One million more patients attended A&E in the past year amid strikes, record waits for routine care and difficulties accessing a GP, figures show.

Health leaders say people have turned to emergency departments because it is one part of the NHS where they know the ‘lights are on’ and they will be seen.

But the surge in demand meant more patients waited longer than the target of four hours to be treated, admitted or discharged.

There were 25.34 million attendances at A&E in England in 2022/23, up 4 per cent from 24.37 million in 2021/22, according to NHS Digital.

Some 29.2 per cent of patients spent more than four hours in A&E in 2022/23, up from 23.3 per cent the year before.

Meanwhile, a record 1,789,130 patients spent over 12 hours in A&E – up 80 per cent in a year and up 491 per cent since 2020/21.

Patients in the poorest areas of the country are almost twice as likely to attend A&E as those in the wealthiest areas, the figures also show.

The figures were released yesterday as junior doctors walked out of hospital for the second day in a row. They are also due to strike again today.

The junior doctors provided emergency care on Wednesday but did not spare A&Es yesterday or today.

Almost 1million routine appointment and operations have been cancelled as a result of NHS industrial action since December, with waiting lists now at a record 7.7 million.

It has resulted in patients turning up to A&E in agony after facing delays to their care.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, said: ‘A&Es have been under enormous pressure for years, with people naturally gravitating towards “where the lights are on” and where they know they will be seen in a relatively short time frame.

‘But it’s not just A&Es that are under pressure and that is the problem.

‘With general practice and primary care also facing huge demand, we know that patients may turn towards urgent and emergency care should they struggle to get a GP appointment at a time suitable to them.

‘As well as this we have an aging population with increasingly complex needs, a neglected and under resourced social care sector, and an elective care waiting list currently standing at 7.7m, all of which has consequences for A&Es which provide a safety net for the entire system.

‘For instance, many of those on waiting lists might develop complications to their condition and so seek help from urgent care.’

He added: ‘The data for last year shows the scale of the effects ever growing demand is having on A&E and on patients, with over 410,000 people waiting over half a day for admission, up from 98,000 the previous year, and this isn’t even from time of arrival, so a patient could’ve been waiting much longer.

‘But with too few staff, beds, or capacity and availability in alternative services, health leaders can only do so much.

‘This level of demand is unsustainable, so we need to see a greater focus on prevention and resourcing for community care to help relieve some pressure, keep patients healthy and out of hospital, and enable them to get care closer to home.’

Louise Ansari, chief executive of Healthwatch England, the patient watchdog, said: ‘People continue to wait many hours for care, often in crowded waiting rooms, with little or no information on when they will be seen.

‘However, people who received care for a life threatening illness or injury were still confident in the quality of care.

‘Undoubtedly, urgent and emergency services have been under unprecedented pressure for the last few years amid the pandemic, industrial action, record waiting times for hospital treatment and struggles to access GP care.

‘People will go to A&E if there is nowhere else to go, leading to increased treatment and care because they couldn’t get help sooner.’

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: ‘These figures show trusts are working incredibly hard to respond to rising demand by seeing more patients than ever before.

‘This is remarkable given the relentless pressure on urgent and emergency care services and the wider sector.

‘However, demand continues to outstrip capacity, which means too many patients are having to wait longer for care and treatment.

‘Shortages of staff, beds and equipment, as well as the need for proper investment in the NHS estate, social care, and more preventative support, are putting the health service under an alarming level of stress.

‘Strikes are also piling on the pressure. By the end of this week, more than a million patients will have had their appointments and procedures pushed back due to industrial action.

‘This is incredibly distressing for all involved as trust leaders and their staff are unable to give patients the timely, high-quality care they deserve.’

City Pub Group sees increase in revenues despite poor weather and train strikes

• Revenue increased to £31.7m for the first half, up from £26.7m 
• Like for like sales at London-listed pub operator were also up 14%

By Daniel Fessahaye

Updated: 10:41 EDT, 21 September 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

It has been two months since Mark Zuckerberg launched his so-called ‘Twitter-killer’ app Threads — which saw more than 100million users join in less than five days before plummeting in popularity.

But it now appears another rival app, Bluesky, could be the one to watch for X owner Elon Musk, after the platform amassed a record-breaking wave of signups in the wake of the billionaire’s threat to start charging users of his own social media site.

The figures, gathered by BlueskyStats, suggest that more than 53,500 users flocked to its app during the past 24 hours — roughly 40,000 above average.

However, the site’s total users – estimated to be around 1.1 million – still pale in comparison to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Musk revealed that his social media giant currently has around 550 million monthly users despite undergoing a series of drastic changes since his takeover last year, including the monetization of its blue tick verification system. 

There was further controversy and uproar yesterday, when the tech billionaire revealed he was considering charging all users to access the platform in a bid to ward off bots, or automated accounts. 

Jake Moore, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, told MailOnline that the increased popularity of Bluesky was both ‘inevitable’ and ‘predictable’.

‘Since it has arisen that users could be charged to use [X], the inevitable and rather predictable has happened with record sign ups to the Twitter/X alternative,’ he said.

‘The battle of the next Twitter has already commenced with a few in the ring such as Threads and Mastadon, too. 

‘However, the real test of time will be to see which platform wins the majority sway of users to take on the next generation of social networkers.’

Bluesky, which launched on both Android and iOS earlier this year, is backed by Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO Jake Dorsey.

It is a rare example of an invite-only social media app, with pre-existing users able to hand out invite codes to anyone interested in joining.

A waiting list is also available to those who don’t know anyone on Bluesky, with generated codes sent by email. 

Moore added: ‘Bluesky offers a sign up process to anyone with an invite code generated by those already on the platform.

‘This little feature cleverly keeps bots at bay as they struggle to automate mass signups which can cause security and misinformation issues.’

The invite-only component also sets Bluesky apart from X, as fake information and bots have been a major concern for Musk over the last few months.

It was revealed yesterday in a conversation with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as the tech entrepreneur announced his plans for future charges.

‘I’d say the single most important reason we’re moving towards having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is that it’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,’ Musk said.

‘A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something… you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.

‘Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. We want it to be a small amount of money.

‘It’s a longer discussion, but in my view this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it’s getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans.’

While Bluesky users can share images and follow accounts, they cannot send direct messages or post videos like X users. 

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is looking to introduce direct messaging to Threads in the not-so-distant future.

Threads’ popularity also rocketed following its launch on July 6, amassing more than 100million users by day five.

But data from last month suggests this initial popularity has since waned somewhat, with analysts at Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) claiming that daily users fell to just 430,000 in the UK.

However, following Musk’s latest comments on charging X users, Mr Moore believes that Threads could make a big comeback.  

‘Bots have been an issue on the platform since the beginning but when Musk laid off mass numbers of employees including security staff, the issue rose to rather uncontrollable lengths,’ he added. 

‘Requesting payment from all users could potentially mitigate this problem but he could have a bigger problem in his hands with a mass exodus of users.

‘With many similar alternatives already set up such as Threads and Mastadon, this could be the final push for some users to crossover to the competition.’

MailOnline has approached X for comment. 

Henry Boot sees revenue grow but profits decline in uncertain housing market

• Revenue up by 24.5% year-on-year to £179.8m in first half results 
• But underlying profits were down to £23.3m over the same time period

By Daniel Fessahaye

Updated: 09:11 EDT, 19 September 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Barratt sees new home reservations slump by 30% as mortgage crunch hammers sales

• Revenue up by 1% to £5.3bn for the year ending 30 June 2023
• Pre-tax profit rose 9.8% to £705.1m over the same time period 

By Daniel Fessahaye

Updated: 17:56 EDT, 6 September 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

The popular gaming platform Twitch has been told by online child safety experts to crack down on a fresh wave of content that has pornstars seductively licking microphones in their bras.

Twitch is primarily used for viewing videos of other people playing games — with 31million Americans logging in every month, a quarter being 16 to 24 years old.

But now content creators are increasingly coming onto the platform in the hopes of netting viewers for alternative, and more explicit, content.

Now, instead of video games and e-sports, sexualized ‘ear-licking’ live-streams, where scantily-clad women lick, rub and breathe into microphones while audiences watch and listen, are posted all over the platform. 

The content is categorized as ‘ASMR’ — or autonomous sensory meridian response, a tingling sensation throughout the body usually triggered by sounds such as whispering, tapping or brushing.

Videos tagged as ASMR attract millions of viewers, with hundreds of streams available on the platform.

Critics, such as child safety organizations and parents, say Twitch is putting children in harm’s way by exposing them to ‘inappropriate’ and ‘sexual’ content at an early age.

Explicit videos posted to the platform — bearing titles such as ‘Obey your Queen!’ and ‘cozy girlfriend cuddles’ — show women wearing few clothes while making suggestive movements on microphones, some of which are shaped like human ears. 

Their profiles link to OnlyFans and Patreon accounts — websites famous for their adult-only content — with a subscription costing from as little as $3.50 per month. Videos there have titles including ‘I will SPANK you. Get on your knees’ and ‘let the maid please you’.

Urging Twitch to clean up its act, a spokeswoman from online child safety organization Bark US — which gives Twitch two out of five stars for child safety — said they were ‘not a fan’ of the platform’s content.

‘Overall, the potential for toxic interactions on Twitch is too high and doesn’t outweigh the benefits of watching video games, no matter how fun it may be,’ they said.

‘Apart from the violent video games that streamers may play on Twitch (of which there are many), the primary danger to kids is inappropriate content.’

They added: ‘Profanity, sexual content, derogatory terms, and much more are possible in both the on-screen text chat as well as verbally by the streamer’.

Bark US also offers a pay-for platform to help parents stop their child visiting potentially unsafe websites online.

The NSPCC — a child safety organization in the UK — also raises concerns over Twitch, warning there are ‘no safety settings in place that stop children and young people accessing certain channels or chats’.

ASMR is a term coined by cybersecurity expert Jennifer Allen in 2010 and it has since spread rapidly online.

Adherents claim the tingling sensation linked to the triggers can prompt relaxation, relieve stress and enhance focus — despite there being little scientific evidence to support the claims. By 2019, only ten studies into the practice had been carried out. 

On Twitch, however, the term appears to have been co-opted to mean women licking ear-shaped microphones while wearing very little clothing.

One of the top creators, who goes by the username SharonQueen and has more than 500,000 followers, posts videos every day with titles like ‘obey your Queen!’ and ‘look into my eyes!’.

Clicking on links in her profile reveals other links that connect to her OnlyFans and Patreon accounts — with the titles surrounded by squirting water emojis to indicate explicit content.

Navigating from Twitch to her Patreon profile — via a third website — reveals videos with titles like ‘take everything off?’, ‘give me the most sexy kiss you can give, my lips are waiting’ and ‘I will SPANK you. Get on your knees’.

Another creator named AkuASMR who has a similar number of followers, posts videos where she wears only a sports bra and shorts and dresses up as characters including Asuna, a gym leader in Pokemon, and a scantily clad nun.

A visit to her profile also reveals a link to a website directing users to two OnlyFans accounts — one of which is free — and a Patreon account where users can pay as little as $3.50 per month to subscribe to her content.

A third user, who goes by the name FozenKin, also posts explicit videos showing her top and a lacy bra.

The videos have titles like ‘come get your ear love’ and ‘tingling braingasm time’.

Comments on the explicit videos include ‘feels amazing man’, ‘delicious like you’ and ‘just enjoy your rest silly’.

On its website, Twitch — which is owned by Amazon — says users must be at least 13 years old to use its platform. It also says those aged 13 to 18 should only use its website under the supervision of a parent or guardian.

But when DailyMail.com accessed the website, there were no attempts to verify age.

The explicit content was discovered within minutes of clicking browse and then on the ‘IRL’ tag — meaning ‘In Real Life’ — on the homepage.

When the explicit videos were clicked on, a page appeared, warning the video was ‘intended for certain audiences’. 

However, a user only needs to click ‘start watching’, to proceed to the content. No age verification is requested.

Twitch first came under fire in 2019 after it was found to be hosting pornography on one of its star streamers pages.

The platform apologized when the videos were brought to its attention and said they had ‘permanently suspended’ the account in question.

They came under fire again last year when an investigative report from Bloomberg suggested nearly 300,000 children on the platform had been targeted by child predators between October 2020 and August 2022.

Shortly after the report was published, the platform was accused of making ‘no attempt’ to resolve the issues raised.

Twitch told DailyMail.com: ‘To be clear, sexually explicit content is not allowed on Twitch and direct links to sexually explicit content are also against our rules.

‘Per our content classification guidelines, certain types of content must be clearly labeled, and users must provide explicit consent before viewing. 

‘Streams containing sexual themes are held behind a warning screen, for example, which a viewer must acknowledge and click through to view the content.’

They added that children under 13 years old are not allowed to use the platform, and that they deploy an ‘aggressive’ algorithm to detect and remove accounts that violate this policy.

Rolex snaps up luxury retailer Bucherer – and Watches of Switzerland sees its share price fall 20%

• Bucherer is a watch and jewellery retailer with more than 100 outlets worldwide
• Watches of Switzerland Group is a prominent authorised retail partner for Rolex

By Harry Wise

Updated: 11:24 EDT, 25 August 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

‘Mmm, ice cream so good. Ooh, you got me feeling like a cowgirl. Gang gang. Fire, fire, fire,’ says TikToker PinkyDoll cheerfully as she sticks her tongue out and noisily pretends to lick a cone. 

For the uninitiated, her nonsensical stream of words might seem like baffling gibberish but for those who love TikTok livestreams, they will probably seem very, very familiar. And for former stripper PinkyDoll, they’re her way of making a living.

Welcome to the new and bizarre trend of ‘NPC streaming’, which has taken the social media world by storm this month and is seeing TikTokers raking in thousands of pounds a day – with some earning in an hour more than average Brits do in a month.

The surreal trend is named after the ‘non-playable characters’ in video games that awkwardly repeat pre-programmed phrases and movements. It sees some content creators dressing up like elves and attempting to mimic the actions of these computer-generated extras while saying cartoonish catchphrases on a livestream. 

PinkyDoll – real name Fedha Sinon – became an internet celebrity this month thanks to her eccentric reactions. The social media star’s following has ballooned to almost 800,000 after her ‘ice cream so good’ clip went viral. Now tens of thousands of people tune in to watch her live streams.

In typical performance the 27-year-old mother from Montreal, Canada, will stare into a camera while delivering a set of phrases. As she streams, fans will send her digital gifts that she reacts to. Some could be ice cream cones, others a donut or a rose. But all represent a payment for Ms Sinon, who is also a star on OnlyFans.

The items, which range in value from $0.01 for a tennis ball emoji to more than $500 for a single TikTok ‘universe’ symbol, can be traded in for digital ‘diamonds’ that can be converted into real cash, with TikTok taking a 50 per cent slice as a commission. 

It’s meant Ms Sinon can now earn between $2,000 (£1,500) and $3,000 (£2,300) per stream – and about $7,000 (£5,400) a day across all her social media platforms. Before she might have made $250 a day.

Ms Sinon, who previously owned her own cleaning company, said she started livestreaming on TikTok at the start of the year as a way to make cash.

‘I needed money to feed my kid and pay the bills. I had no job,’ she told Motherboard. ‘I decided to put all my effort on TikTok to make money. And I wasn’t expecting to go viral.’

There are others jumping on this cash grab too, with TikTokers like Cherry Crush and Satoyu727 bringing in millions of followers, and raking in a pay cheque for pretending to be an NPC.

The producer and rapper Timbaland is reportedly one of Ms Sinon’s biggest fans, having recently reposted a video on his own TikTok account of her breaking character during a livestream after noticing he was watching. 

But others have been left baffled by it, with one person saying: ‘I’ve never been more confused in my entire life,’ while another added: ‘This is more dystopian than any episode of Black Mirror.’

Academics have branded what Ms Sinon and others are doing as fetish content and argued that for some viewers, there was a sexual element to watching the video and controlling the actions of the content creators making them. 

Cherry Crush is another trending NPC streamer. She wears wigs and elf ears while barking and making ‘nom nom nom’ sounds. Both Ms Sinon and Cherry Crush run their own OnlyFans account with explicit content, but there’s nothing overtly sexual about their TikTok streams. 

However, Christian Tran, a doctoral researcher of internet culture and digital labour at the University of Toronto, suggested the videos were an extension of the sort of online performances erotic workers have been honing for years.

‘I think the NPC streamer can be understood as the media granddaughter of sorts to the “e-girls” influencers that populated Twitch and TikTok in the early 2020s,’ she told The Guardian. ‘These are also self-sexualized creators who built their followings by combining the aesthetics of gamer culture with cam girl influencing.’ 

Cherry Crush, who is from Ohio, America, insisted her TikTok streams weren’t fetish content. ‘I don’t make my show sexually suggestive at all,’ she told the New York Times. ‘I always thought it was just funny [and] entertaining.’

‘I don’t really care what people say about me,’ added Ms Sinon in an interview with the paper. ‘If they want to think I am this or that, it’s fine with me.’

Matt Woods, chief executive and founder of AFK Creators, who link the UK’s biggest online stars to brands like MasterCard and HelloFresh, said the trend had become popular with gamers. 

‘This whole trend can feel like an episode of the TV show Black Mirror but in fact it can become engrossing,’ he told MailOnline. 

‘From a creator perspective it looks funny but its also a huge way of earning money from donations and gifts, specifically on TikTok.

‘From a user perspective, people gain satisfaction from having control over the actions of others, in the same way they would in real life or video games.’

Matt predicted the trend would help TikTok live to ‘massively grow’ as its donation model ‘hasn’t really taken off’ until now.   

‘Now, with this trend of donating digital items for people to pretend to be computer game characters, the donation model has blown up massively, meaning the amount of money generated by donations and gifts as well as growing the number of average non TikTok people that have started both streaming and watching TikTok live,’ he added.

For PinkyDoll, it was all about striking while the iron is hot and making money while she can. ‘At the end of the day, I’m winning,’ she adds.  

Six thousand shops have closed down across Britain in the last five years, according to the British Retail Consortium. 

‘Crippling’ business rates and the fallout from Covid lockdowns were driving forces behind the closures and are prompting many retailers to ‘think twice’ about new openings, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said. 

In the second quarter of this year, the overall shop vacancy rate increased to 13.9 per cent, fractionally worse than in the first quarter, but slightly better than the same period last year.

High street vacancies increased to 13.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year, representing a slightly worsening picture when compared to the previous quarter. 

The volume of empty retail sites in shopping centres remained unchanged at 17.8 per cent, the same level as the first quarter. 

Geographically, the areas worst affected by empty shops in the second quarter were the north east of England, Scotland and Wales. Greater London, the south east and east of England had the lowest vacancy rates.

Dickinson, said: ‘The past five years saw Britain lose 6,000 retail outlets, with crippling business rates and the impact of the Covid lockdowns a key part of decisions to close stores and think twice about new openings. 

‘The North and Midlands continue to see the highest amount of empty storefronts. London’s vacancy rate remains the lowest, improving over the last quarter thanks to the opening of new flagship stores, more office workers, and tourists visiting the capital.’

She added: ‘To inject more vibrancy into high streets and town centres, and prevent further store closures, Government should review the broken business rates system.

‘Currently, there’s an additional £400million going on retailers’ bills next April, which will put a brake on the vital investment that our towns and cities so desperately need. 

‘The Government announcement earlier in the week about making changes of use to vacant units easier is welcome but it’s important local councils have a cohesive plan, and don’t leave gap-toothed high streets that are no longer a customer destination and risk becoming inviable. Government should go one step further and freeze rates bills next year. ‘

Falling consumer confidence and dwindling levels of discretionary spending are also taking a toll on retailers. 

Lucy Stainton, commercial director at Local Data Company, said: ‘Current challenges to businesses have been compounded by tightening discretionary spend and a dip in confidence among consumers. 

‘The economic headwinds that have made the headlines have filtered into the data, reflected in a slight rise in the overall vacancy rate.’

She added: ‘The high street has seen some of the most notable impacts, with rising rents and increased competition putting pressure on small and independent businesses, who may struggle to meet high operating costs. 

‘Across all location types, vacancy has reached critical levels, highlighting an ever-increasing need to redevelop units to breathe life back into retail destinations.’ 

A string of well-known brands have been shutting stores in recent months.

M&Co fell into administration last year and closed down all 170 of its shops. But, under new ownership, 50 M&Co stores will be opening over the next two years. 

Paperchase was forced shut all of its 106 high street stores thus year, after the company entered administration.

Despite later being bought by Tesco, a high number of sites, including those located in Belfast, Chiswick and Kingston, were shuttered for the final time. 

In April, Prezzo announced plans to close 46 of its restaurants, putting over 800 people at risk of redundancy. 

The restaurants closing down were all making losses, with Prezzo blaming the cost of living crisis for making it ‘impossible’ to keep all 143 of its establishments operating profitably.

Warning to Android users over glitch which sees their phone accidentally ‘silent call’ 999

• UK police forces have received more than 1,000 silent calls over the last month
• Police chiefs claim a new SOS Android feature is the cause of accidental calls
• Google is aware of the issue and it will be addressed shortly, reports say

By Lauren Haughey

Updated: 12:31 EDT, 24 June 2023