Latest News for Parents & Carers

One hundred Stoke-on-Trent families appealed against Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) decisions last year – the 03. Disagreement with school placement decisions was the most common reason for an appeal, accounting for nearly half of cases in 2023/2024.

In a first for the budget high street shop, Primark is releasing a 49-piece line of womenswear and menswear, adapted from its bestselling items to suit a range of needs.

CCTV and cameras are not uncommon on mental health wards, used with the intention of keeping patients safe. But some say that new technology, where cameras also monitor their pulse and breathing in their bedrooms, is adding to their sense of paranoia and in some cases making them more unwell.

Carly Hughes, who had a leg amputated after a serious infection in 2020, spent two years trying to get an accessible home through Leeds City Council after joining a waiting list in 2022. She said she developed “handmaid’s knee”, a condition which occurs when the front of the kneecap becomes inflamed, because she had to negotiate the stairs on her hands and knees.

Nearly 400,000 private prescriptions for ADHD medication were issued last year as patients sought to bypass lengthy NHS waiting lists, with people spending millions of pounds on treatment. Figures obtained by the BBC show the number of prescriptions for drugs rose from 28,439 in 2018-19 to 397,552 in 2023-24.