Profile avatar
rathfelder.bsky.social
Retired Mancunian agitator. Patient representative/ public contributor in Manchester University. Unpaid advocate for disabled people. Wikipedian. Whalley Range Labour Party. Perfection is the enemy of improvement!
371 posts 477 followers 687 following
Prolific Poster

The BBC would like to speak to anyone directly impacted by NHS Coventry and Warwickshire’s decision to stop taking new ADHD Assessment referrals for anyone over 25. See for more details below. If this is you and you are willing to share your story please fill in form at: adhduk.co.uk/media-callout

Hundreds of thousands of people living in disabled households will be at risk of needing to use a food bank if the government goes ahead with its plans for benefit cuts, new research has found www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

‘When Starmer sees a problem he wants to solve it, instead of kicking it into the long grass. At last politics is no longer simply performative.’ East Anglia’s political diarist warms to the PM, calls out Badenoch’s hypocrisy, and more ⤵️ @eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social

Childhood immunisations are one of the most powerful and effective public health interventions of all time. We used to take them from granted but not anymore. Conspiracy theory, wars, poverty and systems collapse put them at risk. We must keep shouting about their importance.

Right now, obesity is estimated to cost the NHS approximately £11.4 billion every year – this financial burden is unsustainable for the NHS and wider economy. www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

'The US CDC today in its weekly measles update reported 29 more cases, bringing the national total to 1,197 cases, within 77 cases of matching the total from 2019, which was the most since the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000.' @cidrap.bsky.social. www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/us-m...

ONE WEEK to go! Better Transport Conference - Friday 20 June at Manchester Metropolitan University. Book for free: bettertransport.org.uk/better-trans... #bettertransportconference25

Pandemics, public health, and popular support: What history can tell us

So far the government's 'olive branch' to Labour MPs planning to rebel isn't going down very well. "I can't believe that's it," one MP says www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Starmer still sits down to watch the TV 10 o’clock news every night! Amazing. While Kemi is on the sofa asking her to team to check out a tweet by @gr8replacem3nt.

I agree with this. Obscures the useful conversation, which about the combination of private and public financing and what it gods towards. (Is it the best way to get extra £££ out of higher earners that I pay a premium for dental care, for instance? I don’t know.)

“Waiting list has fallen to lowest level in two years”. Good. But is this just a down blip (even happened occasionally under Tory misrule -while overall trend remained up) or an improvement that will continue and be sustained over years. Next few months will tell www.england.nhs.uk/2025/06/nhs-...

Perhaps a timely reminder of the long history and critically missed opportunities on reform of social care. Now it is in a chronically poor condition. Brown maybe had right idea back in 2010 with the Personal Care at Home Bill. But how to fund? www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

We're delighted to have Rt Hon Wes Streeting with us at #NHSConfedExpo Watch his keynote live: fsmevents.uk/nhs-confed/2...

No matter what funding goes towards housing, education or social care, the Government’s plans to cut benefits for millions will only lead to more strain on all our public services. Abandon the cuts, tax the rich and fully fund our public services! #SpendingReview

The sea is rising, Eastbourne will flood – what’s the plan? Future flooding from the sea is now a reality. There are no clear long-term plans for this. What will this mean for towns like Eastbourne? | Susan Kerrison for @sussexbylines.co.uk

'China’s COVID-19 Infections Jumped by 160% in May.' 'Residents across China told The Epoch Times that the situation is far more severe and that the official data continue to not match their lived experience.' Author / source: Alex Wu www.theepochtimes.com www.theepochtimes.com/article/chin...

After two challenging fiscal events dominated by tax rises and welfare cuts, the Chancellor has today been able to announce more positive economic news. Economic infrastructure spending is set to reach its highest sustained level on record ⤵️

Our response to the #SpendingReview The chancellor described austerity as destructive but government is still rolling it out in the two-child limit which pulls 109 children into poverty every day. 1/2

There's a lot to unpack here. But the "why do people in the developed world die from chronic diseases at higher rates than in poorer countries" is because we survive long enough to die from chronic rather than infectious disease. This is epidemiology 101. It's not a mystery.

Unicef uk analysis showed that every local authority in top 20% of deprivation in England was in bottom 20% for multiple measures of child health and development. Four damming maps. No excuses for this Labour government to do nothing www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/u...

The impact of policy changes this Parliament are felt very differently by households with and without a disabled member.

If you think climate change has gotten worse during your lifetime, you're right and there's a good reason. If you're Gen X like me, more than 3/4 of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions have occurred in your lifetime. Even if you're a Millennial, it's at least half. 📊: @neilrkaye.bsky.social

This is the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard!! 😍

‘5 years after the pandemic first began to affect global health, the virus continues to evolve into strains that are impacting populations on an international scale.’ COVID remains a threat, improving ventilation inside: one vital element to limit its spread. www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-worl...

what exactly is the political strategy behind the Tories shouting "we have received soooooo much money!" to the rooftops? polling has repeatedly shown the public (accurately) believe that donors can buy influence and access in Westminster and view it as highly corrosive. absolutely mad stuff

6m houses are privately owned in the UK and rented out. They bring in a profit of approximately £80bn a year. They are worth about £700bn. The Government could make Landlords illegal, force purchase them all and pay it off with the current rent money within 10 years.

Reform in Redditch are claiming that they have saved the taxpayer almost £46,000 by having one fewer cabinet member than the previous administration on Worcestershire County Council. An official council spokesperson tells me: "There were 10 Cabinet members previously...and 10 Cabinet members now."

injecting bleach is so back

Analysis by @ipprnorth.bsky.social reveals the £140bn transport investment gap between the North and London over the last 14yrs. Long term investment in the North’s rail network, integrated with local transport & house building plans, is key to improving connectivity and boosting prosperity.

ending the two-child limit saves more than it costs in the long run: lifting children out of poverty is cheaper than letting them grow up in poverty. www.ft.com/content/1313...

UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese brands US-backed Gaza aid system ‘humanitarian camouflage’, ‘tactic of this genocide’.

who set up contracts for NHS services which excludes pupils at private schools?

11 children died from whopping cough last year and there were more measles cases than any year back to 2012.

In which the Swindon Advertiser uses at least two and I think more international traffic signs to explain how poor UK drivers are at understanding traffic signs. www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/2522216... @showmeasign.online

Jeremy Bowen's long, measured, objective, but ultimately entirely clear and conclusive essay on Israeli war crimes. As Jonathan Sumption puts it: "These things make genocide the most plausible explanation for what is now happening." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

When this is your reality, you deserve a choice. “I've had four different health professionals tell me I've got the worst disease possible.” www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/real-li...

We’re ending austerity - the chart

The 9000 Who Never Made It Home was a haunting, large-scale art installation created on the beaches of Normandy in 2013 to mark International Peace Day and honor those who died during the D-Day landings.

Meticulous scientists proved 'tuberculosis is airborne - one of the traits that made M. tuberculosis so successful as a pathogen. In poorly ventilated indoor spaces, it can drift in the air for hours, waiting for its next victim to take a breath.' @carlzimmer.com www.newscientist.com/article/2481...