Connect with us

Published

on

Children’s health is facing a deadly crisis, with life-threatening illnesses, obesity, eating disorders, and infectious diseases soaring, a shock new government report reveals.

Sir Keir Starmer is blaming the Conservatives for a “broken NHS” and claims the Tories’ NHS reforms are “unforgivable and “hopelessly misconceived”.

The shocking findings on the deteriorating health of the nation’s children are revealed in a study by leading cancer surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi.

He is raising the alarm bell on issues including:

• Falling vaccination rates for key childhood vaccinations – some declining for a decade – making measles and other infectious diseases more common;

• Prescriptions for ADHD medication for children and young people up 10% in the past year;

• Hospital admissions for children and young people with eating disorders up 82% since 2019-20;

• Children from most deprived backgrounds are now twice as likely to be obese by age five, and one in three children is obese by 11 in the poorest communities;

• Life-threatening and life-limiting conditions among children are up 40% in the past 20 years.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

“Too many are being let down,” Lord Darzi says in his report.

“Childhood is precious because it is brief; too many children are spending too much of it waiting for care. It is apparent that the NHS must do better,” he adds.

Lord Darzi’s report for Health Secretary Wes Streeting also reveals that more than 100,000 infants up to the age of two were left waiting for more than six hours in A&E departments in England last year.

He found a 60% rise in waiting times for that age group over the past 15 years, and 800,000 children and young people on NHS waiting lists for hospital treatment.

File pic: iStock
Image:
File pic: iStock

Some 175,000 were waiting between six and 12 months, and 35,000 waiting for more than a year, the report says.

He also uncovered that nearly 500,000 children and young people were on waiting lists for mental health support and that 160,000 of them had been waiting for over 12 months.

NHS is ‘broken’

Speaking ahead of the report’s publication, Sir Keir said: “The impacts of a broken NHS are being felt across the whole of our society – our children included.

“The challenges we’ve inherited are stark, but I’m determined to fix the foundations so that we not only rebuild our health service, but crucially also reform and renew it for the benefit of future generations.

“That also means equipping the NHS to prevent ill health, not just to treat it – so that all of us can live longer, healthier lives, from childhood to old age.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Health secretary: It’s clear to me the NHS is broken

Read more
UK cancer ‘lagging behind’ other countries
Clapping for NHS ‘may have been dangerous’
8am appointment scramble ‘won’t end without funding’

And in a TV interview, the prime minister said: “Everybody watching this who has used the NHS, or have relatives who have, know that it’s broken, they know that it’s broken, that is unforgivable, the state of our NHS.”

On the reasons for the crisis, Sir Keir said: “The money that was taken out of the NHS, particularly in the early years of the coalition from 2010 onwards, the Lansley reforms, which were hopelessly misconceived, and then of course COVID on top of all that, which has put us in this awful position for the NHS.”

He added: “It’s the last government that broke the NHS. Our job now, through Lord Darzi, is to properly understand how that came about and bring about the reforms, starting with the first steps – the 40,000 extra appointments. But we’ve got to do the hard yards of reform as well.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

June: Starmer on reducing NHS waiting lists

Responding to the report, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing Professor Nicola Ranger said that “patient care is not at the standard it should be”.

“School nurse levels were slashed by the last government and that has had direct consequences on children’s health,” she said.

“Today’s children and adolescents, without early years or mental health support, pay a price similar to the most vulnerable adults without care packages.

“This week’s report must begin to provide answers and health and care professionals will look closely at where ministers see their role. A chronically understaffed NHS will remain a broken NHS.”

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said: “After 14 years in opposition, with time to think about the issues facing modern-day healthcare, Labour’s instinct is to politicise children’s health, rather than provide solutions and reform of our NHS.”

She said that the Tories “always acknowledged there are pressures” on the health service, including the “impact of social media” and “growing reluctance in some parts of society to vaccinate children”.

“To find solutions to these issues requires serious and sober thinking, not headline chasing,” she added.

“Sadly, all Labour has done in health since the election is issue press releases, appoint cronies and give a budget-busting pay rise to striking junior doctors, with no plans for reform.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

on

By

Why Boris's best mate is off to Reform

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

Continue Reading

Politics

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Published

on

By

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

Continue Reading

Politics

Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

on

By

Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

Politics latest: Plans for Donald Trump UK visit in ‘coming weeks’

The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

More on Emmanuel Macron

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

Read more:
Can PM turn diplomatic work with Macron into action on migration?
UN criticises Starmer’s welfare reforms

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

Continue Reading

Trending