Teenagers increasingly taking breaks as they control own use of devices rather than relying on parents to enforce limits, experts say

Children are increasingly taking breaks from their smartphones to better manage their mental health, personal safety and concentration spans, research has revealed.

They are reacting to growing concerns that spending too much time online can be harmful by taking control of their own social media and smartphone use rather than relying on parents to enforce limits, according to experts.

Communities by the sea have been hit by economic decline and related social problems. Empowering a new generation can help turn the tide

Wish you were here? In recent years the fate of coastal towns has emerged as one of Britain’s most pressing social issues. Both the fishing and domestic tourism industries have been in decline for decades. Seaside communities routinely find themselves at the wrong end of national league tables when it comes to deprivation, job opportunities, educational attainment and mental and physical health.

As the Guardian’s new reporting project on young people in coastal towns makes clear, the result for many 16- to 25-year-olds is acute frustration combined with the pressure of unwanted dilemmas. Most remain fiercely loyal to places whose geographic isolation tends to generate a strong sense of belonging. But getting out to get on is, too often, perceived as the only option. The steady stream of departures in turn takes away skills and youthful dynamism, further diminishing the prospects of those left behind.

George Findlay resigns from ‘hugely demanding job’ amid police investigation into deaths of more than 90 patients

The chief executive of an NHS hospital trust where police are investigating the possible manslaughter of more than 90 patients is to step down.

George Findlay said he was “very proud” of his 10 years at University Hospitals Sussex NHS trust, including the last three years as its chief executive.

Starmer and Macron are due to attend a more formal summit tomorrow

The BMA strike decision must be a tempting topic for Kemi Badenoch at PMQs, which is starting very soon. The Conservatives have repeatedly criticised the government for the way they swiftly settled public sector pay disputes when they took office; they argue that Labour was too generous to the unions, thereby encouraging them to threaten further strikes.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

Streeting says he is “disappointed” by the proposed strike, and he insists resident doctors have had a relatively good outcome on pay. He says:

I remain disappointed that despite all that we have been able to achieve in this last year, and that the majority of resident doctors in the BMA did not vote to strike, the BMA is continuing to threaten strike action.

I accepted the DDRB’s recommendation for resident doctors, awarding an average pay rise of 5.4%, the highest across the public sector. Accepting this above inflation recommendation, which was significantly higher than affordability, required reprioritisation of NHS budgets. Because of this government’s commitment to recognising the value of the medical workforce, we made back-office efficiency savings to invest in the frontline. That was not inevitable, it was an active political choice this government made. Taken with the previous deal I made with the BMA last year, this means resident doctors will receive an average pay rise of 28.9% over the last 3 years.

He says the NHS is “finally moving in the right direction” and that a strike will “put that recovery at risk”.

He offers to hold meet the BMA to hold talks to avert the strike. He says:

I stand ready to meet with you again at your earliest convenience to resolve this dispute without the need for strike action. I would like to once again extend my offer to meet with your entire committee to discuss this.

As I have stated many times, in private and in public, with you and your predecessors, you will not find another health and social care secretary as sympathetic to resident doctors as me. By choosing to strike instead of working in partnership to improve conditions for your members and the NHS, you are squandering an opportunity.

An embassy in West Germany | Norman Tebbit | Penis reduction | The Salt Path

I can testify to the accuracy of John le Carré’s research, which you note with reference to a new exhibition at Oxford’s Bodleian libraries (8 July). When researching British foreign policy, I spent a day in the embassy in Bonn in 1973. It struck me as so much like its portrayal in A Small Town in Germany that I remarked that if someone came pushing the registry trolley I would not be surprised to hear it squeak, as he had described it. “It’s a pity you weren’t here two or three years ago,” came the reply, “you would have recognised several of the characters as well.”
William Wallace
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

• I was never a fan of Norman Tebbit (Obituaries, 8 July) but an ex briefly worked security at Conservative HQ and had nothing but praise for him as the only person who said hello and goodbye to everyone by name every day.
Michelle Kimber
Plymouth

Beans, pulses, starchy foods and seeds are having a moment on social media. And, for once, the health benefits suggest they deserve it

Name: Fibremaxxing.

Age: Brand new.

Almost three in 10 conceptions ended in legal terminations, ONS figures show, as provider says women struggling to access contraception

The number of abortions in England and Wales reached a record high in 2022, with a leading provider stating that women are facing “significant barriers” in access to contraception.

Almost three in 10 conceptions ended in legal abortions in the two nations in 2022, up from about two in 10 a decade earlier, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The union bases its claims of a real-terms cut on the retail prices index – ditched as a national statistic in 2013

The British Medical Association (BMA) is demanding a 29% pay rise for resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, in England, to prevent strikes. The union claims the increase is needed to reverse cuts to the real-terms value of their pay since 2008. But how credible are its calculations?

Brian Langstaff urges overhaul of compensation system, which report says was designed without consulting victims

Victims of the infected blood scandal have “not been listened to” by ministers, the chair of the inquiry has said in a report urging an overhaul of the compensation system.

The additional report lays bare the failings of the government’s detailed compensation scheme, and sets out recommendations to make it fairer and faster. In particular, it criticises ministers for designing the scheme without consulting the scandal’s victims, as was recommended in the inquiry’s May 2024 report, which it says has led to “obvious injustices” that could have been avoided.

BMA union says it is giving Wes Streeting two weeks to come to the table to negotiate ‘a path to pay restoration’

• UK politics live – latest updates

Resident doctors in England will strike for five days later this month in their campaign for a 29% pay rise. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, denounced the move as “completely unreasonable”.

Resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – working in the NHS will withdraw their labour from 7am on Friday 25 July and not return until 7am the following Wednesday.

We need to confront the social conditions that impact them – and the toxic workplaces they’re trying to push back against

Last month, new figures showed that one in four young people in England have a mental health condition. An unwillingness to examine the challenging social and economic conditions – from housing insecurity to financial concerns – means there can be a tendency to explain this rise as a result of overdiagnosis, although there is little evidence for this claim. Clinicians cite the criteria for diagnosis to show that overreporting is not substantiated – if anything, the severity of reported conditions has increased, in part due to a reduced stigma resulting in more people seeking help.

Young people with poor mental health are nearly five times more likely to be out of work, and there is a growing understanding that inadequate support around young people’s mental health in the workplace is driving them to leave or consider leaving their job. In response, the government has proposed cuts to under-22s’ health support.

Fran Boait is a leadership coach, freelancer and writer

More than 8,000 people, including almost 300 children, are on waiting list, as NHS sees sharp drop in donors

The number of patients waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the UK has increased to a record high while there has been a sharp drop in donors, official figures show.

More than 8,000 people, including almost 300 children, are on the transplant waiting list, according to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). With nearly another 4,000 in need of an organ but temporarily off the list because they are too sick or unavailable for an operation, it means almost 12,000 people are living in limbo, waiting for the call that can mean the difference between life and death.

Scheme in England to identify signs of oesophageal cancer forms part of government’s 10-year health plan

Hundreds of people in England are to be offered a “sponge on a string” test to identify a precursor to one of the deadliest cancers in high-street pharmacies for the first time.

Patients with persistent heartburn or acid reflux can take the “game-changer” tablet-sized capsule that when washed down with a glass of water expands in the stomach.

Watchdog releases nine new rulings setting clear precedents for online selling

Online pharmacies are no longer allowed to run adverts for weight loss injections, the advertising watchdog has ruled, as part of a crackdown on what has been described as a “wild west” culture of online selling.

In the UK, advertising prescription-only medications (POMs) – which includes all weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – to the public is illegal. However, a Guardian investigation previously found some online pharmacies either breaking these rules outright, or exploiting grey areas to peddle the medications to the public.

The Royal College of Nursing and Unison are undertaking indicative ballots to assess members’ willingness to strike

A looming fresh wave of strikes by resident doctors could encourage other NHS staff including nurses to take industrial action over pay, health service bosses fear.

Resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England are threatening to stage stoppages until January in pursuit of their demand for a 29% pay rise, after 90% voted in favour in a ballot on a 55% turnout.

With waiting lists high and pay talks deadlocked, fresh round of industrial action could undermine Starmer’s health pledges

Patients left in pain and discomfort. Thousands of appointments and operations cancelled. Much of the reaction to the decision of resident (formerly junior) doctors in England to stage their third six-month series of strikes over pay in just 16 months has focused on the disruption to NHS services.

But their stoppages also threaten to pose serious problems – political, economic and reputational – for the government. For Keir Starmer, Wes Streeting and inescapably Rachel Reeves, too, this is a situation replete with risk but without an obvious solution.

They can be red, inflamed and prone to infection – but experts say there are effective ways to manage the condition

There’s never a good time to have an ingrown toenail. But navigating spring and summer with one can be particularly difficult, with warmer weather calling for open-toe shoes and more exposure to the elements. Contact with dirt or the ocean can allow bacteria to enter the skin near an ingrown toenail, leading to infection, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

I should know: over the years, I’ve managed recurrent ingrown toenails, which occur when the edge of a nail grows into nearby skin, causing inflammation and pain. Twenty per cent of people who see a doctor for foot problems have the condition, according to the National Institute of Health.

Tech firm’s chief, Louis Mosley, dismisses fears that contract ‘threatens to undermine public trust in NHS data systems’

Palantir, a US data company that works with Israel’s defence ministry, has accused British doctors of choosing “ideology over patient interest” after they attacked the firm’s contract to process NHS data.

Louis Mosley, Palantir’s executive vice-president, hit back at the British Medical Association, which recently said the £330m deal to create a single platform for NHS data – ranging from patient data to bed availability – “threatens to undermine public trust in NHS data systems”.

A study has found that the reason some people hate working out is less to do with ‘laziness’ and more to do with other qualities altogether

Name: Gym personalities.

Age: Genetically hardwired since ancient times.

The seaside resort has become a byword for coastal deprivation but its youth say there’s a world of creativity bubbling under the surface

• Photographs by Polly Braden

• Young people in the UK: share your experiences of living in a coastal town

Michael knows exactly how he feels about his home town of Blackpool. “It’s just brilliant,” he says. Walking along the beachfront past people soaking up the sunshine on benches and kids playing in the sand overlooked by Blackpool Tower, he throws out his arms with a huge grin.

“For me, it has been an amazing place to grow up. I don’t understand why anyone would talk down their home town. If you feel shit about your town, you’re going to feel shit about yourself, right?”

Michael in the Sea Life aquarium, where he works part-time