Health

Casey’s dad, Sean, said they had had to learn things as new parents that they never considered would be part of family life – from feeding him through a stomach tube to what to do if the hospital calls with an urgent update in the middle of the night.

Joanna Street, lead endometriosis and pelvic pain specialist nurse at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals, said the team were grateful for Amos’s fundraising efforts, with money previously raised used to buy reclining chairs “so that patients who are in pain can sit more comfortably”.

The report highlighted how there was a decline in attendances to A&E and other settings for non-Covid emergencies, including heart attacks, suggesting the slogan Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives inadvertently sent the message health care was closed.

This is famously the case in the Meningitis Belt – which stretches across 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia. Dust, high temperatures and low humidity throughout the dry season are thought to damage the back of the throat and give the bacteria a route into the body. This triggers regular epidemics.

Oliver Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, told BBC Radio 5 Live that his pharmacies were getting a booking for a jab every two to three minutes with more than 100 overnight. “It is unsustainable,” he said. “We don’t have any vaccines. We always keep a small stock which was used up very quickly.”

The mother of a young woman who was admitted to hospital told the BBC she was “absolutely shocked” when she discovered her daughter had meningitis. Khali Goodwin’s daughter Keeleigh, a 21-year-old restaurant worker, collapsed in her Canterbury flat on Saturday night and was taken to hospital by her flatmate. Keeleigh was told she had meningitis….