MANY people with mental health needs are not getting the care they need, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) highlighted in a report published today, 13 March 2025. As part of its monitoring activity in 2023/2024, CQC interviewed over 4,500 people who were detained under the…

Dear Editor,As an audiologist, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in ear wax services in England. Shockingly, more than eight million people live in areas where NHS ear wax removal is non-existent, with millions more facing patchy or inadequate service provision. The consequences…

THE Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) has announced the winner of its DAISY Awards® programme for January 2025. The programme enables patients, families, and colleagues to honour a nurse or midwife who has made a difference to their care. The aim is to shine the…

LAST month, we reported that the former chair of Harlow Council was set to undertake a charity “step” challenge on behalf of Prostate Cancer. Ten days in, we asked Ian Beckett how it was going? Ian said: “I have just completed week one of the…

IT was in March 2020, that we published our first story on Covid. We proceeded to publish over 2,500 stories on the pandemic. In many ways, all 2,500 reports were summed up by a friend who lost a relative. They said that “the first wave…

DURING National Careers Week, leading adult education provider, ACL Essex is shining a light on different career paths. Here’s Harlow-based Martha’s story, she had a degree in media and communication studies, but wanted a rewarding career path that could help others. “I completed a level…

THIS art installation was made by the wonderful volunteers of Harlow Community Men’s Shed for the Covid 19 Reflection day on Sunday 9 March 2025. This is to commemorate the five year anniversary and on Sunday 9 March 2025, people are invited to: remember and…

HARLOW MP Chris Vince has presented a bill after a resident took his own life after complications following dental treatment. Mr Vince moved the bill in parliament. Mr Vince said: “I beg to move, that leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend…

SCHOOL and nursery staff in the most deprived areas of England will be asked to supervise young children while they brush their teeth, under a national toothbrushing programme reports the BBC. Schemes are already running in some schools – but now dedicated central funding will…

BACK in January of last year, we went to the new Men’s Shed on Rectory Field to see what plans the team had to develop what was a derelict changing room. Fifteen months later, the team has made a amazing amount of progress. We popped…

ENDOMETRIOSIS UK responds to Government response to the recommendations made by the Women and Equalities Committee’s inquiry into “women’s reproductive health conditions”. “Endometriosis UK is pleased to see endometriosis as a prominent issue in the Government’s response to the Women and Equalities Committee first report, which highlighted…

NEW therapeutic gardens are being developed at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) thanks to a grant of £88,000, awarded to PAHT following a successful bid to NHS Charities Together, that has been match funded by the Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity (PAH Charity). Being…

PATIENTS will be able to book more appointments online and request to see their usual doctor under a new contract agreed with England’s GPs, the government has said reports the BBC. The deal gives an extra £889m a year to general practices, as well as…

THE latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows norovirus cases continue to rise across the country, with laboratory reports at the highest levels since reporting data this way began in 2014. Laboratory confirmed cases in the 2 weeks from 3 to 16 February 2025…