The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England hit 7.33 million in July – the highest total since October 2025, when it stood at 7.4 million.
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Kerry Fordham, 70, was fit and healthy before she began to feel unwell in February.
She started to suffer from fatigue but “did everything right” and went straight to her doctor, where she had a blood test that showed “nothing.”
Further symptoms, like indigestion and back pain, began to rear their heads and a return visit to the doctor came – with further tests that showed no abnormalities.
The next month, her symptoms were declared to be the cause of high cholesterol, but they only continued.
By May, Kerry had lost weight and, after more emergency tests, she began to be sick every time she ate and found tasks like walking increasingly difficult.
On June 8, Kerry and her daughter Braidey Lewis, 44, found out that she had a mass on her pancreas.
A taxing six-week hospital stay followed for Kerry.
In this time, she developed severe jaundice and had stents fitted – all while not being well enough to eat. By this point, they had also found lesions in her stomach and abdominal lining.
Just weeks after her diagnosis, on August 15, Kerry passed away.
Following her passing, her daughter Braidey has taken it upon herself to raise awareness of this disease that is often overlooked.
She said: “Mum was fit and healthy – she was a pensioner, but she still worked and was great and fit and healthy. People used to think she was in her 50s.
“It’s just sickening because my mum could have been saved.
“Because she was older, she was dismissed. She wasn’t listened to.”
According to Cancer Research UK, there are around 28 pancreatic cancer deaths in the UK every day – a statistic that Braidey is looking to improve.
“Things need to change,” she said. “We just need to stop this happening to families in the future.
“My mum was my best friend. We had a holiday to Spain booked this week. Instead, now we have her funeral.”
Braidey and her family are organising a series of fundraisers for Pancreatic Cancer UK, aiming to raise as much money and awareness as possible to help those with this disease that has the lowest survival of all common cancers (according to Pancreatic Cancer UK).
Fundraising events begin with a walk by Braidey throughout September, in which she will be walking 84km through the month in honour of the 84 people who die from the disease every three days.
This will be followed by a vintage market, complete with cakes and coffee, on November 7 to commemorate Kerry’s love of all things vintage and stylish.
We’ve all had that moment. You’re wearing your favourite black top, catch your reflection in the mirror and suddenly notice what looks like a light dusting of snow on your shoulders.
PIP claims have surged significantly, reaching 4 million claimants in England and Wales
The Department for Work and Pensions has given an update on Personal Independence Payment review decisions – as a major report into potential changes to the benefit reached a key point. PIP claims have surged significantly, reaching 4 million claimants in England and Wales by April 2026. Claims for mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions—specifically anxiety and depression—have surged dramatically, rising from 5.9% in 2020 to 8.1% in 2025.
The system is under pressure – and Labour MP in a new parliamentary written question, asked DWP officials about delays. She asked Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden: “What assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of waiting times for Personal Independence Payment review decisions; and what steps he is taking to reduce delays for claimants in the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency.W
In reply Sir Stephen Timms Minister of State for Social Security and Disability gave a breakdown on review times. It said the average time for PIP award reviews was 22 weeks in 2014, 16 weeks in 2017, 40 weeks in 2023 – and the latest figures show it is 25 weeks in 2025/6.
He said: “All claims remain in payment whilst award reviews are in progress and award increases identified during a planned review will be backdated as appropriate. Should customers report a change of circumstance and trigger an unplanned review, their claim will be prioritised alongside new claims.
“We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service, which is kept under constant review.
“We always aim to make an award review decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to assess all available evidence, including that from the claimant. Most award review decisions are now made without the need for an assessment by a Healthcare Professional, where we have sufficient information, which helps to reduce the time taken to process many cases.”
This week a review into the future of PIP has given a key update. The review, led by work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms, was announced last year in the wake of a Labour backbench rebellion at plans under Sir Keir Starmer to limit eligibility for PIP. Initial findings were that PIP is ‘no longer fit for purpose’ and is failing to keep pace with how disability, health and work have changed over the past decade.
And in an update today from the co-chairs of the review they said that the basis for their report this autumn will see PIPs will remain a cash benefit – and that it will remain non-means tested. It also said it was looking at ‘light touch’ assessments.
How much Personal Independence Payment (PIP) a person can get depends on how difficult they find everyday activities (‘daily living’ tasks) and getting around (‘mobility’ tasks). Daily living element has two rates – £76.70 a week lower rate with the higher rate £114.60 a week. There is also a mobility element with weekly payments of £30.30 lower rate and £80 higher.
It has made a number of ‘principles’ for the review going forward on which the changes will be based – and these are key for recipients.
The update said PIPs in future:
What people will get:
- PIP ill be non-means-tested
- Cash will remain the foundation of the award
- The award will contribute fairly to the extra costs that arise from disability and long-term health conditions and reflect fluctuating and cumulative impacts
- Cost categories used to discuss the person’s circumstances, and therefore determine their award, could include equipment and aids; mobility and transport; clothing and bedding.
Assessments:
There will be a light-touch initial assessment to begin understanding a person’s circumstances and direct them to the most appropriate assessment pathway – this will be as simple as possible to reduce the administrative burden
There will be different assessment pathways for different groups of people, reducing unnecessary assessments where evidence is clear while providing more detailed conversations where needed to better understand the individual’s circumstances – people with well-evidenced, serious conditions, including those receiving end-of-life care, could benefit from a fast-track pathway
Assessment pathways will be flexible, for example providing access to a person-shaped interview where complexity, evidence gaps or additional support are identified
All assessment pathways will consider fluctuating cumulative impacts, rather than relying on a snapshot of the person’s circumstances
PIPs:
- The reformed benefit will support independent living, choice and control, helping disabled people and those with long-term health conditions participate fully in society
- The award will support participation and opportunity across everyday life, including work, volunteering, care and other meaningful activities
- A reformed benefit will provide a non-means-tested contribution towards the additional costs arising from disability or a long-term health condition
The co- chairs Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE, Sharon Brennan, Rt Hon. Sir Stephen Timms MP said: “Our task over the coming weeks is to test whether the emerging recommendations are fair, workable and capable of improving people’s experience of PIP and supporting people to participate in everyday life.
“We will listen carefully to what people tell us and identify where proposals need to change or require further work, feeding this back to the steering group as we move towards our final report later this autumn. Accessibility, fairness and accountability will remain central both to the recommendations that we develop and the way in which we develop them.”
The scheme allows people to get care for certain common illnesses from qualified pharmacists without needing to see a GP first.
Residents say the blaze broke out at Time To Eat on Glebe Street at around 12.40am, prompting a response from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews.
The fire also affected neighbouring businesses, including the Glebe Street Post Office, which suffered smoke damage.
Postmaster Sajaad Yasin, who operates the business next door, told the Penarth Times he was alerted to the fire by tenants living in the flat above the premises and arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.
He said South Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews were on the scene “within five minutes” and remained there until around 3.30am.
However, residents above his business alerted him again at around 8.30am after noticing the smell of smoke. Eyewitnesses reported that fire crews remained on Glebe Street throughout the rest of the morning.
Mr Yasin said his business had suffered significant smoke damage, as had other businesses in the terrace, while Time To Eat had “burnt out completely”.
The Glebe Street Post Office reopened as normal on Monday morning, but it remains unclear when other affected businesses will be able to resume trading.
In a social media post following the incident, Mr Yasin said: “We are very relieved to confirm all residents at the property are safe and well. While the Post Office sustained some smoke damage, the premises have been fully cleared and officially declared safe by the Fire and Rescue Service.
“We also wish to send our heartfelt best wishes to the owners and team at Time To Eat, who have suffered severe damage and significant disruption to their business as a result of this incident. Our thoughts are with you at this difficult time.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone for your kind messages, well wishes and concern. They mean a great deal. Moments like these truly show the strength of our community when we come together, and we are deeply thankful for your support.”
A spokesperson for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “SWFRS received a call at approximately 12.46am reporting a fire on Glebe Street, Penarth.
“Crews and appliances from Penarth and Cardiff Central attended the incident and extinguished a fire in a commercial kitchen using breathing apparatus, hose reel jets, a thermal imaging camera and small tools.
“A stop message was received at approximately 3.52am.”
The Penarth Times has contacted Time To Eat for comment.
Lady Joan Branson’s death could have been prevented if she was given a common medication used to prevent blood clots, an inquest has found.
Pinch yourself, it’s happening again. Here is a Labour government spending a vast amount of political capital to earn tiny material gains while risking huge political losses. It occurred repeatedly under Keir Starmer, and now – with the impending decision to approve further gas and oil drilling in the North Sea – it is happening under Andy Burnham. You rack your brains to explain it, but no rational explanation comes.
Burnham is studiously cryptic about his reasons. His clearest statement to date goes as follows: “There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that.” Does he mean that oil and gas workers are struggling? If so, this decision will be of little use to them. The Jackdaw gasfield, likely to be approved this week, will generate a grand total of 27 direct full-time jobs. The Rosebank oilfield, whose approval is likely to follow soon, will support 450 UK-based jobs during its lifetime. Yet the UK’s net zero economy directly employs 300,000 people, and a further 400,000 jobs are planned. The rest of the green economy employs more than 600,000. A just transition for fossil fuel workers, securing jobs in the green economy, is better for everyone.
Or does he mean energy consumers are struggling? The gas in the Jackdaw field will make a tiny contribution to our supply and no significant difference to either our energy bills or our energy security. Switching to renewables makes us far better off in both respects. Any oil produced by the Rosebank field is unlikely to be refined in Britain, as we no longer possess much capacity for handling oil of that kind. And as for the national accounts, a recent estimate suggests that the climate damage caused by the fields’ extra emissions would outweigh any economic benefits several times over.
In fact, the two greatest threats to the global economy might now be climate breakdown, which, as a wide range of economists and eminent organisations forecast, threatens comprehensive economic collapse, and the AI bubble, which the governor of the Bank of England warns could burst with dire consequences. Then people will really be struggling. Yet our government and others cheerfully accelerate both forces – claiming, as ever, that the industries driving them will unleash “growth”. Growth in home repossessions, perhaps.
While the small amount of fossil fuel these two fields will produce allows politicians to argue that their climate impacts can be ignored, the diplomatic implications are considerable. The only chance of preventing climate catastrophe is international agreement based on mutual trust. To its credit, the UK – while falling short of what many of us would like to see – has been a leader in these efforts. But when our government refuses to leave fossil fuels in the ground, its credibility diminishes – leaving its negotiating position weakened.
Burnham might believe this decision will get Reform UK and the Conservatives off his back. Of course it won’t. He might imagine it will appease Donald Trump, but you can’t appease Trump. Whatever you give him, he will always want more.
As for the political implications, here the disparity between gain and pain becomes truly enormous. The approval of these fields is a defining issue for many Labour MPs and the voters they fear they might lose. The policy could scarcely be better designed to give the final push to voters who are minded – after so many disappointments since 2024 – to abandon Labour for a progressive alternative.
If Zack Polanski, the Green party leader for England and Wales, wins the seat Keir Starmer has just vacated, this could be a major reason why. Burnham’s North Sea policy is the kind of battle Starmer’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney would have urged him to wage – let’s stick it to the Labour left, mwahaha – which is a major reason why Starmer is no longer prime minister.
Few in power seem to understand the fire they are playing with. Last week, the environment secretary, Angela Eagle, appeared to acknowledge that we face the risk of potentially catastrophic environmental breakdown and urged us to store some extra food in our homes. The way she put it suggested that either she hasn’t grasped the magnitude of what we face, or she is trivialising the issue: “If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven’t.”
Right. So let’s imagine one of several possible disasters some of us have long been warning of arrives. As a result of harvest failures caused by climate breakdown, severe transport disruptions or – and this now looks alarmingly plausible – sudden systemic collapse in the food sector, the supermarket shelves empty, more or less overnight. We know that the UK government refuses, without explanation, to maintain strategic food reserves. So there are no government supplies, either. As our beans and crackers run out, the emergency services visit all 29 million of our homes. With what? Tea and sympathy? Sorry, no tea. Another slice of sympathy?
Certainly, those of us who have the money and capacity to store food should do so: after all, no one else has our backs. But the idea that such individuated solutions would be any use in the face of a societal catastrophe is neoliberal nonsense. As always, it is the poor and excluded, with neither the cash nor the space to lay down significant supplies, who will be hit first and worst. Social breakdown would happen in days. The UK government, then, is being serious about neither the measures required to prevent climate catastrophe nor the measures required to survive it.
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The sense in almost every nation is of governments failing to take seriously the most serious of issues, while spending immense political resources on topics that scarcely affect our welfare (such as a few thousand people crossing the Channel in small boats). Or even – as is the case with North Sea oil and gas – using their scarce political capital to make things worse for everyone, including themselves.
Our government is not a doomsday cult like the Trump government, creepily fascinated by the “end times”, as the US vice-president seems to be. But in terms of outcome, is there much difference?
Mark and Pauline Collard
Dementia Friendly Barry Community
As Seen on ITV Wales News
@Glastonbarry
EMAIL : dfbarrycommunity@gmail.com
All member requests and postings are subject to approval.
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