I sat down with Sarah Tue-Quince, a mechanic and lifelong asthma sufferer who has lived all over the world, to ask a few questions about air pollution and how it can impact on your health.

 

Q: When did you first develop asthma? As someone who grew up in a big city, would you say the air pollution there contributed to it?

 

A: I think I first started developing asthma in early childhood. I don’t remember my exact age, but I do remember inhaling medicine through a machine to help me breathe easier at around 7 years of age. I’m sure the air pollution in my childhood city was a top factor, there was always smoke and exhaust fumes from the industrial areas in the air, and when I was growing up you were still allowed to smoke in public places and indoors.

 

Q: As a mechanic, do your breathing problems get in the way of your work/daily life at all?

 

A: I definitely have to think about any physically intense task I do, to ease the workload on myself. Carrying or pushing anything heavy for a distance is basically out of the question for me. Most times I’ll need someone to help/stay around me if I need to do something like that.

 

Q: Out of all the places you’ve lived, where would you say you had the least issues with your lungs/breathing? Is the air generally cleaner there?

A: Germany by far had the cleanest air, at least where I lived. Travelling from South Korea to Germany, the difference was night and day. There’s generally no smog or particles in the air, and I noticed that most days I was able to live quite normally. I think one of the main reasons is that South Korea is a very small country, with lots of cities packed close together, where as Germany is a lot less crowded.

Northamptonshire Charity works to help local youth with mental health

Youth Works CIC logo

Youth Works Northamptonshire is a charity focused on improving the quality of life for young people.

They offer many services, including an LGBTQ support group and their own community college for vulnerable young people.

With the NHS under more pressure than ever, Youth Works’ counselling and support services have been vitally important to many young people and adults – who find the shorter waiting lists and more personal approach to counselling accessible.

Oliver Newman, who received treatment from both the NHS and Youth Works, said:

“The NHS waiting lists are usually months, or even years, long. It’s really hard to get treatment, which can be really bad for people who need it.”

“That’s why volunteer services, such as Youth Works, can be so important to people who need help.”

Offering counselling and support services to both young people and adults, Youth Works are members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

They tailor their approach to each person, offering person centred counselling and a range of different therapy types (such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy).

Councillor Mick Scrimshaw, leader of the Labour Party in his area in Kettering, had this to say about the charity:

“Youth Works do some amazing work with youngsters from and across Kettering. They provide a safe environment along with hope and support to youngsters that often have few opportunities in these difficult times when voluntary groups and council services are all struggling to offer the sort of activities we took for granted only a few years ago.

“I’ve always been impressed by their commitment and passion to help young people.”

Youth Works is based at the Keystone Centre on Rockingham Road in Kettering. If you or someone you know wishes to find out more about their work, or to apply for counselling, you can visit their website at https://www.youthworksnorthamptonshire.org.uk. Alternatively, you can phone them at 01536 518339.

14^th April, 2019

Cervical screening returning to NHS after “appalling failure” when privatised

IMG source: https://www.stockvault.net/photo/129087/stethoscope (CC0)

The NHS will begin a take over of the contract, previously outsourced to private health firm Capita, after the health service had “not been satisfied” with the firm’s handling of the contract.

In a letter to NHS chief executive Simon Stevens, the British Medical Association expressed their “extreme concern” about how Capita had been handling cervical screenings – following their mishandling of the screenings resulting in over 48,000 women not receiving the results for their tests.

Stevens announced the contract’s move back to the NHS last March, due to a planned change to the software used for screenings.

“We do not have confidence in Capita to undertake that transition and that is why we have determined that, together with NHS digital, we will take that in house.” Said Stevens to a Public Accounts Committee.

Reception of this news has been positive, with many welcoming its return to the NHS.

UNISON head of health, Sarah Gorton said:
“We’re pleased to see the service returning to the NHS, but it should not have been privatised in the first place.”

“This was about saving money, yet extra cash had to be found to clear up their mistakes.”

Responding to Mr Stevens, a spokeswoman for Capita said:

“Returning administrative support of the cervical screening programme in England in-house is consistent with the approach in all other national screening programmes and will enable better integration across those programs.

“We support NHS England’s decision as part of its broader review of screening services, and we will work together to ensure a seamless transition.”

The handover of the contract is due to begin in June, and is planned to be completed by 2020.

 

Nearly 1/3 of Birmingham nursing staff consider resigning

A large amount of nursing staff in Birmingham are considering resigning, due to a poor work-life balance.

Figures released by NHS Digital show that 281 Birmingham nursing staff quit last year, before October. 1/5^th of these resignations cited a poor work-life balance as the main cause.

Acting Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal Colleg of Nursing, Dame Donna Kinnair, claimed that low morale was leading to staff losses – causing further low morale.

She said that low staffing levels have caused nurses to work harder than ever to run the NHS, at the expense of their free time.

As a result, nearly one in three staff consider leaving their jobs.

“Half of all staff have raised low staffing levels as an issue, more are saying they are working unpaid overtime to keep the service running and increasing numbers report seeing errors that could harm patients”, said Kinnair.

“With tens of thousands of nursing posts empty, what’s needed is targeted investment of at least £1bn in nursing higher education to increase supply as well as legislation that guarantees the right number of nurses and nursing support staff with the right skills to provide safe and effective care.”

Across all of England, 12,258 nurses and health care visitors resigned voluntarily by October last year.

Mirroring the statistics in Birmingham, around 1/5^th (2569 in total) said they left because of a poor work – life balance.

 

Sean Welsh

February 2019

Insects face global extinction within 100 years

Dragonflies, among millions of other insects, risk extinction. Photograph: Silas Stein/AFP/Getty Images

 

Scientists have warned that, with the current rate of population decline, insects could become extinct within as little as a century.

Sean Welsh

A new scientific report shows an alarming decline in the number of insects, threatening the survival of many ecosystems.

With the global insect count declining by roughly 2.5% per year, many scientists fear for the survival of both wildlife and humans alike.

Insects form the cornerstone of nature, being necessary for pollination and as food alike. Should their global population fall too low, everything from farming and agriculture to even getting clean air would be impossible.

The report was published in the journal ‘Biological Conservation’.

 

“If insect species losses cannot be halted, this will have catastrophic consequences for both the planet’s ecosystems and for the survival of mankind,” said Francisco Sánchez-Bayo, one of the authors of the study.

According to the study, more than 40% of insect species are in decline- with 1/3 of insects being endangered.

With the planet already seeing a decline in the populations of other, larger animals, the implications of an insect decline at this scale are wide reaching and severe.

“It is becoming increasingly obvious our planet’s ecology is breaking and there is a need for an intense and global effort to halt and reverse these dreadful trends.”, says Matt Shardlow of Buglife.

“Allowing the slow eradication of insect life to continue is not a rational option.”

 

While mass extinction events have occurred on Earth in the past – such as the loss of the dinosaurs –this is the first to have occurred directly as a result of human interference.

The study cites the main causes of this decline being urbanisation, aggressive agriculture, and climate change.

 

Methods to reverse or limit this damage are currently being discussed amongst biologists.

Seven men were jailed for using drones to deliver £500,000 worth of drugs to prison cell windows. All men were jailed for between 3-10 years, with another 6 receiving suspended sentences. The trial was held at Birmingham Crown Court, with Judge Simon Drew QC presiding over the case. The gang were responsible for approximately 100 separate deliveries, using 11 drones (some of which crashed)- with gang leader Lee Anslow, already serving prison time, receiving an extra 10 years onto his sentence.

 

A cocaine user convicted of murdering his own grandmother has been branded “evil” in court by his family. Gregory Irvin, who owed £35,000 in gambling debts, claimed he could not remember committing the attack- in which he cut Anne James’ throat before stabbing her 40 times in the back, which Mrs Justice Nerys Jefford branded as a ‘lie’. Irvin had previously been convicted for stealing £29,000 worth of designer gloves from a delivery company and had a £100-a-week cocaine habit. It is believed that this was the primary motivation for the attack. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 24 years.

 

A man accused of being a “fanatical” neo-Nazi terrorist has told a court that he is a racist, who gave his infant son the middle name “Adolf”. Adam Thomas, 22, is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court, accused of being a member of the banned far-right terrorist group National Action. Thomas stated that his son’s middle name does “reflect an interest” and “admiration” for Hitler. Furthermore, pictures surfaced of Thomas dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member, cradling his child- which he explained as “just play”. All three accused of being National Front members deny any wrongdoing, and the trial continues.

Guardian opinion piece
“Fear and anger won the election in Brazil. It’s a wake-up call to the world”- Simon Jenkins

 

Jair Bolsonaro won election in Brazil- Far right, extreme views on social issues.

Article makes argument that breakdown of social order + civil discourse drives people to extremism- lists some examples such as Turkey and the Philippines.

Mentions how fearmongering and inspiring hatred allowed him to get elected.

Negative impact of social media on politics.

Mentions what Brazil could symbolise.

Strengths: Well written, good use of references to help explain himself, interesting viewpoint.

Weaknesses: Too short, could’ve went more in depth, doesn’t mention any of the issues that led Brazil to this point.

Existing works that agree with this viewpoint: Lots of post-election breakdowns from any of the references he gives.

Challenged by supporters of Bolsonaro and those who believe traditional media aren’t accepting enough accountability for the rise of certain political figures.

Supports what was being covered in class by examining the role of social media within journalism, and the impact it can have.

Covers the changing nature of journalism, the slow shift towards grassroots or citizen journalism, and the impact of the internet.
Details how journalists roles and methods have changed from about the 1800s.
Mentions the corporate interests in journalism.
Gives examples of the evolving nature of the business (small self published newspapers, Winer’s email magazine, Usenet)
Quotes the Cluetrain manifesto as an explanation for why the internet is important.

His argument is that grassroots journalism was largely sparked by the ease of communication and self-publishing that is possible through the internet.
It’s strengths lie in it’s detail and the article presents a good point. It’s got a lot of information so it’d be good for quoting.
However, the author goes into a needlessly high amount of detail on every point for almost no purpose (spends 2 paragraphs talking about how website development in the early 90s worked).
The chapter focuses on internet journalism and mentions some of the topics we’ve looked at in class.
I don’t think there’s really going to be any book that disagrees with the chapter, because it’s hard to argue that the internet didn’t impact on journalism.

Improved note taking and concise writing.

More aware of how to handle writing short news posts for online publications, and am now aware of the basics of search engine optimisation + the importance of social media among journalists. Improved the formatting + writing style of short write-ups; heavier focus on spacing and sentence structure to improve legibility.

Maybe need to work on being more bipartisan in stories- write-up around the disability centre felt a little too biased against the council.

Can always improve on writing style- currently doesn’t feel natural to write so concisely, have to work on it to improve.

Started researching + planning stories for next week’s lesson- have to give it some more time and thought.

Save drafts. Redraft stories multiple times.

Headline must be eyecatching and interesting
Topline must be punchy, and flow well- also be interesting.

Can follow up on Digbeth story- would be interesting. Get another interview, take the guy’s name.

Continue to work on the formatting + planning of stories; otherwise story will flow badly.

Remember to proofread for sentence structure + flow. Keep most stories short, accurate, and informative.