What the papers said in the week ending 23 January 2022
Another week of the most extraordinary headlines relating the behaviour of the most senior politicians but behind this there is continuing concern that, despite assurances to the contrary, we are struggling to maintain essential services at acceptable levels:
- We read that some people with life-threatening illness symptoms are denied the help of the ambulance service: Heart attack patient in England told to make own way to hospital | NHS | The Guardian
- Patients are moved into hotels because of ‘unprecedented pressure’ ‘Care hotel’ set up in Norwich to relieve ‘unprecedented’ pressure on hospitals | Hospitals | The Guardian
- There is increasing evidence of moves which favour private healthcare organisations London NHS hospitals bought £36m of services from US healthcare firm HCA last year | NHS | The Guardian
- Hundreds of England’s NHS consultants have shares in private clinics | Healthcare industry | The Guardian
- None of this is designed to provide the best healthcare to the whole population now or in the future The Guardian view on NHS privatisation: the wrong treatment | Editorial | The Guardian
The Covid-19 pandemic continues – rules are changing to reduce personal restrictions, but we are not sure how safe and wise this is, especially for the most vulnerable: Sajid Javid’s axing of all Covid restrictions draws warnings from NHS | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- The Guardian view on dropping Covid restrictions: follow the scandal | Editorial | The Guardian
- People shielding in England: how do you feel about the lifting of Plan B restrictions? | UK news | The Guardian
- We do know that vaccination is protective: What do we know about the 175,000 people who died with Covid in the UK? | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Stories of the dedication of healthcare workers, especially nurses, has encouraged people to volunteer to train in this profession: Covid driving record numbers in England to become nurses | Nursing and midwifery | The Guardian
Stress from other quarters grows and is having consequences: more people are turning to solace in alcohol – especially those in the middle years, but older people are not exempt
- UK households facing ‘fuel stress’ will treble to 6.3m – thinktank | Energy bills | The Guardian
- Energy bills: ‘I got a green deal, so why am I paying eye-watering sums?’ | Energy bills | The Guardian
- The Guardian view on high energy prices: buffer stocks can stabilise them | Editorial | The Guardian
- UK inflation rises to highest level in almost 30 years at 5.4% | Inflation | The Guardian
- Millions in UK drinking harmful levels of alcohol at home, experts warn | Alcohol | The Guardian
- Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
- A sobering reflection of Britain’s obsession with drinking | Letters | The Guardian
We could probably all do better with food and spending on it: UK consumers ‘don’t know what to cook’ as £1.2bn of food is binned a year | Food waste | The Guardian
- Food waste: are you throwing your money in the bin? | Consumer affairs | The Guardian
- How northern food clubs are helping stretch budgets in cost of living crisis | Greater Manchester | The Guardian
The church’s share of headlines reflects on unsavoury activities of some people in the past:
- Former pope Benedict accused of inaction over child sexual abuse cases | Pope Benedict XVI | The Guardian
- Winchester college society was cult-like, finds report into child abuse | Schools | The Guardian
There is a plea for a more liberal view from now on: Church must change its position on same-sex marriage | Letters | The Guardian
There are spectacular advances in what is possible in healthcare: Elon Musk’s brain chip firm Neuralink lines up clinical trials in humans | Elon Musk | The Guardian
- Bionic eye implant enables blind UK woman to detect visual signals | Blindness and visual impairment | The Guardian
- But depressing confirmation that the care given to older people with dementia is unacceptable: Hundreds of dementia care homes found to be substandard in England | Dementia | The Guardian
Politics nationally and internationally is often bewildering:
- Government’s attack on the BBC is a threat to our democracy | Letters | The Guardian
- ‘Not a colony’: Welsh council defies London to declare St David’s Day holiday | St David’s Day | The Guardian
- Welcome to the baffling world of local government | Letters | The Guardian
- Millionaires call on governments worldwide to ‘tax us now’ | Davos | The Guardian
- China’s population growth rate falls to 61-year low | China | The Guardian
In our own small corners, we can find joy and this can be shared with others and even be helpful to the planet:
- Small gardens as vital as big ones for conserving bees, says study | Bees | The Guardian
- More than a roar: exhibition broadens notions of the 1920s | National Archives | The Guardian
- Cracking news! Wallace and Gromit to return to BBC for new film in 2024 | East London and West Essex Guardian Series (guardian-series.co.uk)
- ‘I feel I’ve made a mark’: the man who built homes for 60,000 swifts | Birds | The Guardian
The silver screen retains it romance, surviving yet another period in darkness ‘Go-to place for film lovers’: Birmingham’s Electric cinema reopens | Birmingham | The Guardian
- About Us – The Electric Picture Palace, Southwold (southwoldcinema.co.uk)
- Electric Birmingham
- The Electric, Birmingham – Wikipedia
And the night sky retains its glory as of yore Wolf moon – in pictures | Science | The Guardian
David Jolley
