I know you’re going to think me a party-pooper for what I’m about to say, but hear me out.

I’ve been speaking to pension experts who tell me there is one mistake most of us make that could seriously derail retirement – but you’re not going to like hearing it… or the remedy.

Forecasting and analysis firm Oxford Economics will reveal in a report today that 92 per cent of households should be able to cover their essential costs in retirement.

That’s the good news – and is largely thanks to the state pension, which provides the backbone for most incomes in older age.

Now for the bad. Those who take their tax-free lump sum and spend it on anything other than creating an income stream in retirement will see a big hit to their lifestyle when they do finally retire.

The report estimates the proportion of households able to maintain their lifestyle in retirement is eight percentage points lower for those who take theirs than households overall.

Higher earners who take their lump sum are the worst affected because their personal pension – from which the tax-free chunk is taken – forms a greater proportion of their retirement wealth.

I’m hardly going to win friends by telling you not to take yours. 

The option to withdraw 25 per cent of your pension pot tax-free up to a £268,275 cap from the age of 55 (rising to 57 in 2028) is one of the most-loved tax perks around – a well-earned reward for decades of gruelling delayed gratification.

Millions use it for something enjoyable, such as buying a new car, going on a bucket-list holiday or redoing the kitchen.

Such luxuries are hard to pay for solely out of income while you’re working. Many need their lump sum to pay off debts or clear the mortgage ahead of retirement.

But Helen Morrissey at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, which commissioned the report, warns that taking it ‘is a bigger decision than most people realise’.

‘People should consider the fallout on their retirement income before going ahead,’ she adds. 

‘Thousands take their lump sum when they don’t have an immediate need for it and put it into a savings account where it earns a low return. It could be earning much more if left invested in a pension.’

There’s no reason why you can’t take your tax-free lump sum over time or delay it until you need it, but it would take a fundamental change in mindset.

Withdrawing it in full has become the default decision, perceived as a no-brainer, according to a report from the Pensions Commission in May.

As many as 83 per cent of people accessing their defined contribution pensions since 2015 have taken a lump sum from at least one of theirs.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank blames the name. It says we should change it from tax-free ‘lump sum’ to tax-free ‘element’, so it’s no longer seen as something to take all in one go.

Would-be prime minister Andy Burnham and his new Chancellor could help, too. Lump sum withdrawals surged ahead of last year’s Autumn Budget amid fears the Labour Government was poised to slash the perk 

Not the catchiest name, but you can hardly blame people for thinking they should take their tax-free cash as a lump sum when it has ‘lump sum’ in the name.

Would-be Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his new Chancellor could help, too. Lump sum withdrawals surged ahead of last year’s Autumn Budget amid fears the Labour Government was poised to slash the perk. 

Savers withdrew a colossal £3.9billion in pension lump sums in the 12 months to October, according to official figures – up 81 per cent compared to the same period in 2022/23.

Burnham could stop this from happening again by pledging not to touch the tax-free lump sum this Parliament.

Finally, maybe we all need to reframe how we think about the lump sum. By not taking it immediately, we’re not giving something up but instead ending up with more money to spend overall.

Helen Morrissey, retirement specialist at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, says that tax-free lump sums could earn more if invested in a pension rather than in a savings account

Say you had a £400,000 pension pot and withdrew 25 per cent as a tax-free lump sum to stash in a savings account earning 3 per cent interest a year. 

You could have about £134,000 by the time you retire ten years later, according to calculations by wealth manager Broadstone.

If your remaining pot kept growing at 5 per cent a year, after ten years it will have reached £448,688, giving you a combined value of £582,688.

However, if you had left the entire £400,000 pension pot to keep growing until age 65 without taking any tax-free cash, it could reach £651,558 – an extra £68,870.

You would now also be able to withdraw a considerably larger 25 per cent tax-free lump sum of £162,889.

That’s more money to spend on fun purchases – or get you through retirement. Put that way, it doesn’t sound so bad after all. 

Criminal Record has brought together a round-up of Sunday’s biggest crime stories.

Each day on Criminal Record, we will bring you a round-up of the biggest crime stories of the day across the country.

From criminal trials and the ongoing gangland war to an assault on our streets, if you love to read about crime in Scotland – this is the place to be every day.

Here’s what has been making the news across the country on Wednesday.

Crown denies protecting Nicola Sturgeon in Murrell plea deal

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Prosecutors have insisted they did not remove thousands of pounds worth of purchases from Peter Murrell’s indictment to spare Nicola Sturgeon embarrassment.

More than 700 items worth almost £59,000 – including make-up, women’s clothing, hair products and fitness gear – were dropped from the charge sheet as part of a plea agreement before the former SNP chief executive admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from party funds.

The Crown Office was forced to deny claims made by campaigner Sean Clerkin that the deleted items were intended to shield Murrell’s estranged wife, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, insisting the plea was accepted to secure a conviction without the need for a lengthy and costly trial.

READ MORE: Prosecutors deny Sturgeon was spared ’embarrassment’ after women’s items deleted from Murrell indictment

Woman mowed down in attempted murder horror

Police have launched an attempted murder investigation after a woman was deliberately struck by a car in broad daylight in Renfrewshire.

The 49-year-old was seriously injured when a white Vauxhall Corsa mounted the pavement on Clippens Road in Linwood at around 3.45pm on Tuesday.

Shocking footage shows two women standing at a bus stop before the car suddenly veers onto the pavement, ploughing into one of them before speeding away. Detectives are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage as they work to trace the driver.

READ MORE: Chilling murder bid footage as crazed driver mows down woman at bus stop

Gangland lieutenant once targeted by IRA hitmen

A former boxing promoter jailed for helping run notorious gangster Robert “Birdman” O’Hara’s drugs empire was once the target of an alleged IRA assassination plot.

Mario Rea was last week sentenced to six years in prison after admitting his role in O’Hara’s organised crime network, which continued operating while the killer directed associates from behind bars.

The 47-year-old’s long links to Scotland’s criminal underworld previously saw him issued with an Osman warning after intelligence suggested Real IRA-linked gunmen had travelled to Scotland to kill him following a dispute over a tobacco deal.

READ MORE: Ex-boxing promoter Mario Rea was targeted by IRA hitmen years before gangland rap

Man arrested after Livingston stabbing

A man has been arrested after a 62-year-old was seriously assaulted in Livingston.

Emergency services were called to Howden Road West on Tuesday evening where the victim was found with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and taken to hospital.

A 31-year-old was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the incident as police continued their investigation. Officers also cordoned off homes in the Ladywell area as part of ongoing enquiries.

READ MORE: Man ‘stabbed’ in Livingston attack as police lock down residential street

Teen murder accused claims he acted in self-defence

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A teenager accused of murdering 15-year-old Amen Teklay has told a court he believed his alleged victim was about to stab his friend when he struck him with a sword.

Giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow, the 16-year-old claimed Amen had produced a knife during a confrontation in Clarendon Street before turning towards his co-accused.

The boy admitted stabbing Amen but insisted he acted to protect his friend, telling jurors he feared the teenager was about to launch an attack. The trial, where both accused deny murder, continues.

READ MORE: Boy accused of murdering Amen Teklay struck teen with sword as he thought ‘he’d stab his pal’

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The new charge is expected to bring in around £600,000 for the authority in 2026/27, with more than 900 homes believed to be vacant long-term in the region.

Owners of long-term empty homes in Perth and Kinross – including Perth and Kinross Council – will be hit with a 300 per cent charge on their council tax from July 1.

This week councillors voted to allow additional flexibility to help those caught up by the steep surcharge, previously set at 200 per cent.

There are approximately 920 homes lying vacant long-term in Perth and Kinross; the higher surcharge is expected to generate around £600,000 in 2026/27, rising to £800,000 a year thereafter.

No changes were proposed for second homes, of which there is a similar number, which will retain the 200 per cent charge.

A property which is deemed a “long-term empty home” is one which has been unoccupied for over a year. Exemptions include homes which are actively being marketed for sale or let within two years of being occupied and those undergoing repairs/renovation where a new buyer cannot be subject to the increase for up to six months since the date of purchase.

The 300 per cent council tax charge on long-term empty homes was agreed as part of the SNP administration’s budget on March 4, 2026.

The Conservative group opposed the charge.

On Wednesday, June 24 PKC’s Finance and Resources Committee was asked to note the increased surcharge and agree to maintain existing discretionary provisions.

Discretion is applied for situations such as work being done to bring a long-term empty home back into use or exceptional circumstances outwith the direct control of the owner.

It is given for a maximum of 18 months and takes the form of a 10 per cent discount from the date a surcharge would ordinarily be applicable.

Conservative councillor Ian James said: “I was always told council tax is raised to provide local services and, if you’ve got an empty property, I’m just wondering what services we’re providing for these empty properties?”

He added: “I know there are a lot of exemptions but we’re putting an admin burden unnecessarily on people who have bought a property. It’s empty for a reason.

“I’m helping a client – and I call them a client because we’re robbing them – but they have a property and it’s going to cost them £1000 a month.”

Independent councillor Grant Laing asked if any council properties would “fall foul” of the scheme.

PKC’s strategic lead for Housing and Communities Elaine Ritchie said: “Yeah, the HRA [Housing Revenue Account] will have to pay this 300 per cent increase and we do have some long-term voids, not empty properties, and that’s where we’re doing capital investment work.

“However, we work really closely with our Council Tax team to look at exemptions and what not but we’re in the same position as private owners.

“It doesn’t come back into the HRA, it goes into a separate pot of funding so there will be a financial impact on the HRA as a result.”

Cllr Laing asked if repairs and work being done to bring a property back into use might count as an exemption.

Ms Ritchie explained the current exemption allowed a maximum discretionary period of 18 months and sometimes the complexities and “extensive works” involved take longer.

Local Taxes team leader Kevin Fraser explained legislation did not allow PKC to treat its own housing stock or housing association stock any differently.

The SNP convener Stewart Donaldson moved the 300 per cent charge for approval with the current discretionary provisions in place.

It was seconded by council leader Eric Drysdale and supported by SNP councillors on the committee.

Conservative group leader John Duff tabled an amendment to increase the discretionary period from 18 months to two years.

This was seconded by Conservative councillor Caroline Shiers. It was supported by Conservative, Independent and Liberal Democrat councillors on the committee.

Independent – former SNP – councillor Grant Laing abstained.

Nine councillors voted to extend the discretionary period to two years and six SNP councillors voted to maintain the 18-month discretionary period.

Following the meeting, Cllr Duff said: “We opposed the introduction of a 300 per cent council tax charge on long-term empty properties at the budget.

“Despite this, it will come into effect from July 1 this year and will affect over 900 households across Perth and Kinross.

“There are many legitimate reasons why a property may be uninhabitable or unoccupied. In some cases, owners may already be facing significant financial pressures, and this increase risks compounding those challenges.

“My amendment provides our local taxes team with the flexibility to offer discretionary relief in appropriate cases, for up to two years.

“This ensures we can take a balanced and compassionate approach, supporting those in genuine difficulty, while remaining within the council’s agreed policy.

“ I have also asked officers to bring forward a future report so that councillors can fully assess the real-world impact of these changes and respond if necessary.”

For decades, the west African island nation of Cape Verde was perhaps best known for the music of late singer Cesária Évora. This summer, however, the Atlantic archipelago has gained fame for a different reason: football. As one of the surprise stories of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, Cape Verde has captured the imagination of fans worldwide.

The team has qualified for the knockout stages after a run that included a 0-0 draw with the reigning European champions, Spain. The Cape Verde goalkeeper, Vozinha, has also become one of the most recognisable faces of the tournament. His follower count on Instagram increased from around 50,000 before the Spain match to over 17.4 million by the end of June.

With a population of just over 500,000 people spread across ten islands (nine inhabited), Cape Verde is used to defying the odds. The arrival of the Portuguese in the 1460s made the archipelago a strategic hub in the making of the Atlantic world. On Santiago Island, they founded the oldest European settlement south of the Sahara Desert, Ribeira Grande.

This city, which is now called Cidade Velha, became a hub linking continents through maritime trade, migration and, tragically, the transatlantic slave trade.

Resource deprived and plagued by frequent droughts, the end of the slave trade in the mid-19th century marked a period of decline. This period continued until the archipelago gained independence in 1975 through a joint liberation struggle with Guinea-Bissau.

A key figure in this movement was Amilcar Cabral, who was born in Guinea-Bissau to Cape Verdean parents and was educated in Cape Verde. He emerged as one of Africa’s most influential leaders in the anti-colonial struggle and gained widespread support across European countries thanks to his diplomatic skills.

After attaining independence, Cape Verde was declared an “unviable” state by the then US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, and thereafter by some international financial institutions. They saw it as too small and resource-poor to survive on its own.

Yet 50 years later, the nation has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to an upper-middle-income state.

Transition to democracy

Political stability enabled Cape Verde to introduce pioneering democratic reforms in the 1990s. After 15 years of single-party rule, the country’s first election in 1991 saw the incumbent African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde peacefully transfer power to the newly founded opposition Movement for Democracy.

This formed the foundation for what has become one of Africa’s strongest democracies. Cape Verde is routinely praised for its pragmatic politics and overall good governance, ranking third out of 54 countries on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance behind the Seychelles and Mauritius. It has the second-highest life expectancy in Africa, at between 75 and 77 years, as well as high rates of literacy and human development. Its child mortality rates are also among the lowest in Africa.

In a country where football is deeply woven into everyday life, a broad commitment to human development has been complemented by sustained investment in youth football and talent development by Fifa that has boosted sporting infrastructure.

With one of the highest migration rates in the world, the Cape Verdean diaspora is another key aspect of the archipelago’s success story. Often called Cape Verde’s “11th island”, the emigrant population is estimated to be larger than the resident population.

Migrant remittances constitute much bigger financial flows to the country than foreign aid or foreign direct investment. This was particularly relevant during the COVID pandemic. The World Bank and Cape Verde’s central bank reported a record increase in remittances of over 30% for 2021 as emigrants responded to the socioeconomic shocks caused by pandemic restrictions.

The Cape Verdean football federation has tapped into this diaspora for the national team. From 2002, players developed abroad have been recruited to represent the archipelago. These include players based in Portugal, France, the Netherlands and even Ireland.

In 2019, Ireland-born defender Roberto Lopes (known as Pico) recalled being contacted by the then-coach of Cape Verde, Rui Águas, on LinkedIn and first ignoring the message because it was in Portuguese and he thought it could be spam.

Cape Verde’s story is not one of perfection. The vast majority of the population is aged under 35 and many young people there face unemployment, precarious work and limited opportunities. This is prompting many to seek better futures abroad.

Despite the progress achieved through the passing of the Parity Law in 2019, which requires that neither women or men hold less than 40% or more than 60% of positions in electoral lists, women’s political representation and gender equality also remain a significant challenge for the nation.

As the archipelago’s independence day approaches on July 5, Cape Verdeans all over the world have every reason to celebrate. And if Cape Verde pulls off another upset in their match against Argentina on July 3, it would be a fitting tribute to a nation that has spent the last 50 years proving that size need never define ambition.

The detective thriller series One Dollar is coming to ITVX, with all episodes available from 23 August

ITVX has announced that the compelling thriller series One Dollar will be joining its streaming platform, with all episodes launching on 23 August.

Starring Craig Zobel, whose portfolio includes Westworld, Mare of Easttown and The Penguin, the drama was conceived, penned and executive produced by Jason Mosberg.

Ideal viewing for Happy Valley enthusiasts, the series is set in the declining Pennsylvania town of Braden, where One Dollar traces the path of a solitary one-dollar note as it circulates amongst locals. Throughout its journey, it weaves together multiple lives that eventually intersect with a savage multiple homicide at the town’s steel mill.

Each instalment centres on a different individual, progressively exposing the community’s concealed truths, profound social rifts and inter-community friction as the murder inquiry progresses.

The ensemble features John Carroll Lynch as steel mill proprietor Bud Carl, Philip Ettinger as Garrett, a lone father struggling financially, and Nathaniel Martello-White as private detective Jake, who is resolute in exposing the reality behind the murders. Additionally, Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. portrays Randall Abatsy.

One Dollar is a CBS Studios production in collaboration with Anonymous Content, with worldwide distribution managed by Paramount Global Content Distribution, reports the Express.

Executive producers for the series include Rafael Yglesias, Jason Mosberg, Graham Gordy, Alexandre Dauman, Matt DeRoss and Craig Zobel. Viewers who have already seen the series have heaped praise upon the programme.

Over on IMDB, audiences have been sharing their thoughts.

One viewer commented: “Excellent drama. Low key, but gripping. Good human interest stories around a murder mystery. Nice to have fresh faces, and down-to-earth characters instead of the usual Hollywood starlet/beautiful botoxed/face-lifted people. Loved it.”

Another wrote: “Despite its low review, I went with my better judgment and decided to watch One Dollar as the storyline intrigued me. I’m so glad I did, as it’s one of the better shows I’ve watched this year.

“From the start, the viewer knows a crime has occurred, but wonderful writing allows multi-character storylines to develop in a way that the crime itself becomes the backdrop, and it’s the personal stories of individuals that are the focus of the show. This can only be accomplished by great acting and original storytelling. Thoroughly deserves a better score than it currently has.”

One Dollar is available to stream on ITVX

As Lowri Denman holidayed in India, she was thankful she hadn’t contracted ‘Delhi belly’… but in reality, she had picked up something much worse, a metre-long tapeworm that would later nearly kill her. 

In 2007, Ms Denman, now 42, spent two months travelling through the South Asian country but it wasn’t until four years after getting home she discovered she’d brought home a writhing souvenir. 

Up until she passed the huge tapeworm as she went to the toilet at her home in Cardiff, she had had no clue that anything was wrong, and after seeing her GP she was assured that there was nothing else to worry about. 

It was around this time she started experiencing crippling headaches and in 2011 she suffered a tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizure – which is characterised by stiffness, loss of consciousness, and jerking movements.

She immediately sought medical advice and, after waiting three months for a brain scan, Ms Denman learned she had neurocysticercosis, a parasitic infection of the brain caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm.

There were 38 parasites in her brain, the offspring of the tapeworm she had carried inside her for four years. 

She said: ‘It was just so disgusting to think that these things were in my head.’ 

Neurocysticercosis is developed when a tapeworm infection is left untreated, as larvae build up in the central nervous system, causing cysts to form deep in bodily tissue. It is the most severe form of the disease, and a common cause of seizures.

Neurocysticercosis strikes about 4,000 people a year in the US, making it the most common way that parasites infect the central nervous system. 

The tapeworm Taenia Solium often infects pigs, laying larvae in them. If pork isn’t properly cooked, humans can wind up eating these larvae, which hatch in the intestines. 

If people don’t pass the worms, their life cycle will continue: Taenia Solium will lay its eggs in the person’s body. 

These larvae develop in sacs or cysts, that can travel around the body, in rare cases, reaching the brain.

The irony is that Ms Denman had made a conscious decision to stick to a vegetarian diet to reduce the risk of picking up foodborne illnesses. However, tapeworms and neurocysticercosis can be caused by water contaminated with tapeworm eggs or poor hygiene practices – you don’t have to eat meat to be affected. 

But it wasn’t only seizures that would define this period of Ms Denman’s life; the stress led to her developing psychosis. 

After receiving her diagnosis, Ms Denman was treated for epilepsy while doctors consulted tropical disease experts across the globe to decide on a course of action for eliminating the parasites.

Ms Denman lost her driving licence due to the risks of having a seizure behind the wheel, and her independence took a hit: she was advised not to do certain things, like having a bath while at home alone in case she had a seizure, and since she lived alone she found it particularly difficult.

Ms Denman’s seizures continued as the correct dosage of epilepsy medication was ascertained, and she began to experience anxiety about leaving the house.

She passed a metre-long tapeworm while on the toilet (file photo)

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 A brain scan revealed that there were 38 tapeworm larvae in her brain, causing headaches and seizures 

‘There was one, it was lunchtime, and I was just walking around Cardiff on my own,’ she said.

‘Luckily I was on the phone to my mate, and I said, “I don’t feel well”, then I passed my phone to a stranger on the street. Then the next thing, I come around and my mate who I was on the phone to was there, and she was like, “You’ve had a fit again”.

‘Obviously, I was really cautious then, just scared of being anywhere, and that happening.’

Meanwhile, Ms Denman was given steroids and albendazole, which is used to treat a wide variety of parasitic worm infections. For a time, things calmed down and her seizures reduced, but in 2015 the parasites caused a serious flare up as they ‘weren’t dying off as they’d expected’.

Doctors then tried her on another anti-worm medication, praziquantel, as well as the albendazole and steroids, and while she said the medication would initially start killing the parasites and taking the swelling down in her brain, when she weaned off the medication the swelling would return in a different part of her brain.

‘This went on for at least a year, where I was getting more and more ill, more anxious,’ Ms Denman said.

‘I had to give up work, had to move home to be taken care of, and then it got to a point where I went on Personal Independence Payments (PIP), and I wasn’t capable of filling out the forms on my own.

‘For someone that’s extremely independent and capable and lived on my own most of my life, I was like, what the hell is going on here?’

Ms Denman then started experiencing more severe paranoia, worrying about getting enough sleep, struggling with how the medication made her look and feel – the steroids made her face swell, and she didn’t feel like herself.

‘It was just getting worse and worse and worse,’ she said.

‘I just wanted to go back to work. I just wanted a normal life, and I didn’t feel comfortable being in social settings. I didn’t want to leave the house, really.’

Ms Denman at the peak of her illnesses in 2016 (left); and today

‘The swelling was coming back and forth all the time, so they were trying to figure out what medication to put me on,’ she added.

‘They put me on methotrexate, then, which is a chemotherapy drug, so I was worried my hair was going to fall out. It made me really tired, but then steroids would make me really energetic, so there was loads going on, on top of the worries of not getting better.’

In September 2016, Lowri was admitted to a neuropsychiatric ward for three months due to her declining mental health, and was prescribed mood stabilisers and anti-psychotics on top of her other medication.

‘I was having panic attacks, I thought I was going to die, I think, and then that turned into paranoia, and then the psychosis came out,’ she said.

‘I wasn’t stable at all, all these thoughts and crazy things were going on in my head.’

Ms Denman explained that it is difficult to ascertain whether the symptoms were because of the parasites directly, or due to the stress and trauma of her prolonged treatment.

‘It just built into this huge thing at that point, nobody could tell me when I was going to get better,’ she said.

Eventually, in January 2017 Lowri was able to leave hospital and move back in with her dad. By then, she was 34, and desperately wanted her life back.

‘I didn’t look myself, and I was also really paranoid,’ she said.

‘I kept asking my friends, anyone that could come and visit me in hospital, to ask, what did I do?

‘Because I thought I was going to be on the news for doing something terrible.

‘I thought I’d done this mad stuff, and I didn’t know what I’d done.’

Now, Ms Denman is fit and healthy, and her seizures are managed by her medication so she has not experienced a fit for 10 years.

During her recovery, Lowri was desperate to find more information about her illness and to connect with others who had been through the same, but found there was very little information available to her beyond what she learned from her doctors.

Now that she’s feeling stronger, she wants to share her story with the world. She plans to do so with a 12-part podcast, called 38 Parasites, which will delve into her personal journey along with interviews with consultants and experts in tropical diseases, insights on neurology, and more.

‘I spent my whole thirties being ill and anxious and worried, and now I’ve moved into my 40s, I want to do something positive with that negative thing – help other people, and not just feel like I’ve lost all of this time.’

Through Crowdfunder, Lowri and her friend of 20 years, producer Nicola Brown, are raising £25,000 to fund the project, which was shortlisted for 2025’s The Whickers Podcast Pitch Award.

The new strategy was announced by bosses at NHS Forth Valley at the health board’s meeting this week – with the department struggling with the mismatch between patient demand and available workforce.

A major new plan has been launched to help ease the pressure on the Emergency Department at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

The new strategy was announced by Garry Fraser, Director of Acute Service at the NHS Forth Valley meeting on Tuesday.

It comes as it was revealed the department is operating under increasing pressure due to higher attendances and a mismatch between patient demand and available workforce.

It was heard that peak activity is concentrated between late afternoon and midnight with persistent periods of high demand extending into overnight periods.

There is also regular exceedance of normal operational capacity resulting in a very busy and crowded environment.

The data shows that current staffing levels are insufficient to provide consistent senior clinical decision-making across the full 24-hour period, which can result in delays to assessment and treatment, compromised flow and efficiency in the Emergency Department (ED), adversely impact on patient care and experience, workforce fatigue and retention challenges.

A detailed review of demand, CFSD benchmarking against national standards, acuity of patients attending at over 2025/26 period and workforce modelling has identified a clear requirement to expand staffing in the ED.

The consultant levels are also lower than other NHS boards and the board is aiming to resolve within this planned recruitment of additional staff.

The board agreed to endorse the recommendations of increasing the workforce in ED and support phase one implementation of the increased staff model costing £900,000 over the year.

A decision is required to be made by the board after phase 1 is evaluated in relation to continued funding, as this may cause a cost pressure within the financial plans.

The recommendations and workforce plan will continue to be reviewed. The board says implementation will deliver improved patient safety and experience, reduced overcrowding and waiting times and enhanced staff wellbeing and retention.

It is also set to reduce reliance on agency and locum spend, improve operational efficiency, improve patient safety and experience and reduce waiting times.

The council has said an investigation into the cause of the sinkhole has been ‘complex’

A major Cambridge road remains closed after a sinkhole appeared last week. The sinkhole appeared along Milton Road in Cambridge on the evening of June 22.

Since then, the road has been closed while highways have dealt with the issue. A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: “Milton Road, Cambridge currently remains closed between Hurst Park Avenue and the Elizabeth Way roundabout in both directions due to a large sinkhole.”

The council said an investigation into the cause of the sinkhole has been “complex” as it extends beneath the road surface, and there are a number of utility services in the area.

The spokesperson added: “It has been important to ensure that any highway repairs we make would not adversely affect the other services in the area. We’ve been working with partners to make sure the right solution is delivered.

“Appropriate repairs, including foam concrete infill, will be scheduled as soon as possible. We appreciate your continued patience and apologise for the disruption. Please continue to plan your journeys and allow extra time for travel.”

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