Speech: Animal research: then and now
Speech by Sir Mark Walport for the 80th Stephen Paget memorial lecture at Understanding Animal Research’s Openness Awards. read more
Tag Archives: Governmental
Greater focus needed on supporting the “switched on” generation
20 Feb 2017
Speaking at a major social media conference today, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called for a greater focus on supporting the “switched on” generation.
She pointed to recent figures which show a marked increase in incidence of depression among young people, especially teenage girls.
Researchers have pinned much of the rise on the hostility of the new social media environment being faced by young people.
Today’s conference was organised by Twitter and Scottish Conservative mental health spokesman Miles Briggs, who is campaigning for the NHS to give more support for mental health issues.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
“Social media is a great communications tool which has brought us closer together. But we must also face up to the negative side it has brought too.
“The switched on world is piling huge pressures on young women, and men, to live up to unreachable expectations.
“Young people are being made to feel constantly judged, often harshly. We know that the rise of online bullying has become a major factor in the decline in mental health among young people.
“We need to see government providing people with the education they need on how to tackle this new world and stay psychologically healthy at the same time.
“That includes far greater access to mental health professional in GPs and hospitals. It also means providing more counselling in secondary schools, so that mental health problems can be picked up early.
“The platforms have a duty of care to their members. They must recognise that free speech for some can carry a cost to others.
“Transparent rules for engagement and clear penalties – including having accounts suspended – must be outlined so everyone knows where they stand.
“And sites could provide free notifications or sponsored posts for those organisations and charities offering support – be it the Samaritans, SamH or Breathing Space.
“Reminding people that there is help available can absolutely be part of a forum’s corporate social responsibility.
“Most of all though, we need to take responsibility for our own actions. We have to own what we tweet.
“Debate and disagreement can be good, but it should never cross the line.”
read moreNews story: Employers named and shamed for underpaying more than 15,500 workers
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has named 361 businesses who underpaid 15,521 workers a total of £995,684, with employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and retail sectors the most prolific offenders.
As well as recovering back pay for some of the UK’s lowest paid workers, HMRC issued penalties worth around £800,000.
Employers who failed to pay workers at least the National Living Wage have been named and shamed for the first time since the Government introduced the higher £7.20 rate for workers aged 25 and over last year.
Business Minister Margot James, said:
Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum or living wage and this Government will ensure they get it.
That is why we have named and shamed more than 350 employers who failed to pay the legal minimum, sending the clear message to employers that minimum wage abuses will not go unpunished.
Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns, said:
This record naming and shaming round sends out the clear message to employers across Wales that underpaying workers the legal minimum will not go unpunished.
This Government is committed to building an economy that works for all and April’s increase in the national minimum and living wage rates will put more money into the pockets of Wales’ lowest paid workers.
The rate increases on 1 April shows it pays to be in work and I am confident it will help support the high levels of employment throughout Wales.
Excuses for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking workers’ wages to pay for their Christmas party and making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary.
The 361 employers have been named.
The publication comes weeks after the Government launched a £1.7 million national minimum and living wage awareness-raising campaign, encouraging the UK’s lowest paid workers to check they are being paid the correct rates and to report their employer if they are not.
Since the naming and shaming scheme was introduced by BEIS in October 2013, more than 1,000 employers have been named, with arrears totalling more than £4.5 million. More than £2 million in fines have been issued to national minimum and living wage offenders.
There are currently more than 1,500 open cases which HMRC are investigating.
read more100 Years of Aeromedical Evacuation
Lone Airman in Desert Rescue
A lone airman saved the life of a wounded soldier by flying him directly to a field hospital 45 minutes away – a journey by land that would have taken days across hazardous desert terrain. Remarkably, this flight took place 100 years ago on 19 February 1917 and was the first recorded aeromedical evacuation.
Lance Corporal MacGregor of the Imperial Camel Corps had been shot in the ankle as his unit advanced towards Bir-el-Hassana in Egypt. Forty four miles from the nearest medical facility in El Arish, it was felt that L/Cpl MacGregor’s best chance of survival was to be flown there in the observer’s seat of a Royal Flying Corps B.E.2c biplane.
One hundred years on, and still one year away from its own centenary, the Royal Air Force remains at the forefront of this life saving aviation capability.
The heroism of the RAF’s Medical Emergency Response Teams (MERT) became synonymous with recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds of injured servicemen today owe their lives to the RAF helicopter aircrew, Flight Doctors, Flight Nurses and Flight Medics who risked their lives to recover them, sometimes while still under enemy fire.
Specially adapted RAF C-17s and Voyagers, manned by aeromedical evacuation (AE) flight doctors, nurses and medics, provide the next step of the journey home for injured and ill servicemen, wherever they may be in the world. Critical Care Air Support Teams (CCAST) move critically unwell patients, while general AE teams move general ward patients.
The RAF currently has one Regular AE squadron and two Reserve AE squadrons. Squadron Leader Sarah Charters ARRC, has served as a Reservist with 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron for 27 years and has deployed to two Gulf wars and twice to Afghanistan. She said: “It is an absolute honour to be a part of this fantastic service which has such a rich history of saving lives.
“My squadron’s motto is ‘Safely Home’ and this neatly sums up the role of Regular and Reserve aeromedical evacuation personnel. We provide high quality clinical care in the air, all the way from point of injury on the battlefield back to the UK.”
Later this year, a re-enactment of L/Cpl MacGregors historic flight in a B.E.2c will further mark this milestone for aeromedical evacuation services. More information on medical roles in the RAF, either as a Regular or Reserve, can be found here or by searching ‘RAF medical careers’.
Editor: Flt Lt Peter Lisney
© MOD Crown Copyright 2017
read moreNews story: Defence Secretary meets Apprentices working on nuclear submarines as new Training Facility announced
Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon today met apprentices working on Britain’s new submarines who will benefit from a new £25 million Apprentice Training Facility at Barrow-in-Furness. read more