Latest news with #SouthLondonMaudsley
The Sun
11-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Addiction to ketamine rises eight-fold in a decade as powerful tranquiliser becomes popular with Gen Z
DOCTORS have sounded the alarm over an eight-fold rise in ketamine addiction in a decade. The powerful tranquilliser is popular with Generation Z because of its relatively low cost, experts say. Clinics in England treated 3,609 people of all ages for addiction last year, eight times more than 426 in 2014, figures reveal. Ketamine, also referred to as 'K' or 'Ket', numbs pain and can cause a trippy high. Dealers sell it in powder form for around £20 to £40 a gram compared with £40 to £60 a gram for low-quality cocaine. Doctors say heavy use can cause liver disease and permanently damage the bladder and kidneys. It is linked to constipation, depression and loss of mental sharpness. Many medics fail to understand how addictive it can be, an NHS report said. Led by Dr Irene Guerrini of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, it called the drug's prevalence 'concerning'. It said: 'As ketamine use increases, more individuals are seeking treatment for addiction. 'Long-term use can seriously harm both physical and mental health, diminishing quality of life, affecting personal relationships and impairing academic or professional performance.' Dr Guerrini called for stricter guidelines on how the NHS uses the drug and more funds for treatment and prevention. Ministers are considering uprating 34878330from a Class B to Class A drug.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS nurse ‘forced out for mocking trans flag'
A nurse who says she was forced out of her job for mocking the transgender flag is to sue the NHS hospital where she worked. Amy Gallagher, a mental health nurse, said she was placed 'under investigation' by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust for two social media posts in which she expressed gender-critical views. She was moved into a non-patient facing role during an investigation that lasted more than a year, but felt pressured to resign rather than return to her job because of the 'hostility' towards her. She believes her treatment by the NHS trust was 'unlawful'. In one tweet, she replied to another user's comment about 'woke capitalism' with the word 'Hell' above a picture of a Progress Pride flag co-branded with McDonald's. In a second tweet, she criticised 'non-binary' art and the concept of 'non-binary'. In a reply she stated 'non-binary essentially means ugly'. Ms Gallagher was planning to stand as the 2024 London mayoral candidate for the Social Democratic Party and claimed fighting the 'woke ideology' and advocating for women's sex-based rights were key policy points central to her campaign. But she said the NHS trust saw it differently and she was hauled through 'disciplinary proceedings during which the clinical service manager told me my colleagues did not feel comfortable working with me'. Ms Gallagher explained she was then 'forced into a non-patient facing role' as a 'hostile investigation' ensued. 'They asked me if I thought I had betrayed patient trust by criticising gender ideology and promoting gender critical and classical liberal ideas. They also questioned my nursing practice because I didn't believe that a person could be 'born in the wrong body',' she wrote on a crowd funding page to raise funds for her legal battle. 'Given the hostility I would have received from staff if I returned and the stress of the investigation I had no choice but to resign. My criticism of gender ideology – my protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010 – has cost me my job,' she said. 'I believe the NHS's treatment of me is unlawful. As a result, I am taking them to an employment tribunal.' Ms Gallagher said legal fees had already cost her £10,000 and she was seeking to raise £2,500 ahead of a preliminary hearing this month. She is being represented by Elliot Hammer of Branch Austin McCormick, who represented the Free Speech Union in the case of Higgs v Farmor's School, which confirmed protection for gender-critical and related beliefs in the workplace. It comes just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the terms 'women' and 'sex' in the Equality Act referred to biological women and biological sex. She said: 'My case will be a test case for whether the NHS takes seriously the Supreme Court's decision that sex is binary and that a 'transwoman' is not a woman. People are either biological men or biological women. It is not transphobic or offensive to say so or to criticise gender ideology.' After a 14-month investigation, the trust finally withdrew its proceedings in February 2025, she said.
