UK 10 Years Behind Europe On Cancer Survival

Survival rates for cancer in the UK are trailing behind other European countries by 10 years, a charity has warned.

Macmillan Cancer Support analysed the most recent results from global research into cancer survival and found many countries were doing better in the 1990s than the UK has managed to date.

The charity's chief executive has urged political leaders to commit to tackling the "shameful" survival rates ahead of the General Election.

"This analysis exposes the harsh reality that because UK cancer survival rates are lagging so far behind the rest of Europe, people are dying needlessly," Lynda Thomas said.

"What we can see here is that better cancer survival rates are not unachievable.

Video: Feb 10: Cancer 'Breathalyser' Trial

"If countries like Sweden, France, Finland and Austria can achieve these rates, then the UK can and should bridge the gap."

While 14% of patients in Austria diagnosed with lung cancer between 1995 and 1999 survived, just 10% of patients diagnosed between 2005 and 2009 in the UK have done so.

Between 2005 and 2009, 19% of people with stomach cancer survived in the UK - the figure was 31% for those diagnosed in Italy between 1995 and 1999 and 30% in Austria.

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Just over half (54%) of people diagnosed with colon cancer in the UK between 2005 and 2009 survived, but 59% for those diagnosed in Finland between 1995 and 1999 survived.

While 81% of people diagnosed with the most common type of the disease - breast cancer - between 2005 and 2009 in the UK survived, 84% did in Sweden and France during the earlier period, and 83% did in Italy.

National clinical director for cancer at NHS England Sean Duffy said: "We are diagnosing and treating more people than ever before in this country and as a result the NHS is helping more people than ever survive cancer.

Video: NHS Sending Cancer Patients To U.S.

"We have come on leaps and bounds since this 2009 data highlighted by Macmillan, but we have an ambition to save even more lives and it's time to take a fresh look at how we can do better."

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Claudia Lawrence: Man Arrested For Murder

A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Claudia Lawrence, who disappeared six years ago.

North Yorkshire Police say searches are currently being conducted which are expected to continue over a number of days.

A police spokesman said Miss Lawrence has not been found.

Her family have been told about the development and are being supported by trained officers.

Police searching an alleyway at the back of Miss Lawrence's home last month

Miss Lawrence's father Peter said in a statement that the development was "encouraging".

"It is encouraging to know that following all the media activity over the last three weeks from Claudia's 41st birthday to the sixth anniversary of her being missing, North Yorkshire police continue to be active in seeking answers as to what has happened to Claudia," he said.

Video: Missing Claudia Lawrence - New CCTV

"It is to be hoped that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible and I encourage people to continue to come forward with information to the police by phoning them on 101."

The man, who is from the York area, was arrested by police on Monday.

Sky's North of England Correspondent Gerard Tubb said the arrest is linked to the screening of CCTV by police close to Miss Lawrence's home last week.

Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn, of North Yorkshire Police, said it was crucial to the case that the arrested man was not identified - including on social media.

"I urge everyone to show restraint and patience while we carry out these very important enquiries," he said.

Miss Lawrence, 35, was last seen on 18 March, 2009.

She was reported missing by her father the next day when she failed to turn up for her 6am shift at York University, where she worked as a chef.

Police started reviewing the case in 2013 and have carried out a number of searches since then, including a detailed re-examination of Miss Lawrence's home in the Heworth area of York, and a fingertip search of an alleyway that leads to the rear of the house.

A man was arrested last year in connection with her disappearance and suspected murder, but the 60-year-old was later released without charge.

A 47-year-old remains on bail on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

On the sixth anniversary of her disappearance last week, police released new CCTV footage of two people seen walking near Miss Lawrence's home on the evening she vanished.

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NHS Paid £3,258 For One Doctor's A&E Shift

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

An NHS hospital paid more than £3,200 for a locum doctor to cover a single 24-hour A&E shift over the Christmas and New Year crisis, a Sky News investigation has found.

So short staffed were some trusts between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day that more than half the shifts in their emergency departments were worked by locum medics, often at huge expense.

Figures obtained by Sky News show that four hospitals paid more than £2,000 for A&E consultants to work a shift, with the highest bill being the £3,258 paid by United Lincolnshire NHS Trust for a doctor to work for 24 hours.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust paid the equivalent of more than £230 an hour for one doctor.

Three hospitals paid more than £1,700 for nurses on single shifts.

At Royal Berkshire, one agency was paid £1,875 for a nurse to work 12 hours on New Year's Day, the equivalent of £156.25 an hour.

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid £156 an hour for a nurse and North Bristol NHS Trust paid £144.

At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust almost three quarters - 71% - of the shifts over that period were covered by a locum doctor.

Some 58% of shifts were filled by locums at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and 52% at Royal Bolton Hospital.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had to find agency nurses for 43% of shifts, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust used them for 32% of shifts and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust for 25%.

The figures were obtained by a Freedom of Information request.

Some 75 out of the 140 trusts replied to questions about how their emergency departments were staffed between 24 December 2014 and 1 January.

In February this year, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee claimed senior A&E doctors were profiting from staff shortages by working for locum agencies.

Experts said that competition between hospitals to fill shifts during what was the busiest Christmas period on record meant that the prices being charged by locum agencies soared.

Dr Clifford Mann, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: "Market forces really are quite extreme currently, with the lack of permanent people to employ.

"It means hospitals are desperate to try to find people to fill these slots and are having to pay super premium rates for that to happen.

"It can be very demoralising to be working alongside somebody with much less experience, much more junior, who is earning a multiple income compared to you in terms of the pounds paid per hour."

Mick Corti, of the London Procurement Partnership which negotiates on behalf of the capital's hospitals to drive costs down, said that agencies were sometimes collecting fees of up to £100 an hour before paying the doctors and nurses themselves.

"There is almost competition on what you are able to pay and by paying more you think you can increase the supply of the agency nurse or doctor, but you are not - you are pinching that nurse or doctor from wherever else they might have worked and then they have a problem.

"You get an inflationary spiral where one trust is competing against another, and that is what the NHS needs to move away from and try to hold firm. Pay appropriate rates and stick to it."

:: Top Five Doctor Payments:

United Lincolnshire NHS Trust -- £3,257

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust -- £2,142

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust -- £2,099

Croydon Health Services -- £2,000

University Hospital South Manchester -- £1,625

:: Top Five Nurse Payments:

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust -- £1,875

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust -- £1,798

North Bristol NHS Trust -- £1,728

West Middlesex University Hospital -- £1,462

University Hospitals of Leicester -- £1,416

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Woman Killed In Dog Attack: Man Charged

A 23-year-old man charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act after the death of a woman is due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates' Court today.

Police were called to a house in the Ely area of Cardiff on Friday night after a 64-year-old woman suffered serious injuries when she was attacked by a dog.

Despite attempts by officers and paramedics to save her, the woman later died at the University Hospital of Wales.

The 23-year-old has been charged with two offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

A 17-year-old man who was also arrested in connection with the attack is on police bail.

Superintendent Andy Valentine, of South Wales Police, said: "This is a tragic incident, which I know will shock and upset the local community.

"The woman's family are understandably extremely distressed and are being supported by specially trained police officers.

"I would like to reassure local residents that this is an isolated incident and a thorough police investigation into what happened on Friday is being conducted.

"I would also like to thank the local community for their support and co-operation during the investigation so far."

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Ashya 'Saved By Therapy Denied By NHS'

Five-year-old Ashya King's life has been saved by specialist proton beam therapy, not available for him on the NHS, his parents have said.

Naghmeh and Brett King, who sparked an international manhunt last summer by removing their son from a UK hospital without medical consent for brain tumour treatment abroad, said Ashya was now cancer-free.

Mrs King described the news as "a miracle".

"If we had left Ashya with the NHS in Britain, he would not be with us today," she told the Sun newspaper.

"He was too weak and would not have survived."

Video: Proton Cancer Treatment Explained

Ashya was finally allowed to undergo treatment at the Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague for brain cancer after a long legal battle fought by his parents.

Mr King said his son's condition now justifies their actions in taking him from Southampton General Hospital last August, to Spain where they have a holiday home.

He said: "We have saved his life", adding that they would do the same thing again if they felt they had to.

Video: Inside The Proton Beam Centre

The Kings were arrested in Spain and spent several nights in prison away from their son, before being released.

A High Court judge approved the move to take Ashya to Prague for proton therapy, which the PTC said is more effective than the radiotherapy Ashya was being offered on the NHS.

It limits the collateral damage of radiation to other vital organs, such as the heart and liver in Ashya's case.

Video: October 2014: Interview With Kings

This would lead to less severe long-term side-effects including heart and breathing problems.

The therapy was not available for him on the NHS, although the health service later agreed to fund Ashya's treatment.

The family, who have previously spoken of their apprehension over returning to the UK for fear social services would get involved, are staying in Marbella where Ashya will continue his recovery.

Video: NHS Sending Cancer Patients To U.S.

The Sun quoted a report from the PTC which stated that the oncology department "could speculate that Proton Therapy received could be sufficient to sterilise sites of possible future relapses of the tumour and chemotherapy could deteriorate the quality of life of Ashya".

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Jail Conditions Back To 'Time Of Strangeways'

Prison conditions are as bad as they were at the time of the Strangeways riots 25 years ago, a former lord chief justice has warned.

Lord Woolf - who led the inquiry into trouble at the Manchester jail - said the system is in crisis again and called for an investigation into the state of Britain's prisons.

Lord Woolf, previously England's most senior judge, said: "There are things that are better now than then but I fear we've allowed ourselves to go backwards and we're back where we were at the time of Strangeways.

"For a time after the riot things were much better and numbers were going down.

Unfortunately prisoners are again being kept in conditions that we should not tolerate, they're a long way from home and their families can't keep in touch with them - a whole gamut of things that need to be done and that's why I would welcome a thorough re-look at the situation and above all trying to take prisons out of politics."

Two people died, hundreds more were injured and much of Strangeways prison was destroyed during violence which lasted for 25 days in April 1990.

Lord Woolf's report into the disturbance was seen as a landmark moment in the history of Britain's prisons.

Lord Woolf led the inquiry into the Strangeways riot

It identified dilapidated, overcrowded and insanitary conditions as the main underlying causes of trouble.

Lord Woolf made his latest intervention on BBC Inside Out North West, which will be broadcast tonight.

He said more needs to be done to stop prisoners from turning to crime again once they are released.

Last week a parliamentary report warned government cuts and reforms to the prisons system in England and Wales have made a "significant contribution" to a deterioration in safety over the last two years.

The cross-party House of Commons Justice Committee voiced "grave concern" over increases in assaults on staff and inmates, suicides, self-harm and indiscipline in prisons between 2012 and 2014.

Prisons Minister Andrew Selous said: "This Government has considerably increased the adult male prison capacity from the level inherited at the end of the last parliament.

"All prisons have safe population levels and published statistics show that crowding is at its lowest levels since 2007/08.

"Staffing levels were agreed with both prison governors and the unions at the outset, and prison officers have done an excellent job during a period when the prison population has unpredictably risen."

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Military Families 'Swept Under The Carpet'

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Families of soldiers killed fighting for the British military have said the sacrifice of their loved ones should be acknowledged in the General Election.

A letter sent to the leaders of the main political parties by some 60 families said they had been "swept under the carpet" and asked for five pledges in their election manifestos.

Among their requests is a commitment to hold an Afghan inquiry and to give the next Defence Minister responsibility for bereaved families as part of their portfolio.

Julie Philips' lost her husband Michael in Sierra Leone

The letter also demands a review of the Armed Forces Covenant and military wills.

"We believe this is essential in demonstrating your commitment to those who have been prepared to lay down their lives for the greater good of our country," the letter reads.

Video: UK Troops To Help In Anti-IS Fight

"The families left behind and to future generations prepared to make those same selfless sacrifices as their commitment to our country and its people."

Lucy Aldridge's son William was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. Rifleman Aldridge was the youngest British soldier to die in the conflict. She is one of the signatories.

"There is nobody there. There is no recognition that there is a lack of support and has been for decades. Successive governments have forgotten about us," she said.

"Because deaths in the military are so often sudden and violent, bereaved families can suffer from a very acute form of depression after the loss of their loved ones. We feel there is very little understanding of that from the authorities we turn to for help."

The group wants politicians to recognise that their situation is unique.

Julie Philips' husband Michael was the only British soldier killed in Sierra Leone.

She said: "We do need the support. It's not just about financial support. It's about having somebody there who can oversee and say right, these forces families have all been through the same thing.

"It doesn't matter if it is Iraq, Afghan, an accident, or suicide. If there was support there, then more families could come together."

Families of dead soldiers are often subject to intense media attention at the time. They have to watch the coffin return in a public repatriation which is often broadcast on television, and must attend an inquest into their death often months if not years after the event.

Many of them have created an informal forum on Facebook to share advice and support. There is no official Government or Military equivalent.

Unable to cope with her loss, Ms Aldridge attempted suicide in 2013.

"It isn't just our loved ones who serve, we serve too," she said.

Video: Last Brits Leave Helmand

"We're the ones pacing the floor when they're deployed. We're the ones concerned about getting that knock on the door, and when it does happen you hope there will be some long-term support to help you, and there just isn't.

"It feels like once a conflict is over and the publicity dies down, our loved ones are remembered on memorials but we're forgotten about and our concerns are swept under the carpet. 

"We need to learn from past conflicts. I'm finding more families are coming up with the same issues and there just isn't anyone to represent us who can look at those issues and actually deal with them."

David Cameron has written to the families and promised the Conservatives will consider the suggestions for their forthcoming manifesto.

Video: Ghani: 'We Will Remember Them'

Ed Miliband has told Sky News that he will write to the families shortly.

"The whole country honours the memories of members of the Armed Forces who pay the ultimate sacrifice in defending us," he said. 

"We must also honour bereaved families who must live with the grief of having lost a son or daughter, father or mother, husband or wife.

"We are very grateful for the proposals put forward by Bereaved Military Families Support UK. We will examine them in detail and respond to the specific suggestions."

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MPs 'Putting Lives At Risk Over Legal Highs'

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Political parties are being urged to commit to a ban on the sale of so-called legal highs in their manifestos, or risk putting thousands of young people at risk ahead of the summer music festival season.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) says MPs have been "too slow" in recognising the dangers and legislating to protect consumers from such products, despite the public's desire for a ban.

According to new research seen by Sky News, three-quarters of the public want the sale of legal highs on the high street to be banned.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the RSPH, said politicians have not made the issue a big enough priority and as a result have "put a lot of people at risk".

MPs have asked festivals to put their own legal high bans in operation

She told Sky News: "Particularly at this time of the year, with the election fast approaching, a ban on legal highs is not included in the manifestos and we believe that would really be something the public would welcome."

The RSPH says consumer protection regulations should be enforced to remove legal products which are marketed in a misleading way.

Furthermore, it says the marketing of products with brand names such as White Stuff, Go-Caine and Mary Jane normalises drug taking.

Ms Cramer added: "Disclaimers that these products are not for human consumption are merely a fig leaf and it is highly irresponsible for them to be marketed in a 'nudge-nudge, wink-wink' manner."

Around three million people attend summer music festivals each year, according to research by Festival Insights, and 23% of festival-goers have taken drugs at an event.

The RSPH believe the number of those who could be tempted to try legal highs is even greater.

There were 101 new substances recorded in 2014, and at least 60 deaths related to legal highs.

Paul Reed, general manager of The Association of Independent Festivals, told Sky News: "The problem is many people equate 'legal' with 'safe'.

"We'd welcome legal changes that would make these substances less available."

Part of the difficulty in legislating against specific legal high substances is that the formulas are often slightly tweaked and then they are put back on the market.

While the Government is developing proposals for a general ban on the sale of legal highs, no specific plan has been put in place. Yet MPs have written to festivals asking them to put their own bans in operation.

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Nine UK Medical Students 'Working In Syria'

Nine British medics are reported to have travelled from Sudan to Syria to work in hospitals in areas controlled by Islamic State.

The four men and five women crossed into Syria last week without warning their parents, according to The Observer. One of the women informed her family of the trip via Whatsapp, it is claimed.

The students had been studying in Sudan because their parents wanted them to experience a more Islamic culture, but they were born and raised in Britain.

Turkish politician Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, who is assisting the families, told the newspaper the students had travelled to Syria to "help, not to fight".

One of the girls, Lena Maumoon Abdulqadir, is said to have told her relatives: "Don't worry about us, we've reached Turkey and are on our way to volunteer helping wounded Syrian people."

But some of the students' families are concerned the group may have gone to help by working as doctors for a militant group, possibly IS.

"She was living in [Africa] a land which needs a lot of doctors everywhere. Why would she go all the way to Syria for volunteering?" Lena's father Maumoon Abdulqadir told Turkey's Birgün newspaper. 

"These kids were born and raised in England, but they were sent to Sudan to study at medical school," Mr Ediboglu told The Observer.

"I've asked the families why they sent their children to study there, and as I understood it, they wanted them to experience a more Islamic culture and not to forget their roots."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing consular assistance to the families. We have informed the Turkish police to try and ascertain their whereabouts.

"The best way for the public to help is to donate to or otherwise support UK-registered charities with ongoing relief operations."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The UK advises against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq.

"Anyone who does travel to these areas, even for humanitarian reasons, is putting themselves in considerable danger."

It comes as British authorities continue efforts to trace three missing schoolgirls from east London who left Britain to join Islamic State.

Earlier, IS militants posted online what they say are the names, addresses and photos of 100 American military service members, and called upon its "brothers residing in America" to kill them.

The Pentagon said after the information was published on the internet it was investigating the matter.

"I can't confirm the validity of the information, but we are looking into it," a US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

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Senior Lib Dem Quits Over New Fundraising Row

The Liberal Democrats have called in a standards watchdog following allegations that a donation "bought" access to Nick Clegg.

The party has referred the matter to the Electoral Commission after it allegedly accepted the gift from the 'stepfather' of a Daily Telegraph journalist posing as a businessman.

Party fundraiser Ibrahim Taguri was also recently accused of impropriety

It is claimed that Lib Dem peer Lord Strasburger was secretly filmed discussing how to keep the donation secret by sidestepping disclosure rules.

Nick Clegg has also reportedly been filmed by Channel 4's Dispatches programme meeting the undercover reporter.

Video: Sky News To Host 'Chancellors' Q&A

It comes as the party's former chief fundraiser Ibrahim Taguri stands accused of bypassing party funding laws and has stepped down as an election candidate while the claims are looked into.

A Lib Dem spokesman said: "It is common practice for senior party figures from all parties to meet with potential and current donors.

"Dispatches has raised important questions about one particular donation, which the party is taking seriously.

"The Party had no reason to believe that the donation was made by anyone other than the person who signed the cheque.

"When we were alerted to the claim that this donation may, without our knowledge, have been made on someone else's behalf, we referred this matter to the Electoral Commission, and requested their advice on whether the donation should be handed to the Commission or returned to the donor.

"We shall comply fully with their investigation and any recommendations they may make as a result.

"The party has also introduced an additional level of scrutiny to donations to the federal party, over and above legal requirements. This will apply with immediate effect."

Lord Strasburger has resigned the Lib Dem whip in the House of Lords while an investigation takes place and he has accused Channel 4 of "entrapment".

He said: "In the last few months I have been very active in the House of Lords fighting to protect the freedom of the press, but I never had in mind the sort of cynical and contrived entrapment-style journalism to which I have been personally subjected by Channel 4.

"I am a retired businessman, I am not a career politician... In a purely voluntary capacity, I have been helping the party with fundraising. I have gained no personal benefit in doing so.

"Whatever Channel 4 may say in their Dispatches programme, I do not think I have committed any offence. 

"Having said that, I believe that we should all be accountable for what we do, so I have invited the Electoral Commission to carry out an investigation into my actions."

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