Author Archives: wendy
Orkneys ‘have highest rate of MS’
Press Association
The highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world has been found in a small group of islands in the UK, researchers said.
The Orkney Islands have, per capita, more people with the degenerative neurological condition than any other place, according to a study looking at the prevalence of the disease across the world.
The research also discovered that the number of people with MS in Orkney has increased, and that one in 170 women has the condition.
Mum fuming after bus driver leaves disabled daughter out in cold
A pensioner with a disabled daughter is furious after a bus driver left them out in the cold to give priority to mums with pushchairs.
Janet Chapman, 61, was with her daughter Tammy, 23, who has Down’s syndrome and was in a wheelchair, at Babraham Road park and ride in Cambridge.
But when they tried to get on a bus, the space designated for disabled people was taken up with pushchairs. When she and her other daughter Jamie, 24, asked the Stagecoach driver if he could move them along or get the mums to fold the buggies, he refused.
Mrs Chapman, of Huntingdon Road, Sawston, has now received an apology from Stagecoach bosses but is not satisfied with the response and accused the other mums of selfishness.
She said: “I got to the bus with my two daughters in good time to go to a dentist’s appointment. The bus was full and the space for wheelchairs was taken up by mums with pushchairs despite it categorically stating on the sign it was for disabled passengers.
Threat to leave needy patients in hospital, making State pick up bill in Ireland
PUBLISHED: 04:23, 9 December 2012 | UPDATED: 04:23, 9 December 2012
Family carers say they are prepared to go on strike
Such a move would end up costing the State far in excess of any money saved by the controversial cut in this week’s Budget.
The Carers’ Association plans a further protest at the Dáil on Tuesday, with Government backbenchers declaring themselves in ‘open revolt’.
However, some members of the association are calling for strike action that would leave patients stranded in public hospitals.
The Government is coming under massive pressure to reverse the decision, which has been universally criticised as a cruel and unnecessary measure that saves a paltry €26m.
