About 18% of the entire Northern Ireland population now on NHS waiting lists as backlog – already the worst in the UK – continues to grow

Last Saturday: Royal Black Institution keeps it local with 28 smaller parades

View email online

Subscribe              Aug 26, 2021             Michael Cousins Acting Managing Editor Good morning   Today the News Letter reports the shocking news that about 18% of the entire Northern Ireland population are now on NHS waiting lists as the backlog – already the worst in the UK – continues to grow. Some 350,000 people are now on a waiting list for a first appointment with a hospital consultant. It has also been revealed that Neonatal intensive care units are under "a lot of extra pressure" due to pregnant women going into early labour with coronavirus. The warning from the chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, Dr Tom Black follows successive appeals from leading health professionals over recent weeks for pregnant women to take up the offer of coronavirus vaccination urgently. A long-serving former Alliance representative is tipping the SDLP to retain its Lagan Valley Assembly seat – leaving at least one of the three likely DUP candidates at risk. Trevor Lunn, who has sat as an independent MLA since leaving Alliance in March 2020, has expressed surprise that the DUP plans to add returning MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to the ballot paper for the Stormont elections in 2022.   Have a good afternoon   Michael Cousins Acting Managing Editor           Last Saturday: Royal Black Institution keeps it local with 28 smaller parades           The Royal Black Institution will hold a 'Local Last Saturday' across Northern Ireland on Saturday with an estimated 17,000 members and bands taking part.                 Subscriptions Did you know you can subscribe to the News Letter for only £1 month for the first three months? With our most popular offer, Digital +,  you'll get unlimited access to the website, see 70% fewer ads, be able to access our online puzzles section and access the newspaper edition app on mobile, tablet and desktop.  Support the News letter today and help us continue to tell your stories for generations to come.           About 18% of the entire Northern Ireland population now on NHS waiting lists as backlog – already the worst in the UK – continues to grow   Almost 350,000 people in Northern Ireland are now on a waiting list for a first appointment with a hospital consultant, new figures show.           Work to start on building Northern Ireland's second crematorium within weeks – a lakeside facility outside Newtownabbey   Work is set to begin within weeks on creating what will be Northern Ireland's second-only crematorium.           Medics 'working hard' to keep ICU beds free for premature babies due to 'extra pressure' from Covid births, says leading doctor Tom Black in latest vaccine appeal   Neonatal intensive care units are under "a lot of extra pressure" due to pregnant women going into early labour with coronavirus, a leading doctor has warned.           'At best DUP will have two MLAs in Lagan Valley': Trevor Lunn   A long-serving former Alliance representative is tipping the SDLP to retain its Lagan Valley Assembly seat – leaving at least one of the three likely DUP candidates at risk.           West Balkan crime gangs 'emerging as top dogs in NI' says former head of PSNI Organised Crime Branch   While Northern Ireland continues to fight the scourge of criminality from paramilitaries, a former head of PSNI Organised Crime Branch warns that west Balkan crime gangs are also beginning to dominate here as they pursue ever larger profits from drugs and modern slavery rackets across Europe.                 Opinion               Jim Allister: Edwin Poots is building the stepping stone to an economic all-Ireland   This extract from a speech last night at an anti-Protocol rally in Enniskillen says that implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol is the greatest act of destruction of the Union that any unionist minister could take:       Henry Hill: Boris Johnson for all his faults is now strongly defending Northern Ireland-Great Britain trade   When Boris Johnson u-turned over a border in the Irish Sea, it came as little surprise to those of us in the Conservative Party who had long been sceptical of him.                   Sport                     Gary McAllister: Rangers can cope with missing players after Covid-19 outbreak           Gary McAllister is adamant Rangers have a strong enough squad to secure their progress to the Europa League group stage on Thursday despite a Covid-19 outbreak forcing Steven Gerrard and some of his key men to miss the second leg of their play-off with Alashkert.                   Northern Ireland's Leeds United trialist Jack Patterson 'a dream to work with'   Record-breaking Irish League teenager Jack Patterson's progress towards a move across the water has been heralded as a success story for the Northern Ireland football development system.       Glentoran and BetMcLean in Oval rename for record £250,000 sponsorship deal   Glentoran and BetMcLean have signed a £250,000 sponsorship agreement the Premiership club consider 'quite possibly the biggest' in Irish League history - and one that will include a rename of the historic Oval ground.       Racer Nico Mawhinney tells of terrifying moment brakes failed at 110mph   Ulster Superbike rider Nico Mawhinney has reflected on a terrifying 110mph crash after his brakes failed during a test at Kirkistown in Co Down on Sunday.                   View more news

You have received this email as you are opted in to newsletters from the News Letter, published by JPIMedia Publishing Ltd. To manage your individual newsletter preferences with us, please click here and log in to your account.     Alternatively you can update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive from JPIMedia Publishing Ltd, or unsubscribe from all future emails.     JPIMedia Publishing Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 11499982, having its registered address at 9th Floor, 107 Cheapside, London, England, EC2V 6DN, United Kingdom. We will process your personal data in accordance with our privacy policy.