My Blog

Britain’s worst-performing pharmacies are today named and shamed by a forensic MailOnline audit — with an interactive map allowing you to check if yours is one of the offenders. Our investigation reveals 108 high street chemists were reprimanded for failing to meet basic standards over the past year.  Ten were subject to enforcement action for…

Zimbabwe is the world’s most miserable country, trumping Venezuela, Cuba and war-torn Syria.  That is according to an annual ‘misery index’, which ranks almost 160 countries on factors like unemployment figures, inflation and bank-lending rates. The African nation, home to roughly 16million people, has now ranked among the top five gloomiest nations for three years in…

After any meal, regardless of the time of day or what I’ve eaten, I have to cough to clear my throat of food and drink. I’ve put up with this for years, but now believe it is a medical problem rather than normal. Can you give me any advice to help? David Stone, Reading. From…

‘Is it my fault?’ I looked away, trying not to answer my patient’s question. He asked again, ‘Is the cancer my fault?’ As a doctor, you forget most conversations with your patients but some stick forever in your mind. This was one of them. It was about five years ago and I was explaining the…

After a year of gruelling treatment for leukaemia, doctors told Jane Samuel and her partner, Lesley, that their daughter, Kate, was through the worst — the relief, says Jane, was ‘indescribable’. They were even able to take Kate and her twin sister, Anna, on holiday, to Bluestone, Pembrokeshire — the first family trip since Kate…

Junk food and vaping adverts would be banned from airing before 9pm under Labour plans, despite suggestions the move could be ‘bad for business’ By Kumail Jaffer Political Reporter Published: 01:43, 23 May 2023 | Updated: 01:44, 23 May 2023 Labour will ban junk food and vaping adverts from airing before 9pm, despite warnings the…

Eight out of ten adults support a ban on advertising unhealthy food to children on TV and online, new research for the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) suggests. The coalition of charities and health organisations says the polling shows the public backs its demands for new taxes on junk food and greater curbs on advertising. In…

More patient misery as the NHS loses 700 dentists despite claims from the government that reforms have boosted numbers By Shaun Wooller Health Editor Updated: 01:16, 23 May 2023 Patients have been warned they are likely to face continued long waits for care as the NHS is ‘haemorrhaging’ dentists. Figures show 23,577 dentists took on…

Junior doctors to strike for three more days in June as union chiefs threaten to strike throughout summer after demanding 49 PER CENT pay rise By Shaun Wooller Health Editor Published: 20:37, 22 May 2023 | Updated: 00:30, 23 May 2023 Junior doctors will strike for at least three days every month over summer after…