NHS unable to treat every child with eating disorder as cases soar

  • The NHS is unable to treat every child with an eating disorder following a rise in hospital admissions.
  • NHS data shows that there were 23,302 admissions for eating disorders among all age groups.
  • This represents a 13% increase from 2019/20 and a 21% increase from 2018/19.
  • Data for April to October 2021 showed 15,941 admissions for all year groups in England.
  • The provisional data shows that 4,238 hospital admissions were children aged under 17, up 41% from the year before.
  • Full story, here.

UK web traffic to incel websites sees huge rise

  • The Centre for Countering Digital Hate found a six-fold rise in UK web traffic to websites promoting ‘incel’ ideologies.
  • Three of the largest “incel” sites have grown from 114,420 monthly visits to 638,505 between March and November 2021.
  • In December 2021, the Law Commission recommended that existing hate crime legislation should be extended to cover hatred on grounds of sex or gender.
  • For more information on ‘incels’ check out our blog.
  • Full story, here.

 

Essex brothers face sentences for exploiting seven teenage girls

  • Two men from Essex will be sentenced next month after being convicted of sexually exploiting seven teenage girls using dating apps.
  • The men used apps to create fake accounts and offer ‘sugar daddy’ arrangements with girls aged between 13 and 18 in 2016 and 2017.
  • John Bancroft was found guilty of multiple charges including four counts of rape and meeting a child following sexual grooming.
  • Full story, here.

Schools can move to remote learning and reduced timetables

  • The Education Minister, Michelle McIlveen has outlined that schools have the option to introduce remote learning and partial timetables.
  • These can be introduced in the event of staff shortages.
  • The Minister outlines that she has been pressing officials with regards to supplying schools with air purifiers.
  • She says that it is a priority to keep children and young people in school.
  • Full story, here.

Teaching unions demand support for education disruption

  • A teaching union has called on the Stormont Executive to take urgent action to reduce any further disruption in schools due to COVID-19.
  • NASUWT claims that teachers want to be able to provide face-to-face teaching in the new term.
  • They are pushing for various measures including air cleaning units, improved resources for on-site testing and financial resources to support costs of substitute staff.
  • This follows an increase in the number of Omicron variant COVID-19 cases across Northern Ireland.
  • Full story, here.