Obese mothers-to-be need significantly more NHS care than pregnant women of a healthy weight, a study says. NHS staff told researchers obese women need closer monitoring and special equipment, and have a higher risk of complications such as pre-eclampsia.

Parents are being shown video evidence of their children’s anti-social behaviour on their TV screens, less than 15 minutes after it is committed. Police officers are using footage from tiny helmet cameras to prove to parents their children are offending.

Text messages reminding people not to overstay their visas are part of a new drive by the government to clamp down on illegal migrants. The new policy calls for co-operation between government departments, the police and other bodies.

A new clampdown is aimed at preventing “foreigners” coming to the UK illegally and “stealing our benefits” and NHS services, the home secretary has said. John Reid told the BBC he wanted to make life “uncomfortable and constrained” for illegal immigrants.

{mosimage}He unveiled plans for a pan-government effort to ensure that illegal migrants cannot get housing, healthcare or work. But the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has warned Mr Reid against “hyping up public emotions”.

The Home Office plans include a proposal to run a pilot scheme to send text messages reminding people not to overstay their immigration visas.

This has been criticised by opposition parties, but Mr Reid dismissed it as a minor measure, stressing instead the core of the package was to beef up the powers of immigration officers to police the borders, as well as compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals seeking to settle in the UK.

Mr Reid told BBC Breakfast: “It is unfair that foreigners come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits, steal our services like the NHS and undermine the minimum wage by working. Year on year, we are going to make it even more difficult for them to do that.”

Measures being introduced include a “watch list” of illegal migrants to alert government agencies if someone applies for services to which they are not entitled. Workplace enforcement teams will also attempt to track down companies employing people who should not be in the country. There will also be pilot schemes in three NHS trusts using data from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to ensure migrants pay for care where required to do so.

Women from deprived backgrounds are treated differently and have a lower breast cancer survival rate than more affluent women, a study suggests. The charity Cancer Research UK studied nearly 13,000 patients from England’s Northern and Yorkshire health regions.

A group of alleged victims of sexual and physical abuse at children’s homes in Manchester have been awarded more than £2m in compensation. The group of 168 individuals was formed in March 2000 in response to a Greater Manchester Police investigation.

A controversial new selection process for junior doctors could be scrapped by a high-level review, announced by the government last night, following an outcry over the failure of some of the best-qualified to get a single job interview.

The British Medical Association accused the government yesterday of instilling “a culture of fear” across the NHS to stop doctors revealing how health service reforms are putting patients’ lives at risk.

A devoted wife and mother left with profound brain damage following a tragic holiday accident four years ago has been given the “right to die” with dignity by a senior High Court judge.

A health trust has saved a couple from taking the agonising decision of which one of them should go blind. It agreed yesterday agreed to fund treatment for one of the pensioners following claims that the availability of sight-saving drugs on the NHS was a postcode lottery.