Following the explosion in Manchester last night, free App citizenAID has been highlighted as it is an app and pocket guide that has been developed to advise members of the public on what they can do if involved in a multiple casualty incident, including a bombing or a shooting. The simple system enables the public to keep safe and offers guidance on how to provide life-saving immediate aid for the injured around them.

citizenAID has been set up by a team of senior clinicians with military and civilian experience and is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity. This deep experience of blast and gunshot injury has been gathered during recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the basis of the information provided in the guide. For more information please see citizenaid.org, where you will also find a public information film on immediate actions that will save lives in the aftermath of a bombing (this film carries a ‘discretion advised’ warning).

Professor Sir Keith Porter, co-author of citizenAID said, “The events in Manchester last night sadly highlight the need for everyone to be empowered with the knowledge that they may need if they are caught up in such an incident. The citizenAID app is free to download and I would encourage everyone to do so, and to familiarise themselves with its content.”

One of the aims of citizenAID is to give the younger generation the tools that they need to keep themselves safe and to help to treat others. The events of last night have once again highlighted the importance of this.”

Fast broadband, at least two toilets and off-road parking are among the features that have become essentials for many property buyers.

A new survey has revealed the top 20 things people look for in a new home, with central heating, double glazing and a garden unsurprisingly leading the way.

But more modern factors – such as a strong internet connection, clear mobile phone signal and enough living space for a large flat-screen television – are also priorities for buyers.

Kevin Shaw, national sales director at property specialist Leaders, says: “New technology and modern design standards have changed the way people think about the place they live and what they expect when buying a new home.

“Many people are looking for a property that boasts fast broadband and a good mobile phone signal, meaning sellers who can offer these should realise these factors have become a major selling point.

“It is also interesting to note that a strong performance when it comes to energy efficiency is another must for buyers. This shows the importance of investing in eco-friendly solutions such as solar panels, cavity wall insulation and a high-specification boiler.”

Other issues that were named by respondents to the Gocompare.com survey as among the 20 most important things in a new home included ample electric sockets, friendly neighbours, a driveway or dedicated parking space, secure doors and windows, a dining room and a bath.

Despite the modern feel of many of the answers, buyers still insisted that a landline telephone is also essential in any new property.

Kevin adds: “Efficiency, security and connectivity have overtaken aesthetic issues such as period features. How a home performs in these areas is likely to sway modern buyers so sellers are advised to prioritise such matters.”

Last week the three main parties in Britain and Northern Ireland released their manifestos. It seems that the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour all agree that the key areas of policy for a future government will be: the economy, housing, healthcare and Brexit.  With two weeks to go until the general election on 8^th June, here is a quick look at how the three main parties compare on the key policies.

On the economy, all three parties are in agreement that more needs to be done to encourage growth and investment. Whilst the Conservatives wish to lower taxes and improve corporate governance, the Liberal Democrats and Labour wish to provide proper scrutiny of big companies and ensure that those who can afford to are paying an appropriate amount of tax, through a 1p increase in income tax as proposed by the Liberal Democrats, or a 5% increase in income tax for those earning over £80,000 in the case of Labour. Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour would use the British Business Bank to provide investment and funds to small and developing businesses, whilst the Conservatives remained vague on how they wished to promote small business.

Brexit sees all three parties taking completely different stances. The Conservatives are in favour of a ‘hard Brexit’ meaning leaving the EU completely including the customs union and the single market, taking back control of immigration and leaving the European Court of Justice. They would also replace or amend laws that were implemented when the UK was part of the EU through a Great Repeal Bill. Labour wishes to leave the EU but go for a ‘soft Brexit’ meaning that Britain remains part of the customs union and the single market, but prevents freedom of movement. Labour would also seek to guarantee the rights of European citizens currently living in Britain, as well as the rights of British citizens currently living in Europe. The Liberal Democrats would remain in the single market, the customs union and allow for freedom of movement. They would also wish to hold a referendum on any deal signed between them and the EU, and allow the people the final say, giving them the chance to completely reject the deal and remain in the EU.

Healthcare is a big issue for many voters within the country, and considering the ageing population this is no surprise. It is also no surprise therefore, that all three parties have promised significant investment into the NHS. The Conservatives have promised £8 billion of investment throughout the next Parliament, with £1 billion of that going toward Mental Health funding. The Liberal Democrats would use the 1p increase in income tax to help increase funding for the NHS and A and E, they would also set up a cross party consultation group to assess how the NHS is performing and whether it needs to adapt and change, and if so how that change might be implemented. Labour would invest £30 billion into the NHS, and would invest heavily in GP services. They would also develop a Child’s Health Index to assess how healthy the children in the country are and how their health can be improved.

On housing, the three parties appear to vary between have clear cut and costed proposals and vagueness. The Conservatives promise to use the Homelessness Reduction Act to half homelessness by 2022, and to end homelessness completely by 2027. They would also seek to modernise the home buying process through increased emphasis on their ‘Help to Buy’ Scheme and increasing protection for renters through introducing procedures that make the renter the priority in law. The Liberal Democrats would seek to build 300,000 new houses by the end of the 2022 Parliament. They would use the Housing and Development bank to attract investment into the country for housing development. They would also introduce ‘Rent to Buy’ schemes to ease people into the housing market. Labour would build 100,000 new houses using brownfield sites, 4,000 of which would be for those with a history of rough sleeping. They would also reintroduce housing benefit for 18-21 year olds.

All three parties have provided fully detailed manifestos to go alongside these key policies, that are available on their websites. If you have not already done so, please do register to vote. And do remember to turn out on Thursday 8^th June, to get the government you want!

By Vivek Rajkhowa

The West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre (WMGMC) has appointed Insignia Medical Systems to provide an ambitious region-wide image sharing solution to support delivery of the pioneering 100,000 Genomes Project.

WMGMC, led by University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust, is one of 13 GMCs established to deliver the NHS England initiative – uniquely bringing 17 acute NHS Trusts across the West Midlands together in collaboration.

The 100,000 Genomes Project, the largest of its kind in the world, aims to improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases and cancer by combining the genomic data of participants with their medical records, also producing a ground-breaking resource for future research.

Working with all 17 partner Trusts, UK-based Insignia will provide their industry-leading InSight Sharing Service to deliver real-time regional clinical viewing of images.

The Regional Image Sharing Project is being led by a core team from UHB, working closely with Insignia and the regional IT, picture archiving systems, information governance and clinical teams. The first Trusts are going live in the summer of 2017 and the complete project across all 17 Trusts, is expected to be completed by March 2018.

Hilary Fanning, Director of Research Development and Innovation at UHB, said: “The primary purpose of this image sharing and transfer infrastructure is to support the work of the WMGMC delivery partners.

“However, the region-wide infrastructure it will create has the potential to extend beyond the life of the 100,000 Genomes Project, improving patient care and clinical outcomes, for example, by facilitating wider multidisciplinary clinical decision making and diagnosis in oncology, rare diseases, and other clinical specialities.

“We are delighted to be working with Insignia to bring these added benefits to patients across the West Midlands.”

Richard Dormer, Managing Director of Insignia Medical Systems, added: “We are exceptionally proud to have been awarded the contract to provide this ground-breaking sharing service to such a large number of West Midlands Trusts.

“Sharing is an area we excel in and we are looking forward to deploying this solution, which will help provide a much-enhanced service to patients in the West Midlands.”

The Trusts involved are University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Wye Valley NHS Trust, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Birmingham-based DriveSafe & StaySafe has called for increased safety education after new data have revealed that road traffic is the biggest killer of teenagers globally.

Road injury accounted for a tenth of more than 1.2 million deaths among 10 to 19 year olds worldwide in 2015, while in Britain in the same year road accidents killed 145 people and left 3,166 more seriously injured in the same age group, according to newly released World Health Organisation figures.

Most of the teenagers that were killed by road injuries are classed as “vulnerable” road users: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

DriveSafe & StaySafe, a not-for-profit organisation that is campaigning for road safety education to be part of the UK national curriculum, recently completed the successful piloting of its new ‘Walking to School Safely’ early learning book featuring new safety heroes The Conies within 27 Birmingham primary schools.

Fay Goodman, Managing Director of DriveSafe & StaySafe, said: “It is tragic that so many teenagers are killed needlessly on the roads, with all the devastation this causes families and friends. We need to start now in educating children as young as four on how to keep safe and be aware of the environment around them, and in ensuring schools, colleges and all educational outlets continue to promote the message of how important it is to follow sensible road safety procedures.

“I would also like to see more government awareness campaigns to remind families of the dangers on the roads and the need for drivers to be more careful and conscious of children and young people around them.”

DriveSafe & StaySafe’s ‘Conies: Walking to School Safely’ pilot scheme proved so successful that teachers from all 27 schools in Yardley, Hall Green and Hodge Hill - locations identified in the 2016 Birmingham Road Safety Strategy as child accident ‘hot spots’ – reported that the lessons ‘made a 100% improvement in road safety awareness’.

Fay added: “We hope that the lessons the children learn in primary school about walking to school safely will stay with them when they reach secondary school and begin to walk to school unassisted and negotiate unfamiliar routes, and continue to remain with them to pass on to future generations. We all need to keep sending out the DriveSafe message of ‘Be Aware, Be Prepared, Be Responsible and Be Safe’.”

Sandwell has a new Mayoral team for the year ahead – with Councillor Ahmadul Haque MBE as Mayor and Councillor Susan Eaves as Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Haque, who has served the Tipton Green ward since 1996, has chosen his wife Surma to be Mayoress, while Rowley ward’s Councillor Eaves has her husband John as her consort.

They were inaugurated at a special ceremony at tonight’s annual meeting of the council, where a vote of thanks was also passed to retiring Mayor Councillor Julie Webb and Deputy Mayor Councillor Susan Downing.

Councillor Haque announced his two charities for the year will be:

• Midlands Air Ambulance Charity; and
• Your Trust Charity, run by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, specifically raising money for cancer services and research.

Councillor Haque said: “This is the proudest moment for me to be honoured with the position of the Mayor of Sandwell and I pledge to serve the residents of Sandwell with all sincerity."

Amanda Winwood, Your Trust Charity membership academy manager, said: "We are thrilled to be one of the Mayor of Sandwell’s chosen charities this year and we look forward to working with him and enhancing the experience of all people using our services including staff, patients and their families."

Adam Williams, fundraising manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity in the West Midlands adds: "Midlands Air Ambulance Charity receives no government or National Lottery funding, so the support from the Mayor of Sandwell will help to raise vital funds."