1,015 paramedics quit the NHS in 2013-14 over spiralling workload and inadequate vehicles or staffing numbers, almost twice as many as in 2011-12, when 593 quit, the BBC reports.
The impact was greatest in London where 223 paramedics left last year, four times as many as in 2011-12, and London Ambulance Service predict a national shortfall of 3,000 paramedics.
Dr Fiona Moore, medical director for the LSA said demand echoed that facing GPs, saying: ‘I think [demand] now reflects the sort of supermarket culture we now have, so if you can buy a loaf of bread at 04:00 in the morning, why can’t you access your healthcare when it’s convenient to you?’
The Independent reports that eating well now costs three times more than buying junk food, according to a Cambridge study which has tracked costs of 94 key, ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ items from 2002 to 2012.
Researchers found the prices of high fat foods have risen much less sharply, with 1,000kcal of healthy foods in 2002 costing £5.65 compared to £1.77 for the same calories of junk food, by 2012 this was £7.49 and £2.50 respectively.
The study writes: ‘This trend is likely to make healthier diets less affordable over time, which may have implications for individual food security and population health.’
And finally, the Daily Mail reports that unhealthy foods are no more ‘comforting’ than eating less indulgent foods or not eating at all.
U.S. researchers found students in a bad mood reported they felt equally cheered up after eating comfort food, other foods they did not consider comfort foods or after eating nothing.
