A cancer patient has told Sky News it’s “terrifying” for her health that junior doctors are striking again from Thursday.
The NHS is expecting “major disruption” in the coming days as medics in England walk out over pay amid a yellow health alert heatwave and ongoing disruption to some services because of a ransomware cyber attack earlier this month.
Major hospitals Guys’ and St Thomas’ and King’s in London are still running at reduced capacity after the incident.
Image: Donia Youssef and her children
Cancer survivor Donia Youssef has annual colonoscopies but her last was cancelled because of previous industrial action by junior doctors.
Donia, from Grays in Essex, said: “It’s a worry as a mum with two young children and I was on the list. It got cancelled. First time because of the strikes. And after that I didn’t hear from them. So I kept pushing. Nothing. It was just more delays. I was just kept waiting.
“[They said]: ‘There’s a backlog. We’ll get back to you. There’s a backlog, they’re getting through. We’ll let you know if there’s any cancellations.'”
“It’s like months later. Nothing. So eventually, because the symptoms are getting worse, I decided to pay.”
Donia was so scared of her health worsening she paid for private treatment, a cost she could barely afford. And now, as a cancer survivor, every time there’s a fresh round of strikes she is filled with dread.
“I get scared. I can’t get [treatment] on the private and a lot of it’s really expensive. So, yeah, it’s terrifying. So you’re constantly aware,” she said.
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Image: Donia Youssef
Donia added: “I try and not watch the news because it just scares me. But then when I do see it, I just get fearful, for myself and obviously others as well. It’s a scary time, and we shouldn’t be in this position. That’s what scares me.”
The British Medical Association (BMA), which has said that junior doctors’ pay has been cut by more than a quarter since 2008, has said some senior junior doctors would be given permission to work at the hospitals during the walkouts to “prevent dangerous delays to cancer care“.
The industrial action, which begins at 7am on Thursday and ends at 7am on 2 July, is the 11th walkout by junior doctors in the bitter dispute over pay.
Image: Guy’s Hospital. File pic: AP
Asked about the impact of the cyber attack and the weather, BMA chairman of council Professor Philip Banfield said more experienced doctors will cover for their colleagues.
Dr Banfield said: “When the junior doctors go on strike, it doesn’t empty the hospital out of doctors. You’ve got our specialty and specialist (SAS) colleagues, consultants, so it is a more senior workforce in place, those gaps are not quite what you would expect.”
NHS England said that it expects the strike to cause “widespread disruption to routine care and difficulties with discharging patients”, despite extensive preparations.
Junior doctors make up half of the medical workforce and their last walkout in February led to 91,048 appointments, procedures and operations being cancelled.
Image: Donia Youssef was so scared of her health worsening she paid for private treatment
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: “This new round of strike action will again hit the NHS very hard, with almost all routine care likely to be affected, and services put under significant pressure.
“The warmer weather can lead to additional pressure on services at a time when demand for services is already high.
“As ever, we are working to ensure urgent and emergency care is prioritised for patients, but there is no doubt that it becomes harder each time to bring routine services back on track following strikes, and the cumulative effect for patients, staff and the NHS as a whole is enormous.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “While we fully understand the genuine grievances junior doctors have over their pay, conditions and training, NHS leaders will still be frustrated that they will yet again be taking to the picket lines.
“Holding strikes in the middle of an election campaign when no political party is in a position to bring the dispute to a close is a bitter pill to swallow for staff who have to plug the gaps and patients who will have their appointments cancelled or delayed.”
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About 1.5 million appointments have been postponed since the current wave of industrial action began in the NHS in England in December 2022, which has included walkouts by junior doctors, consultants, paramedics, physiotherapists and other staff groups.
It is estimated that strikes have cost the NHS an estimated £3bn.
The teacher of one of the Southport stabbing victims has told Sky News they “don’t want her to be forgotten”, 10 months after the knife attack in which she was murdered.
Seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe was killed along with Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar in an attack by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.
Jennifer Sephton, headteacher of Farnborough Road Infant School, will be skydiving to raise funds for the Elsie’s Story charitable trust, which has been set up in memory of the former pupil.
Image: (L-R) Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were killed in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class
“She’d been with us for four years, throughout her education,” Ms Sephton told Sky News, “and we just want everybody to know Elsie’s spirit.”
Describing Elsie as “such a determined young lady,” Ms Sephton said Elsie had “a real zest for life, and a sparkle in her eye all the time.”
She added that Elsie’s Story, which has been set up by Elsie’s family, is about “continuing that legacy.”
Image: Jennifer Sephton
In the aftermath of the July 2024 attack, the gates outside Elsie’s school were lined with flowers, balloons, and cards bearing her name.
Since then, memorial benches and a tree have been planted in the school grounds, providing pupils and staff with a place to “remember and reflect”, Ms Sefton says.
“[Elsie’s death] had such an impact on all our community,” the teacher said, “it’s had an impact on her friends, their siblings, our school as a community and our staff.”
Ms Sephton will be joined in the skydive by Adrian Antell, headteacher at the adjoining junior school where Elsie had been due to start.
“Elsie was due to come to us last September,” he told Sky News, “but what we’ve learned about her is that she had a wonderful impact in the infant school, and we don’t want her to be forgotten.
“We want her name to have to live on and to be thought of in a positive way.”
Mr Antell said they continue to support Elsie’s classmates, who joined the new school without her.
“There’s no instruction manual for this,” he explained, “every day is different, and every day is one step at a time.
“So all we can do as a school is to think about individual children and support them in the best way we can.”
Scientists from Kew Gardens are using a new study to track which trees bees prefer to try to stem the decline in our vital pollinators.
Bee populations are falling all over the world due to a mixture of habitat loss, climate change, and the use of pesticides, with a devastating impact on our biodiversity and food production.
But it’s feared that not enough comprehensive, global research is being done to understand the issue or find solutions.
Image: The study is building up heat maps of the most popular trees
Image: Non-invasive monitors track the buzz created by bees’ wing beats
UK becoming a no-fly zone
Researchers based at Wakehurst in Sussex, known as Kew’s “Wild Botanic Garden”, have begun placing advanced bio-acoustics sensors in some of their trees to track which ones bees favour.
They hope it’ll help urban planners know which trees to plant in built-up areas, as a way of combating the worrying decline in bee numbers.
Pollination research lead Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee said: “Nearly 90% of our flowering plants depend on the contribution of pollinators, but in the UK the population of flying insects in the last 20 years has decreased by around 60%.
“It’s really hard to be able to put a figure on the decline of our pollinators, but we do know that globally the number is declining.
“And with that comes crop yield instability and the loss of an essential ecosystem service.”
Their new, non-invasive monitors listen for the buzz created by bees’ wing beats, building up heat maps of the most popular spots.
Image: Bio-acoustics sensors are placed in trees to track which ones the bees are more drawn to
‘We’re facing twin crises’
Dr Griffiths-Lee said: “If you think about the tree’s footprint, it’s very small, but they’re huge 3D structures covered in pollen and nectar, which are essential resources of pollinators.
“So we really wanted to think about which are the best trees for bees for us to plant, and that can inform landscape planners, urban architects.”
Eight different species of tree were chosen for the study, including horse chestnut and lime trees, with a mixture of native and non-native species.
The scientists have also been gathering DNA from pollen, which also helps them to map which plants and flowers the insects prefer.
Wakehurst’s director, Susan Raikes, calls the 535-acre estate a “living laboratory”, and said the project’s all about searching for nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher, really. We know that we’re facing these twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change,” she added.
“We need to be able to understand, as the climate changes, which plants from warmer climes will be good here in the UK for pollinators in the future.
“If all of our native plants are struggling, then we need to find new sources of pollen – for us all to survive.”
Football pundit Gary Neville is to miss coverage of the Premier League finale on Sunday after being banned by Nottingham Forest, whose owner he recently criticised.
Neville had been due to commentate on Forest’s game against Chelsea on Sky Sports, which is being billed as a Champions League qualification shoot-out with both teams aiming for a top five finish.
But posting on Instagram, the former Manchester United and England defender said the broadcaster told him on Thursday that Forest “would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator”.
“I’ve had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage,” he added.
“I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action.”
Image: Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis (R) with manager Nuno Espirito Santo after the Premier League match against Leicester. Pic: Sky Sports News/PA
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Neville said while Forest “have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium”, it was “disappointing that a great club […] have been reduced to making such a decision”.
He said “it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club”.
Sky Sports described Forest’s move as “an unprecedented and unwelcome step” and said it has decided “to present the game from Sky Studios in west London.
“As he was no longer able to commentate from the ground, Gary has chosen to not be part of the coverage on Sunday – a decision fully supported by Sky.”
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Neville has been highly critical of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.
He described Marinakis walking on to the pitch and exchanging words with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo after the club’s draw with Leicester earlier this month as “scandalous”.
Neville urged Nuno to quit the club and his social media post further enraged Marinakis, who had threatened Sky with legal action over comments made by the pundit earlier in the season.
After Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Everton last year, the club issued a statement on social media questioning the integrity of video assistant referee Stuart Atwell after claiming they had been denied three penalties.
Neville’s response to that, comparing Forest’s actions to those of a “mafia gang”, prompted an apology from Sky after they had been contacted by Marinakis’ lawyers.