Council may have to repay millions over parking tickets
A Council may have to repay an estimated 600,000 parking tickets worth tens of millions of pounds due to an alleged small-print error.
Baby inquest verdict expected later
A narrative verdict is expected later at an inquest into the death of a seven-week-old baby, who died from pneumonia.
Occupy protesters evicted from Finsbury Square
Islington Council carries out an overnight operation to close down a Occupy London camp in Finsbury Square.
Live updates
Council may have to repay millions over parking tickets
A Council may have to repay an estimated 600,000 parking tickets worth tens of millions of pounds due to an alleged small-print error.
Read the full storyCyclist posts Islington pothole video
Video from YouTube
A cyclist less than happy with the state of the roads in Islington has posted a video of his route through the borough.
Damodoublemint said: "I don't normally travel this way, I've been using a different route due to the state of the road. I reported this to Islington council 3 years ago, and received an automated response, but nothing more."
If you want to report a particularly bad pothole in your area, click here for the Fill That Hole website
Advertisement
Baby inquest verdict expected later
by Liz Wickham
A narrative verdict is expected later at an inquest into the death of a seven-week-old baby, who died from pneumonia.
Read the full storyGP: centre was not under abnormal pressure
GP David Lee, employed by Harmoni's out-of-hours service, told the inquest that staff at the centre were not under abnormal pressure when Axel was brought in.
When questioned over Harmoni's policies, he conceded the centre would send out urgent text messages to doctors requesting they step in to fill gaps in the rota..
The inquest was told how medics reportedly received messages such as "we are desperate for help" or "very urgent, we need to fill the rota"
Dr Lee said: "It may look like the language is inappropriate but they are very much part of the conversation which occurs between the rota teams and doctors with a view to bringing doctors on to shifts."
He said practitioners would sometimes be offered work at "higher pay grades" as an incentive to step in.
Meanwhile, he told the hearing he believed Dr Takhar was recruited from an agency but would have gone through a thorough interview process.
Baby suffered cardiac arrest
The inquest has heard how Mrs Peanberg King first took Axel to see her own GP on the morning of October 31, when it was suggested he had a probable viral infection.
The next evening, after his condition had not improved, the family contacted the Harmoni centre and saw Dr Kuljeet Takhar.
He said that Axel's vital signs were good and his lungs were clear, suggesting the infection was probably viral, the inquest was told. But he gave them a prescription for antibiotics so they would not have to return if his condition changed.
The next day, a Friday, the child was still unwell but Mrs Peanberg King felt reassured because she had seen a doctor.
On the Saturday a "gut feeling" told her he should be seen again and they returned to Harmoni. Axel was seen by an off-duty paediatric nurse who raised the alarm and the child was taken from Mrs Peanberg King. She was later told he had gone into cardiac arrest.
Coroner indicates narrative verdict is likely
The coroner has indicated she is likely to give a narrative verdict on the death of seven-week-old Axel Peanberg King.
Dr Shirley Radcliffe told the inquest that she had been unable to find any evidence to suggest a "clear cause" of death.
Advertisement
Coroner: doctors face "worrying" tick-box culture
The coroner, Dr Radcliffe, told the inquest:
"We live in an age where there is an assumption that if it isn't written down, it isn't done, so we can have a situation where doctors do very little in their consultation but have perfect records".
She said: "We can have perfectly good consultations with doctors that cover the ground ... being no good on paper simply because they have not ticked every box which is worrying."
"Essentially GPs now, and most doctors, have to practice defensive medicine in that they have to write lengthy notes.....One would rather they were spending the time assessing individuals and communicating with the family."
Inquest hears that baby died from pneumonia
Axel's mother, Linda Peanberg King, told St Pancras Coroner's Court that she and her husband Alistair made contact with the Harmoni centre in the Whittington Hospital in Archway, after their son fell ill on the night of October 30 last year.
Five days later - after consulting at least three doctors - he died from bronchopneumonia.
Coroner says GPs are hampered by paperwork
A coroner, hearing an inquest into the death of a seven-week-old baby from Islington, has warned that doctors are forced to work in an age where a "worrying" onus is placed on ticking boxes.
Dr Shirley Radcliffe said GPs were obliged to practice "defensive medicine" where they are required to write lengthy notes on cases when "one would rather they were spending time assessing individuals and communicating with the family".
It came as she heard details of how seven-week-old Axel Peanberg King died from pneumonia after being taken to a privately-run out-of-hours GP centre.
Man arrested in Islington murder investigation
Officers investigating the murder of a man in Islington have made an arrest.
The man aged 42, was arrested on suspicion of murder after presenting himself to a north London police station on Friday afternoon. He remains in custody.
Detectives are appealing for witnesses and information after a man, named as Alexander Stewart of Henfield Close, died in hospital.
Police believe Mr Stewart was injured during an altercation sometime between 6 December and 11 December.
– Detective Chief Inspector John Sandlin from the Homicide and Serious Crime CommandWe are keen to speak to anyone who may have knowledge of how Alex sustained his injuries or seen the altercation Mr Stewart is believed to have been involved in."