Health

BBC reporting provides indicative figures for proposed Scottish walk-in GP clinics: Edinburgh's centre hopes to see about 21,360 appointments a year and NHS Grampian's bid plans about 90,720 slots across three sites, while officials say exact capacities will be confirmed when locations are finalised.

Scotland has opened the first of 16 walk-in GP clinics in a £34m one-year pilot, and the Scottish government says the programme aims to deliver one million extra GP and nurse appointments over a year when fully operational.

A new £485m contract asks GPs to use risk‑stratification tools and hospital attendance data to identify patients who attend A&E frequently.

A UK study of 1,390 female twins reported that people living in more deprived areas had reduced gut microbiome diversity, and identified 12 bacterial species linked to deprivation.

London Metropolitan University's Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit received a Queen Elizabeth prize after 40 years of research and work to end violence against women and girls, presented at a ceremony at St James's Palace attended by the King and Queen.

The Promise School in Okehampton will start short-term online learning on Wednesday after a Sunday fire that severely damaged much of the building, and trust leaders are working with local and national education bodies on contingency plans for a return to face-to-face classes.

Novo Nordisk said it will cut U.S. list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic by up to 50%, with the reductions scheduled to start in 2027, the company announced.

Martin Frizell told ITV that the Government's level of funding for Alzheimer's treatments amounted to 'ageism', and the Department of Health said it is providing record funding and working to slow dementia's progress.

The government has agreed a new GP contract backed by a £485 million uplift that requires same-day appointments for patients with urgent needs and will ringfence about £292 million to recruit or increase GP sessions, taking effect 1 April 2026.

A UCLA-led study found an accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) schedule—five sessions per day over five days—reduced depression scores similarly to a conventional six-week course; a subgroup of patients showed larger improvement at two to four weeks.

Four energy companies are jointly bidding for about £500m in government funding to develop a regional hydrogen transport and storage network linking sites across the Humber region.

An inquiry heard that the Nottingham killings reflected long-standing structural, systemic and individual failures; the suspect has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is subject to an indefinite hospital order.

Public Health Scotland reports 41.9% of women attended a cervical smear within six months of invitation in 2024-25, down from 51.9% the year before, and overall screening coverage fell to 55.3%.

Cristiano Ronaldo sent a message of support after Lindsey Vonn was discharged from hospital following a crash at the Winter Olympics; Vonn said surgeons, including Dr Tom Hackett, carried out operations that saved her leg.

The Department of Health is offering financial incentives, backed by £25 million, to encourage GPs to prescribe weight‑loss injections and refer patients to weight management services after eight months of a phased NHS rollout showed uneven access.

A baby boy, Hugo Powell, was born in December after his mother, Grace Bell, received a womb transplant from a deceased donor at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in 2024.

Actor Robert Carradine has died at 71, and his family said he took his own life after a 20-year battle with Bipolar Disorder; they described him as a "beacon of light" and expressed hope his story will help reduce stigma.

The Telegraph reports that a baby boy is the first child in the UK born to a mother who received a womb from a deceased donor.

Researchers report that a protein called cystatin C, released by cancer cells and described in a study published in Cell, reduced amyloid plaques and improved memory in mice; the findings come from animal experiments and human relevance is not yet established.

NHS England will pay a one-off £3,000 incentive under the GP contract to practices that prescribe the maximum number of eligible patients the weight‑loss drug Mounjaro; current access is limited to people with a BMI over 40 plus certain health conditions and will be widened to BMI over 35 next year.

Officials and UN agencies report a rapid rise in HIV in Fiji, with more than 1,200 diagnoses in the first half of 2025 and about one baby diagnosed each week through mother-to-child transmission.

A baby named Hugo was born after the UK's first womb transplant using a deceased donor, and the operation took place as part of a clinical trial led by transplant surgeons to evaluate the procedure.

Hugo Powell is the first child in the UK born to a mother who received a womb from a deceased donor; he was delivered in December at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital and his mother, Grace Bell, was born with MRKH.

A baby boy, Hugo Powell, is the first child in the UK born to a mother who received a womb transplant from a deceased donor; he was delivered by C-section in December at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital.

The inquiry heard that Valdo Calocane had viewed online videos of shootings and material about law and police powers; he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and is serving a hospital order.

Parents welcomed that reforms should avoid major disruption for children in special schools, but many said they fear children with the most complex needs may not get the support they need.

A 93-year-old former manager, Malcolm Phillips, was convicted in a trial of the facts of multiple historic sexual offences at Skircoat Lodge Care Home and his former deputy, Linda Brunning, was also found guilty. Sentencing is scheduled for April.

A new £33m healthcare unit at Rhyl's Royal Alexandra Hospital will include a minor injuries service, expanded radiology and a 14-bed reablement unit, and is due to be completed next year.

Lindsey Vonn left hospital after multiple surgeries for a complex leg fracture sustained at the Winter Olympics, and said Dr Tom Hackett performed a fasciotomy that she says prevented amputation.

An inquiry heard that mental health staff considered research on the over-representation of young Black men when they released Valdo Calocane in May 2020, after which a resident jumped from a window; Calocane later killed three people and was given an indefinite hospital order in January 2024.