Health secretary says he will not comment on a ‘leak’, but insists any changes are being ‘led by clinicians’
NHS in England to replace two-week cancer appointment targetAll our politics coverage
Steve Barclay would not be drawn this morning on the media round into claims that two-thirds of cancer targets in NHS England will be scrapped.
Asked about the newspaper reports by BBC Breakfast, PA Media reports the health secretary said: “There is a consultation at the moment, the story relates to a leak, and ministers don’t comment on leaks.”
Home Office contractors were told that potentially deadly legionella bacteria had been detected on the Bibby Stockholm hours after asylum seekers were taken onboard the barge. Dorset council flagged the legionella test results to the barge contractors on the day they received them, Monday 7 August, raising questions about why the evacuation of 39 people from the barge took four days. Health secretary Steve Barclay this morning said that home office ministers were informed on Thursday.
The Times reports that “gunfire and clashes involving migrants desperate to get to Britain broke out in Dunkirk in the hours before a small boat sank in the Channel killing six people” at the weekend. A teenager who attempted the journey told the paper there were clashes as people sought places on the boats.
The scrapping of a target for patients to see a specialist within two weeks if their GP suspects they have cancer is expected to be confirmed within days under new plans by the NHS in England. Instead, the new “faster diagnosis standard” proposes that patients who have been urgently referred should have cancer ruled out or receive a diagnosis within 28 days.
Barclay refused to be drawn on the claims during his morning media round. On the BBC this morning he said: “There is a consultation at the moment, the story relates to a leak, and ministers don’t comment on leaks.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced it is opening a consultation to seek views on the introduction and design of pack inserts for tobacco products, such as cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
The Telegraph has led with a story that Save the Children UK and the NSPCC are among groups that have come together to write to Baroness Hallett, the chairman of the Covid inquiry, to demand an explanation for “unacceptable delays” in examining the impact of the pandemic on young people, claiming the inquiry is “silencing” children.
About 3.9m working days have been lost to industrial action in the past year, more than at any point since the 1980s, according to a new analysis by the Resolution Foundation.
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2023-08-14 03:30:58
Link from www.theguardian.com
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