Christina Ebanks

Measles is 'worse than expected' in Utah, officials say Measles patients in Utah are developing severe complications, health officials say, including potentially life-threatening anemia and liver inflammation.

Measles patients are developing severe complications including life-threatening anemia and liver inflammation. Measles is a life-threatening infection which can be prevented by vaccination.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Trust CEO: National leaders are holding back mental health progress A leading trust CEO and former national director has warned the mental health sector feels "abandoned", with no long-term plan and its "share of spend falling like a stone".

‘The mental health sector feels “abandoned”, and with no long term plan and its share of spending “falling like a stone”

In 2025 Kings Fund reported that 1 in 4 mental health beds are now ‘outsourced’ so possibly Gov sees mental health as easy target for privatisation
www.hsj.co.uk/mental-healt...

‘The planned increase in health spending over this year is below the historic average but above the 2010s, while adjusting for population size and age also considerably reduces real-terms growth in NHS funding’
www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...

The majority of organisational problems are caused by a lack of talent.

And the majority of organisational problems can be solved by a density of talent.

Recruiting, developing and retaining talent should be our preoccupation.

Knitting for healing, one stitch at a time A Kenyan woman who survived breast cancer is knitting prostheses and training others to make them in a country where silicone ones are expensive.

When she received her cancer diagnosis, she did not expect that her hobby of knitting, which she took up while recovering, would affect the lives of thousands of breast cancer survivors. She now makes knitted breasr prostheses for other breast cancer survivors.
apnews.com/article/keny...

Role of epidemiology in supporting learning disability nurse education and practice Role of epidemiology in supporting learning disability nurse education and practice

Nurse apprenticeship illustrated through case studies, show how epidemiological knowledge supports earlier identification of health needs, clinical decision-making and the provision of personalised, person-centred care #LearningDisabilities

The government’s response on unpaid internships is welcome but it must lead to real change.

As the Sutton has pointed out below, unpaid and unadvertised internships remain a significant barrier to opportunity. They privilege those with financial backing and insider networks over those 1/

with financial backing and insider networks over those with talent and potential.

We know internships are a key route into many professions. When access depends on who can afford to work for free, that isn’t meritocracy, it’s structural advantage.

If we’re serious about social mobility, 2/

Sutton Trust reaction to the Government's response to consultation on unpaid internships - The Sutton Trust The Government has published its response to the consultation on unpaid internships.

paid internships must be the norm, transparently advertised and properly enforced.

Opportunity shouldn’t depend on your parents’ bank balance. www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

It was not anecdotal when we highlighted over and over again that this was happening.

I’ve worked in education for 26 years, half my life. And I’ve never regretted it once. Education can be maddening, wildly frustrating, exhausting mentally, physically and emotionally. There are times of grind, times of counting the days until holiday, times of boring meetings and pointless 1/

bureaucracy, egos to endure, politics to endure.

But when it’s right. When it clicks. When learning happens, when people flourish. When students cross the graduation stage. When solutions are found and thinking is collective and innovation sparks. When a student gets it. When a colleague gets 2/

a promotion. When you see people develop. When you see small kindnesses. When you upset the right people. When people do the things others said they could not.

Then. Then there is nothing like education. Nothing.

Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England - Interim Report - National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Baroness Amos has today published her Interim Report as Chair of the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.

Racism and discrimination including "poor staff" relationships are factors that contributes to maternity care failings. www.matneoinv.org.uk/updates/inde...

Thank you Damien, there are no solutions without truthful acknowledgments. Race and Racism conversations are often avoided as uncomfortable although they cost us billions. Society needs to get comfortable with the uncomfortable for any tangible and tailored approaches and solutions.

UK employers less likely to recruit disadvantaged ethnic minority graduates Ethnic minority graduates from a low socio-economic background are 45% less likely to be offered entry-level professional roles compared to more advantaged White applicants, finds a new report led by ...

roles, even when they have similar qualifications and apply in the same numbers.

This isn’t about aspiration or talent. It’s about discrimination in the workplace. Higher education has widened access. But if the labour market doesn’t change, we risk creating access without mobility.

Universities are held to account for the percentage of their students who achieve ‘graduate outcomes’. Yet here is more evidence below that graduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds, particularly those who are Black and Asian, are significantly less likely to secure entry-level professional 1/

co-created, processes rethought, spending adjusted, resources increased, solutions found.

At an organisational level, it means our forthcoming strategy has been infused with insights you can’t gain from the C suite. On a personal level it’s been the best learning of my career.

In the last year, I’ve done over 50 ‘back to the floor’ meetings, spending time with professional service and academic teams talking about the day to day reality of BNU.

I’ve been proved wrong, been corrected, had my mind changed, been encouraged to think differently. Strategy has been 1/

We’re recruiting for a Head of Registry Operations, a key role in reshaping how we do things. Reshares appreciated.
jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancy/head...

from graduates. The doctors, nurses and paramedics. The social workers, engineers and teachers. The artists and the performers, the philosophers and historians and mathematicians. All benefitting the UK.

Higher education is a social, as well as personal, good.

Graduates benefit personally from higher education. They earn more. They gain more. The constant refrains in the discussions around student loans. And of course it’s true.

But any good-faith consideration of the student loan system must equally foreground that the country benefits from 1/

We’re now recruiting for a Chief Finance Officer to join BNU. Great opportunity to join the best exec team I’ve worked with, reshares appreciated.
jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancy/chie...

Vaccines are a national security issue, says global health official Vaccines are a matter of national security, a leading global health figure said this week, warning that rising anti-vaccine sentiment worldwide could undermine efforts to fight future pandemics.

Vaccines are a matter of national security. Experts warn that rising anti-vaccine sentiment worldwide could undermine efforts to fight future pandemics.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Great news. UK vaccines update for measles unfortunately remains low. Global efforts are needed for effective vaccines uptake as diseases don't understand borders. researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8556/CBP-8556.pdf

www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1...
https://

Measles continues to spread in the US, but with some letup As South Carolina's outbreak grows to 876 confirmed cases, vaccinations in the state surged in January. Cases have also been reported in two ICE detention facilities.

"This has been the best month for measles vaccination during this outbreak. We can attribute that to is a wider recognition of the threat of this disease circulating in our communities and the desire for people to be protected against the complications."
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...

Whenever there is organisational misbehaviour, there is someone who excused it. It’s banter. Or they grew up in a different era. Or people are just too sensitive. Or they really didn’t mean it like that. Or that’s just how they are and you should just ignore it.
1/

When people feel that they won’t be supported if they challenge misbehaviour, when there is a belief that complaints won’t be taken seriously and nothing will be done, that’s more than a problem with individuals; that’s a problem with organisational culture.

MHRA statement on new review of paracetamol safety during pregnancy Paracetamol should be taken as directed in the patient information leaflet.

Large scale analysis finds no evidence that paracetamol use during pregnancy increases risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability among children
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Hundreds of vulnerable children placed in illegal homes for months by care system - Committees - UK Parliament Children are being put at risk as a result of being placed in inappropriate homes through a residential care system in England that is not working.

These unregistered private providers make high levels of profit - unsurprisingly. But DfE expects it will take two years for improvements to the system to take effect. So why did they let the system deteriorate to this state or start improvement sooner?
committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...