View this email in your browser ([link removed])
** 16 November 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
** UK
------------------------------------------------------------
** More than 75% of NHS midwives think staffing levels unsafe, says RCM (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------
** Father and son jailed after helping smuggle five million cigarettes into the UK (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------
** Upcoming event
------------------------------------------------------------
** The E-cigarette Summit 2020 (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------
** UK
------------------------------------------------------------
**
------------------------------------------------------------
** More than three-quarters of midwives think staffing levels in their NHS trust or board are unsafe, according to a survey by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). The RCM said services were at breaking point, with 42% of midwives reporting that shifts were understaffed and a third saying there were “very significant gaps” in most shifts.
Gill Walton, chief executive of the RCM said that “maternity staff are exhausted, they’re demoralised and some of them are looking for the door. For the safety of every pregnant woman and every baby, this cannot be allowed to continue [...] Midwives and maternity support workers come into the profession to provide safe, high-quality care. The legacy of underfunding and underinvestment is robbing them of that – and worse still, it’s putting those women and families at risk.”
According to the survey of 1,400 staff, the majority of whom work in England, seven out of 10 had considered leaving the profession while more a third were seriously thinking about it.
Source: The Guardian, 16 November 2020
Editorial note: Midwives are responsible for delivering stop smoking interventions in pregnancy.
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
**
------------------------------------------------------------
** A father and son have been jailed after heading up a crime gang which smuggled over five million illegal cigarettes worth over £1.6m in unpaid duty.
Gang members were sent to various locations across England to collect large quantities of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco before returning them to Newcastle.
Caroline Austin, assistant director of HMRC's fraud investigation service, said “This was a highly organised and sustained attack on the public purse. Cheap cigarettes come at a cost, as they often finance organised crime and we will continue to pursue those who commit tobacco fraud and steal taxpayers’ money."
Source: Chronicle Live, 13 November 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
** Upcoming event
------------------------------------------------------------
**
The annual E-Cigarette Summit 2020 will be taking place online this year, between the 3rd and 4th of December 2020.
"Since the inaugural meeting held at the Royal Society in London 2013, The E-Cigarette Summit has been at the forefront of expanding and forwarding the scientific and public health discussions around e-cigarettes and broader harm reduction debates and now eight years on the Summit welcomes scientists, regulators, public health professionals and policy makers from around the world who are looking to establish their own regulatory framework in the face of new nicotine products."
------------------------------------------------------------
**
To view the full agenda, list of speakers and to register for the event, please visit The E-Cigarette Summit website: [link removed] ([link removed] )
------------------------------------------------------------
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])
For more information call 020 7404 0242, email
[email protected] (mailto:
[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
6th Floor New House
Hatton Garden
London
EC1N 8JY
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
