Fears that filthy water from Britain’s floods could trigger a health crisis are largely unfounded, experts say. Flood water may contain dangerous bacteria like cholera from mixing with raw human sewage, but this is unlikely to trigger disease outbreaks, they say.

The biggest ever campaign in England to combat the stigma of mental illness has been launched. The Big Lottery Fund is pumping £16m into a campaign which will include anti-stigma television advertisements. Comic Relief is providing £2m.

People with mental health problems are having to wait up to three-and-a-half years for psychological therapy. Latest figures from Derbyshire Mental Health Trust show there are 428 patients waiting up to 186 weeks for counselling in Derby and south Derbyshire.

Racist attitudes by teachers may be condemning black schoolchildren to an inferior education, according to a Government backed study. Black Caribbean pupils are more likely to be expelled from school and less likely to be put in the top set compared to white British children, it said.

Children’s surgery in England and Wales is being undermined by lack of funding and training, warn medics. The Royal College of Surgeons says “strong action” is needed to make sure routine operations can be done locally.

By 2050, it’s predicted that four times as many people will need social care as today*, which will result in a major resourcing crisis for the care sector.

One in ten children in the UK has a mental disorder, according to Office of National Statistics figures. The figures come as the number of prescriptions for depression has quadrupled among under-16s in the past ten years, with over half a million in the last year.

Cannabis users are 40% more likely than non-users to suffer a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, say UK experts. Writing in the Lancet, a team led by Dr Stanley Zammit from Bristol and Cardiff Universities said young people needed to be made aware of the dangers.