Vaping products are already subject to 20% VAT but, unlike tobacco, they do not attract a separate additional tax. As part of the Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that a vaping products duty will start on 1 October 2026. It will be charged at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml vaping liquid. At…
Smoking puts enormous pressure on the NHS. It kills about 80,000 people a year, external, and is responsible for one in four of all deaths from cancer. It is also linked to other serious conditions, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, asthma and dementia. It can affect fertility and pregnancy. Figures from NHS England…
Covid inquiry Prof Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, was giving evidence to the Covid inquiry in west London. The most senior doctor in NHS England has said he was “personally terrified” that hospitals could have been overwhelmed in the early stages of the pandemic. Prof Sir Stephen Powis told the Covid…
BBC An NHS mobile lung-cancer screening clinic in Gorton, Manchester. A lung-cancer screening programme that sees mobile clinics visit local communities in England has detected the disease earlier in more than 5,000 people. Specially adapted lorries have been visiting supermarkets, football grounds and town centres in areas with the highest rates of the disease, as…
A ban on baby milk price promotions should be overturned to stop parents “paying over the odds” for formula, a government watchdog has suggested. The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) interim report on baby milk formula said the market needed a shake-up to help parents struggling to afford it. Recommendations included the government issuing NHS-branded…
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Sue Hill will officially resign as Betsi Cadwaladr’s executive director of finance in December A health board executive member will resign after “deliberate” incorrect accounting was found in her department two years ago. Sue Hill, executive director of finance at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), has been on leave…
People in clinically at-risk groups are being urged to get their free Covid-19 and flu vaccinations this winter. NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough said only 27% of those eligible for the Covid vaccine, and 35% of those eligible for a flu vaccine in the two areas – plus Royston, in Hertfordshire – had come forward. More…
Getty Images Data suggests homeworkers spend more time on sleep and exercise than their office-working counterparts Homeworkers are using the time saved by not commuting to stay longer in bed, new figures suggest. They got an average of 24 minutes extra “sleep and rest” and spent an additional 15 minutes on things such as exercise,…
Covid inquiry Boris Johnson’s government blocked a request to fund another 10,000 hospital beds at the height of the Covid pandemic, the chief executive of NHS England has said. Amanda Pritchard told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry the decision, made by the Treasury in July 2020, had been “very disappointing”. Extra beds and staff would have…
The NHS will start offering an “improved” stop smoking pill to tens of thousands of people in England who want to quit cigarettes. Varenicline, a daily tablet given over a few months, is as effective as vapes and more effective than nicotine replacement gum or patches, NHS England says. The drug, which fights cravings, was…
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