GP Appointments: New health secretary makes same-day pledge to increase available appointments
Following the appointment of the new Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey, she has made the pledge to improve access to GPs, including same day appointments where there is need for them. Studies from both 2020 and 2021 have shown that the estimated number of appointments by month has continued to decrease, which is the likely…
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English maternity units fail safety standards
The BBC reported yesterday that more than half of English maternity units fail consistently to meet safety standards. The Care Quality Commission notes that 7% of these units are posing a high risk of avoidable harm with a further 48% requiring improvement. Equally the CQC has found that no units were outstanding. This is…
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Workplace mesothelioma diagnosis – Liam Bradley’s story
Nowadays it seems as though the risk of death resulting from work should be nil, and that life-threatening work environments are essentially (and rightfully) a thing of the past. For roofer Liam Bradley, though, the harsh reality of a silent danger at work reared its head when he received news resulting from an incidental…
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BlackStar Wealth Management – Has your pension lost money?
Has your pension lost money after being advised to transfer by Blackstar Wealth Management? Who were BlackStar Wealth Management Limited? Blackstar Wealth Management Limited was a FCA regulated company prior to closure. It was a firm of independent financial advisors who advised the majority of their customers to transfer their pensions. The advisors typically…
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A Guide to HAVS/Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is a prevalent occupational disease, affecting industrial workers who work with vibrating power tools. To help understand this condition, we have collated a guide to HAVS. Here are the three main components of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome: Vascular (in the form of secondary Raynaud phenomenon). Commonly referred to as…
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What are your rights regarding the Queen’s funeral Bank Holiday on 19th September 2022?
It has been announced that Monday 19th September 2022, the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday. This will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national…
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Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Randstad’s recent “Gender Equality in the Workplace 2022” Survey interviewed 6,000 working adults in May 2022 from the construction, education, healthcare and technology sectors. It found that 32% of woman say their careers have been affected by Sexual Harassment and 72% of woman had either encountered or witnessed inappropriate behaviour from male colleagues at…
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Review on Unspent Convictions
BBC Three documentary The Man Who Used HIV as a Weapon (2019) highlighted the story of the first man convicted in the UK for deliberately spreading HIV. The assailant, Darryl Rowe, was charged in 2018 with a life sentence after infecting nine men with the disease. Under the CICA Scheme, victims of this specific…
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Rowanmoor Pensions claims now being accepted by FSCS
On 31st August 2022, Rowanmoor Personal Pensions (“Rowanmoor”) entered into administration and were placed under investigation by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). What did Rowanmoor do wrong? A lot of Rowanmoor’s customers transferred their existing pensions into a SIPP administered by Rowanmoor following a cold call offering advice from independent financial advisors. The…
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