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There has been a huge rise in clinically vulnerable people seeking support ahead of legal restrictions being lifted in England on Monday and rising COVID case numbers, a group of leading charities have said.

Policy director at Kidney Care UK Fiona Loud says there has been a “tidal wave of people getting in touch with us and our partner charities”.

“We are overwhelmed with people asking for support and feeling distressed,” she adds.

Ellie Dawes, from the Aplastic Anaemia Trust, says “we’ve seen an 800% increase in the number of people who’ve been contacting our support line” since the announcement about the removal of final restrictions was made.

There are 3.8 million people in the UK who are classed as clinically extremely vulnerable, and 500,000 people who are immunosuppressed. Those who are immunosuppressed may have reduced, or no protection at all from the vaccine.

Professor Emma Morris, director of UCL’s Division of Infection and Immunity, says people can become immunosuppressed from diseases which affect how the immune system works, or by taking drugs which intentionally suppress the immune system after an organ transplant or during treatment for certain cancers.

“I think the risk to those patients who are immunosuppressed, who haven’t been protected by the vaccine, is as high as it has ever been,” she says.

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Hal Cohen has had two kidney transplants, the most recent after a donation from his father in December 2019.

The drugs which stop his body rejecting his kidney also mean he’s had no response to the COVID vaccine.

“I don’t have any antibodies or T-cells,” he says, which means he’s unlikely to be protected against the coronavirus.

This leaves Hal and others like him feeling anxious, as the chance of dying of COVID-19 is much higher for people who’ve had transplants.

Hal Cohen has had two kidney transplants, the most recent after a donation from his father in December 2019.
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Mr Cohen, pictured with his family, says the lifting of legal restrictions on Monday means he could lose freedoms

Hal says the lifting of legal restrictions, particularly face masks no longer being required in some settings, means he could lose freedoms come 19 July.

“Even things I would take for granted previously like having a haircut, I don’t know now if there are places where I can go where the person cutting the hair will be wearing a mask, or if other people will be wearing a mask – even basic things seem like a bit of a challenge going forward.”

Hal is calling for immunosuppressed people to be allowed to take part in more clinical trials like “booster doses of vaccines, mixing and matching different types of vaccines, or even some of the alternative treatments that are intended to prevent you getting COVID in the first place”.

Immunosuppressed people are often excluded from clinical trials, but Hal says being allowed to participate could “help us get back to normal like everyone else”.

This call is echoed by charities like Kidney Care UK which also wants to see a commitment from the government that immunosuppressed people will benefit from employment support when furlough ends.

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Both charities and scientists say there must be clear public health messaging so immunocompromised people know they may not have as much protection from the vaccine.

Prof Morris says: “We need to let people know that they are at an ongoing risk if the case numbers continue to increase – and that isn’t magically going to go away on Monday, when a number of restrictions will be lifted.”

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Boy, 15, charged with murder after teenager stabbed at Sheffield school

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Boy, 15, charged with murder after teenager stabbed at Sheffield school

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a teenager was stabbed to death at a school in Sheffield.

Harvey Willgoose, 15, died after being attacked at All Saints Catholic High School on Monday.

Police said he suffered “serious injuries” and despite the efforts of medics, died a short time after emergency services arrived.

Chris Hartley, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “We have authorised South Yorkshire Police to charge a 15-year-old with murder in relation to the death of Harvey Willgoose, 15, at All Saints Catholic High School on 3 February.

“He has also been charged with possession of a bladed article and one count of affray.”

The boy will appear at Sheffield Youth Court later on Wednesday.

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In a statement released by police, Harvey’s family said their lives would “never be the same again” and they were “utterly heartbroken”.

“We have lost a beloved son, brother, grandson, cousin, nephew and most importantly, a best friend to all,” they said.

“Harvey will be forever known for being a caring, loving and funny young man. At this difficult time we ask you to please respect our privacy as we grieve as a family.”

Harvey Willgoose
Pic: Sophie Willgoose
Image:
Pic: Sophie Willgoose

Paying tribute, Harvey’s sister Sophie Willgoose said: “My heart is broken into a million pieces.”

She posted on Facebook: “I love you so much Harvey… Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight cos I wish I could.”

All Saints Catholic High School described Harvey as an “immensely popular” student who had “a smile that would light up the room”.

“We are all struggling to process what has happened and our thoughts and prayers are with Harvey’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time,” it said.

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Nottingham killer allowed to avoid vital medication because of ‘fear of needles’ claim, report reveals

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Nottingham killer allowed to avoid vital medication because of 'fear of needles' claim, report reveals

The man who killed three people on the streets of Nottingham was allowed to avoid taking long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles.

An independent review also reveals that Valdo Calocane punched a police officer in the face and held his flatmates “hostage”.

He frightened one neighbour so much, she jumped out of a first floor window and seriously damaged her back.

Mental health staff did not visit his home alone.

Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after killing 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, before attempting to kill three other people in June 2023.

NHS England initially planned to release only a summary of the report because of data protection laws, but reversed its decision “in line with the wishes of the families”.

Grace Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates
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Grace Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates

Those relatives say the revelation that Calocane was refusing his meds shows he may have been “spared prison on the basis of incomplete evidence”.

Nottingham attacks: Timeline of missed opportunities to stop killer Valdo Calocane
Warning over Nottingham killer years before attack was ‘another kick to the teeth’

Prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter after experts agreed his schizophrenia meant he wasn’t fully responsible for his actions.

But in a statement, the families said: “This was a man who actively avoided his medication and treatment, knowing that when he didn’t take his medication he would become paranoid and violent.

“He was responsible for his actions and was allowed to make these decisions by his treating teams, but yet when he came to court, we were told a very different story.”

A “theme” running through Calocane’s clinical records is that he “did not consider himself to have a mental health condition”, the review found.

That meant the importance of medication “never appeared to be understood” by him.

The report detailed four hospital admissions between 2020 and 2022 and multiple contacts with community teams before he was discharged to his GP because of a lack of interaction with mental health services.

Investigators found that “the offer of care and treatment available for VC (Valdo Calocane) was not always sufficient to meet his needs” and this was “not unique” to his case.

Health officials have admitted it is “clear the system got it wrong”.

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Dr Jessica Sokolov, regional medical director at NHS England (Midlands), said: “It’s clear the system got it wrong, including the NHS, and the consequences of when this happens can be devastating.

“This is not acceptable, and I unreservedly apologise to the families of victims on behalf of the NHS and the organisations involved in delivering care to Valdo Calocane before this incident took place.”

Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director, added: “Nationally, we have asked every mental health trust to review these findings and set out action plans for how they treat and engage with people who have a serious mental illness, including how they work with other agencies such as the police.

“And we’ve instructed trusts not to discharge people if they do not attend appointments.”

The report, which found Calocane’s risk “was not fully understood, managed, documented or communicated” should be a “watershed moment”, a mental health charity boss has said.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity Sane, said there had been “one hundred such inquiries in the last 30 years”.

She added: “Today’s findings expose the same flaws and fault lines that have resulted in tragedies, yet little seems to have changed.”

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Lucy Letby: Defence calls for miscarriage of justice investigation as medics give alternative causes of death

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Lucy Letby: Defence calls for miscarriage of justice investigation as medics give alternative causes of death

A panel of international medical experts has given alternative causes of death in several cases against child serial killer Lucy Letby.

It comes as her defence lawyers announced they have asked for her case to be investigated as a miscarriage of justice.

Letby, 35, the UK’s most prolific child killer of modern times, is serving fifteen whole life terms in prison after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Various methods were used to attack the babies while Letby worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

One method was air being injected into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism, blocking the bloody supply and leading to sudden and unexpected collapses.

On Tuesday, retired neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored an academic paper on air embolisms (bubbles) in babies in 1989 which featured prominently during her trial, chaired a panel of 14 experts to compile an “impartial evidence-based report”.

Dr Lee said he believed his findings on skin mottling were misinterpreted by the prosecution. He said in a new paper he published in December 2024 that there were no cases of skin discolouration when air was injected into the veins.

At her trial in 2023, prosecutors pointed to skin discolouration in several of the victims as evidence that air had been injected into their veins by Letby.

“The notion that these cases are air embolism because they collapsed and because there were skin rashes has no basis in evidence. Let’s be clear about that,” Dr Lee said.

Lucy Letby latest: Experts reveal ‘new medical evidence’ questioning nurse’s guilt

Professor Neena Modi, barrister Mark McDonald, David Davis MP and  Dr Shoo Lee.
Pic: PA
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Professor Neena Modi, Letby’s barrister Mark McDonald, David Davis MP and Dr Shoo Lee. Pic: PA

The panel laid out alternative causes of death in many of the cases, including natural causes and poor medical care at Countess of Chester Hospital.

“We did not find any murders,” Dr Lee said. “In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care.”

Asked about the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Lee, a retired medic from Canada, said: “I would say if this was a hospital in Canada, it would be shut down. It would not be happening.”

A spokesperson at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to the Thirlwall Inquiry and the ongoing police investigations, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will now review all the evidence after an application from the defence to determine if the case should be referred back to the courts.

A CCRC spokesperson said: “We are aware that there has been a great deal of speculation and commentary surrounding Lucy Letby’s case, much of it from parties with only a partial view of the evidence.

“We ask that everyone remembers the families affected by events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

“We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms Letby’s case, and work has begun to assess the application.”

Opening the press conference, MP Sir David Davis described Letby’s convictions as “one of the major injustices of modern times”.

Findings will be earth-shattering for babies’ parents

This must have been one of the most distressing mornings for the grieving parents of the babies who died in Chester.

A 10-month trial concluded their new borns were murdered by Lucy Letby.

Now they have been presented with a body of evidence gathered by some of the world’s leading neonatal experts that could and probably will put some doubt against her conviction.

Every single baby’s death has been forensically analysed: the allegations presented in court with the circumstances of each death against what the panel claims are the clinical facts in the case.

Dr Shoo Lee, the panel chair, approached Letby’s lawyers following her conviction in 2023. He was convinced his 1989 paper on neonatal deaths used as evidence in the case against Letby had been misinterpreted.

The team he has assembled to examine each death is a world leader in their own respective field.

For parents learning today these experts believe some of the baby deaths were preventable and not the result of a serial killer nurse will come as nothing less than earth-shattering.

This expert panel review of each case, if true, could point to yet another systemic failure of NHS maternity care.

But now it will be for the Criminal Cases Review Commission to decide if Letby’s case is investigated as a potential miscarriage of justice.

Last year Letby lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal – in May for seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl, which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.

In December, the former nurse’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said he would seek permission from the Court of Appeal to re-open her case on the grounds Dr Dewi Evans, the lead prosecution medical expert at her trial, was “not reliable”.

Dr Evans, a retired consultant paediatrician, said concerns regarding his evidence were “unsubstantiated, unfounded, inaccurate”.

In September a public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes began hearing evidence. Closing legal submissions are expected in March and the findings are expected to be published this autumn.

Detectives from Cheshire Constabulary are also continuing their review of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016, while Letby worked as a neonatal nurse, there. It also includes two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

Letby has been interviewed under caution at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, in relation to the ongoing investigation into baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.

She maintains her innocence.

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