The Yorkshire Post says: Facebook and Twitter not full answer to loneliness woes

Regular readers of The Yorkshire Post will undoubtedly be familiar with this newspaper's efforts to tackle the hidden epidemic of loneliness.
A warning message about a Facebook user called Jayden K Smith has gone viralA warning message about a Facebook user called Jayden K Smith has gone viral
A warning message about a Facebook user called Jayden K Smith has gone viral

For more than three years, the newspaper has run an award-winning campaign to get loneliness to be universally recognised as a health priority and to encourage our readers to volunteer for support services.

This campaign has paid dividends with local authorities around the region being persuaded to include loneliness in their healthcare strategies and readers volunteering thousands of hours of their time to help those in need.

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But the sheer scale of the problem means campaigns can only go so far in tackling this issue.

More than one million older people in the UK are said to be “chronically lonely” and new research suggests loneliness could be more deadly than obesity when it comes to the increased risk of an early death.

While it is heartening that more older people are making use of the internet to make new friends, it is equally worth heeding the warning from the Campaign to End Loneliness that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are no “silver bullet” for allowing those who feel isolated to make meaningful connections with other people.

This finding is something backed up by previous research which found the more people use Facebook, the more unhappy they are, while those who invest more time in real relationships enjoy enhanced feelings of wellbeing. The advice for all of us is simple; reach out to the vulnerable and isolated people in our lives and make them feel part of a community.

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As the Campaign to End Loneliness director of campaigns Sam Dick puts it: “Social media might make it easier to find places to find company but we still need to do more. Put simply, if you know an older person who is lonely, don’t tweet them, talk to them.”

GPs need Government support

Family doctors are the bedrock of the health service, the first port of call for anyone suffering with an ailment or an undiagnosed medical condition.

But the treatment and working conditions of GPs are back under the spotlight after new analysis from Labour suggested patients are finding it increasingly hard to get appointments.

The British Medical Association says GPs are “worringly over-stretched”, as a result of rising patient demand combined with “years of under-investment”.

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The Department of Health says it is promising to recruit 5,000 more

GPs by 2020. That aim

is laudable – but just last week, the Royal College of GPs warned that the profession “could reach breaking point” unless progress on recruitment is accelerated, with the number of doctors in the system falling since September 2016.

The Government is clearly aware of the importance of GPs to the health service, hailing their vital role in ensuring patients get the right care

at the right time.

But it is vital that fine words are backed up with genuine action. This is not just about recruiting new GPs, as important as that clearly is. It is about taking action to tackle workload pressures and improving conditions so that experienced, hard-working GPs do not leave the profession.

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Concerningly, plans to remodel the way the NHS works over the next five years to meet a £22bn funding deficit place great emphasis on moving care out of hospitals and into the community. There is simply no chance this can succeed without proper funding and staffing for surgeries.

Sir Ken’s legacy

Sir Ken Morrison was a giant of the Yorkshire business world, taking an egg and butter stall and building it up into a supermarket empire.

After passing away in February at the age of 85, it has now been confirmed that Sir Ken’s business acumen allowed him to leave behind an estate worth £235m.

His vast fortune will go on trust to his third wife, Lynne, and five children, but his real legacy will be the creation of what is now Britain’s fourth-biggest supermarket and the 500 stores that bear his name and provide employment to tens of thousands of people.

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Sir Ken committed a great deal of his time to charitable causes, opening the Born in Bradford project in 2007 in his beloved home city in an effort to research why babies born in Bradford were so prone to illness.

He also set up the Ken and Edna Morrison Charitable Trust, which last year awarded grants of £144,000 to charities in West Yorkshire. Sir Ken will never be forgotten in Yorkshire.