Changing local health services by increasing the role of local pharmacies has failed to improve patient care, warns expert. New official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Government’s new community healthcare plans. They reveal that 30.9% of patients found it difficult or very difficult to access their GP surgery during January and February. 19.7% of patients who contacted their local practice rated their experience as fairly or very poor. Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), Clinical Lead at London Medical Laboratory, says: ‘L ..read more

Every business struggles with inefficiencies that could hamper its growth and cause a waste of resources and finances. It is your responsibility as a leader to identify these inefficiencies and improve your procedures to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your business.  However, it can be difficult to identify these operational obstacles, especially if you do not have a defined strategy in place. This is what we are going to shed light on today to equip and accelerate your operations and growth.  We’ve put together six effective tactics in this article to help you ..read more

Sheri Gee is an art director, artist and mother of two from East Grinstead, West Sussex. She has been growing her art practice alongside her family and career for over twenty years, using her everyday life to influence her work, from family to her commute into London. Sheri’s work has been shown in London and Sussex galleries as well as online representation; she balances portrait commissions alongside her own self-lead artwork. In 2019 Sheri was a finalist in the Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize (now Women in Art Prize).  I always wanted to be an artist. Aged three, I told my pare ..read more

Amid reports that more than half of adults in the UK claim their financial situation has worsened in the last year, the concept of “financial freedom” has soared with 91.8 million views on TikTok.1,2 With this in mind, the investment experts at Oxford Capital surveyed 1,000 UK residents to determine what steps adults in the UK are taking to achieve financial freedom. over half of UK adults surveyed (56.6%) have or are planning to open a savings account in a bid to attain financial freedom. By regularly depositing money into a savings account, even modest savings can grow through compound inter ..read more

Waking up feeling rejuvenated isn’t just a luxury—it’s a fundamental need that significantly impacts our daily lives. For too long, my mornings were anything but invigorating, marred by the discomfort of an inadequate mattress that turned rest into restlessness. This all changed when I discovered the Emma mattresses. It wasn’t just another purchase; it was a pivotal decision that transformed my sleep experiences and, by extension, my overall well-being.  The journey to this transformation began on a particularly trying morning when the aches in my back had reached their peak, and the ..read more

Cybersecurity expert claims that adoption of AI in businesses is both exciting and concerning Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly transitioned from a science fictional concept to a technology that is reshaping businesses worldwide. Organizations are embracing AI because of its potential to drive efficiency and enhance decision-making processes. According to the 2024 State of IT survey by Spiceworks, 57% of organizations have concrete plans to implement AI solutions in the near future. Notably, a quarter of these businesses are already integrating AI into their operations, while 32% are p ..read more

The latest statistics from several research bodies show vehicle crime and thefts have decreased in recent years. However, these incidents remain high, with more than 130,000 vehicles stolen in the UK in 2023. These high incident rates show that anyone can be a victim, so all car owners should know what to do if their car is stolen. Check Again Most people do not want to believe they can misplace a car, but it happens far more often than you imagine. Also, your car might have been towed due to illegal parking, in which case you can get it back fairly easily.  If you think your car&nbs ..read more

Openly discussing and then enforcing decisions doesn’t help to resolve stalemate conflicts among senior executives at start-ups, new research from ESSEC Business School finds. Despite scholars and consultants traditionally considering open discussion led by the CEO, as well as decision enforcement from the CEO, as the way to move forward, the study finds these methods to be either ineffectual or not used at all. By analysing 21 top management team stalemates in four Hong Kong fintech ventures, Professor Sam Garg from ESSEC, alongside CJ Rhee, a PhD Candidate at HKUST Business School, investiga ..read more

Like it or not, AI is changing the working landscape, prompting business leaders to reevaluate future plans when it comes to investing in people and technology.  UK software company, Propel Tech, which works with clients in the manufacturing, real estate and ecommerce sectors, recently ran a nationwide study with 800 professionals – from entry-level to senior executives – to discover the views on the possibilities of AI and software, resulting in clear North-South and generational divides of opinion.  Will AI do more harm than good? Just last year, almost 30,000 people, including App ..read more

Firms with exclusive brokerage positions in their collaboration networks outshine their counterparts by an average margin of more than 7% in crisis conditions, according to recent research conducted at ESMT Berlin. The competitive advantage of exclusive brokers stems from their capacity to adapt quickly, and on their own terms, when crisis erupts – unlike their peers trapped in more tightly-knit, constraining networks. This finding emerges from a collaborative study by Matthew S. Bothner, professor of strategy and Deutsche Telekom Chair holder at ESMT Berlin, together with Nghi Truong, an ESMT ..read more