To mark Rare Diseases Day, Health Minister, Baroness Blackwood has announced the National Genomics Healthcare Strategy which will ensure that all rare disease patients in the NHS get earlier diagnosis, more targeted treatment and better care, as well as revolutionising the diagnosis and treatment of other diseases, such as cancer.

Rare Disease Day, celebrated on February 28, is an important annual reminder of the work carried out, all year round, by advocates across the UK to improve awareness of rare diseases and the challenges of living with them, says Nicola Redfern, UK General Manager, Bluebird Bio.

Lib Dem peer Baroness Parminter writes to mark Eating Disorder Awareness Week, following her Lords question on ‘Ensuring those suffering from an eating disorder can access treatment and support’

The Government’s expected Social Care Green Paper needs to set out how social care and dental services will work together in the future, says Andrew Selous MP.

The annual Mental Health Act report, published today by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), looks at the care and treatment people received when they are held under various sections of the Mental Health Act.

Despite having the tools to prevent disease-related malnutrition, the UK is facing an increase in cases.

Cancer Research UK’s Shaun Walsh is calling for Government to push forward with consulting & implementing in full, Childhood Obesity Plan: Chapter 2 as promised, without further delay.

Today in Parliament, the possibility of free school meals is going back on the Parliamentary agenda thanks to Lord Bassam. 

Please find below the latest statement from Mind issued in response to the government’s announcement of more mental health support for NHS workers.

Dignity in Dying has welcomed the commitment that the Government of Jersey will commission research into end-of-life choices, with the explicit inclusion of assisted dying as one of the issues to be considered.

Owen Smith MP writes for PoliticsHome, calling for an end to the prioritisation of commercial interests over patient safety in the regulation of medical devices.

Responding to the release of performance figures for January 2019 which show worst ever four-hour performance and the highest ever number of emergency admissions, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Taj Hassan said:

It is vital to recognise that for disease related malnutrition, the goal is to minimise the impact, writes the British Specialist Nutrition Association (BSNA).

Policy and Campaigns Manager at Mind, Paul Spencer, says:  

Alzheimer’s Society and Sport England have joined forces to call on the sport and physical activity sector to commit to becoming dementia friendly and reduce the barriers that prevent many people affected by dementia from taking part in sport and physical activity. 

The Keogh Review stated that ‘dermal fillers are a crisis waiting to happen’, and with the numbers of complaints relating to these procedures increasing year on year, it appears we may be approaching that crisis, warns Conservative MP Alberto Costa.

Sir Ed Davey, local MP for Kingston and Surbiton, has taken up the offer to walk in the shoes of people with learning disabilities as part of a campaign encouraging political leaders to find out more about their lives and the challenges they face

Using novel methods based on a combination of social media platforms and validated self-assessment instruments, a study has recently been completed on 6,785 users of a milk with modified beta casein protein, of whom 5,535 were adults. The results have been encouraging and form the basis of a low-risk strategy for supporting and advising patients, writes Dr Martin Goldman. 

Matt Hancock has signalled a government climbdown after he insisted ministers have no plans to make internet giants legally responsible for content posted on their platforms.

Our children are being born into a world with a unique challenges that influence mental wellbeing, says Wera Hobhouse MP.

Jackie Doyle-Price MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey MP, joined Mind at an event in Parliament this week to discuss the need for our housing system to deliver for people with mental health problems.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) is a piece of legislation that made changes to the types of legal problem covered by legal aid and to the financial eligibility threshold for applicants.

On the day of his death, Geoffrey Whaley has released an open letter to MPs urging them to legalise assisted dying as an option for dying Brits.

Fraudulent medicines threaten to endanger patients post-Brexit, writes Lib Dem peer Baroness Walmsley.