has added to the loss of shrews, voles, wood mice, newts, toads and slow worms. I have refused to switch on Springwatch since Chris Packham failed to condemn a piece of film showing badgers swimming to gravel islands at RSPB Minsmere to eat 'protected' avocet eggs and fledglings. Letters to the Editor We accept letters by email and post. Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers. ADDRESS: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT EMAIL: dtletters@ FOLLOW: Telegraph Letters @LettersDesk


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The Doctor in your pocket will see you now! But will ministers really be able to deliver the all-singing, all-dancing NHS app they are promising patients by 2028?
Britons will carry a 'doctor in their pocket' at all times under plans to revolutionise the NHS unveiled yesterday. The NHS App will use AI and become the 'digital front door' of the health service under the proposals designed to ease pressure on hospitals and GPs. For the first time, it is claimed, patients will be able to book, move and cancel appointments through the app and receive personalised medical advice. According to the Government's 10 Year Health Plan, published yesterday, the changes will help put an end to the '8am scramble' for a GP appointment and ensure everyone who needs a same-day consultation is able to get one. The app, Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised, will undergo a major overhaul by 2028 to use patients' medical records and artificial intelligence to provide instant answers to users' questions and direct them to the best place for care. It will mean patients can get more done without needing to speak to a real person, freeing-up appointments and phone lines for those who need them most. Meanwhile, doctors will be able to conduct remote video consultations through the app, saving some patients the need to travel. Patient groups last night welcomed the 'truly exciting' potential of the changes, but warned the move to a more digital service risked excluding the elderly. Mr Streeting said: 'The NHS App will become a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century. 'Patients who can afford to pay for private healthcare can currently get instant advice, remote consultations with a doctor, and choose where and when their appointments will be. 'Our reforms will bring those services to every patient, regardless of their ability to pay. 'The 10 Year Health Plan will make using the NHS as easy and convenient as doing your banking or shopping online.' Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, which campaigns for elderly Britons, said: 'The 10 Year Plan sounds like some distant utopia and there is a risk it will be put on a shelf and gather dust, along with others that have come before it. Elderly people will be sceptical about whether the plan will be delivered and concerned that greater reliance on the app could exclude them from accessing timely care. For some, the doctor in their pocket will be padlocked.' Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust health think-tank, said the plan contained 'little detail on how the ailing health service is to deliver these changes'. And Mr Streeting was warned that his plans would fail unless he fixed the ailing social care system, which got only a passing reference in the 143-page plan. According to the Government's 10 Year Health Plan, published yesterday, the changes will help put an end to the '8am scramble' for a GP appointment and ensure everyone who needs a same-day consultation is able to get one The Department of Health and Social Care said letting patients book an appointment digitally rather than using the existing 'convoluted process' will save the NHS £200million over three years. They will be able to link the app to wearable technology, such as exercise trackers and blood pressure monitors, with the data uploaded to their medical records. The AI will monitor this data and alert users to potentially concerning changes so they can seek care before they become serious. Poorer patients with some medical conditions will be given these gadgets for free. The digital transformation will be underpinned by a new Single Patient Record, which will bring together all of a patient's medical notes for the first time. This will mean they do not have to repeat their medical history to each clinician they see. Under the plan, the NHS will axe two-thirds of outpatient appointments – which currently cost a total of £14billion a year. These will be replaced by automated information, digital advice, direct input from specialists and patient-initiated follow-ups via the NHS App. The NHS will also embrace AI for staff, with automatic scribes taking notes for doctors and producing the first drafts of care plans. Mr Streeting last night told the Mail: 'For staff, this means less admin, fewer missed appointments, and – best of all – more time with the people that need face-to-face care the most. For the NHS, it's a smarter system that can deliver more and save millions of pounds.' Patients who are unable to get an answer from the AI bot will be able to leave a question for a specialist to answer. The app will also offer users access to their full medical records and test results and allow them to book vaccinations and self-refer for talking therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and audiology. Announcing the 10 Year Health Plan at an event in east London, Keir Starmer said: 'For far too long, the NHS has been stuck in the past, reliant on letters, lengthy phone queues and even fax machines.' The Prime Minister added: 'Our 10 Year Health Plan will bring [the NHS] into the digital age by opening up fairer and more convenient access to healthcare.' The PM and Mr Streeting unveiled 'three big shifts' in the way the NHS operates. It will aim to move from an analogue to digital service; cut demand for treatment by preventing ill health in the first place; and shift care from hospitals to the community. Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: 'The potential of the NHS App … is truly exciting, but we must also ensure that no one is left behind.' Public libraries will run lessons on the app. Patients not comfortable using it will still be able to access care in the usual way. Rachel Power of the Patients Association, said: 'We welcome the ambition to expand the NHS App… but with nearly one in four facing barriers to digital access, we must ensure innovation doesn't come at the cost of inclusion.'


Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Sir Keir Starmer vows to fix ‘broken NHS' by dragging it ‘from bricks to clicks' in a technological revolution
Meanwhile, Wes Streeting revealed the shock amount of Government MPs that are using fat jabs NHS TECH BOOST Sir Keir Starmer vows to fix 'broken NHS' by dragging it 'from bricks to clicks' in a technological revolution SIR Keir Starmer has vowed to fix the 'broken NHS' by dragging it 'from bricks to clicks' in a technological revolution. The Prime Minister and his Health Secretary Wes Streeting said an NHS app and local medical centres will transform healthcare. 3 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to fix the 'broken NHS' by dragging it through a technological revolution Credit: Getty Launching a ten-year health plan yesterday, they said it was 'change or bust'. Focus will be pulled out of expensive hospitals and into community health clinics, at-home care and online booking and chat systems. Experts hailed their ambitions but warned the changes will take time and money, and that similar plans had failed. Sir Keir said: 'We need to make the NHS fit for the future with technology that is available to us now.' The 168-page plan said the NHS must stop being a 'technological laggard' and 'make the move from bricks to clicks'. Sir Keir added: 'Entire industries have reorganised around apps — retail, transport, finance, weather — why not the NHS? 'It will be like having a doctor in your pocket, providing you with 24-hour advice, seven days a week.' Health Secretary Mr Streeting said: 'People will feel the change over the course of this Parliament and of course this is also a plan for the decade. 'We know the change in our plan is possible because it's already happened. 'We toured the length and breadth of the country and scouted the world for the best examples of reform. 'We will take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.' Keir will ABOLISH NHS England to bring health service 'into heart of Government' 3 Labour launched a ten-year health plan yesterday Wes: Half of our MPs on fat jabs By Sam Blanchard HALF of Government MPs are using fat jabs and boast about it at work, Wes Streeting claimed yesterday. The Health Secretary said injections such as Wegovy and Mounjaro are 'the talk of Commons tea rooms'. He vowed to make them available from the NHS online, in pharmacies or in shopping centres as part of his ten-year health plan. Mr Streeting said: 'Weight-loss jabs are the talk of the House of Commons. Half my colleagues are on them and are judging the rest of us saying, 'You lot should be on them'. 'I'm bringing to weight loss jabs the principle of fairness. They should be available based on need and not the ability to pay.' They cost up to £200 a month, bought at chemists. Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries admit using them.