Pregnant women and cancer patients could face “life-threatening” delays because of a worsening shortage of sonographers, experts warn.

The vacancy rate for sonographers is 24.2% across England, rising to 38.2% in some areas, according to the Society of Radiographers (SoR).

In addition, one in every 13 (7.6%) sonographers are planning to retire within the next year, the census found.

Sonographers carry out ultrasound scans which are essential to pregnancy care and are also used to diagnose cancer.

Pregnant women undergo scans when their baby is 12 weeks old and again at 20 weeks.

Katie Thompson, SoR president and a practising sonographer, said shortages forced hospitals to pull in practitioners from other areas to keep the antenatal services going at the “expense of those other services”.

“Hospitals try their very best to get the three-month and five-month antenatal screening scans done on time,” she said.

“But when there aren’t enough staff, prioritising those scans has a knock-on effect on more urgent later foetal growth scans, which in some cases need to be done within 24 or 36 hours.

“Departments end up struggling to fit in patients who need these emergency scans.”

Ms Thompson said ultrasound also played a role in cancer diagnosis, with a patient’s “first investigation” often being an ultrasound.

Follow up care after treatment “often takes the form of regular ultrasound scans”, she said.

“The government’s recent cancer plan spoke about increasing testing and reducing waiting lists,” she said.

“But sonography is one of the beginning points for people being diagnosed with cancer.

“With the current workforce shortfall, it’s going to be very, very hard to decrease waiting times.

“And if cancers aren’t picked up when they should be, that can have an effect on the patient’s outcome.”

The highest vacancy rates for sonographers were in the South East of England, where almost two in five posts are vacant (38.2%).

There is also a 34.6% shortfall in London, and three in 10 positions in the North West are vacant (30%).

In the North East and Yorkshire there is a lesser shortfall of 11%, the SoR said.

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Ms Thompson said training new sonographers “takes quite a while, so increasing numbers can’t be done very quickly”.

“The fact that numbers are dropping shows that the number of sonographers being trained isn’t keeping up with demand and hasn’t kept up for a long time,” she said.

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She said the government’s plans to improve health care, through the anticipated release of its NHS workforce plan and recent cancer plan, would be undone by staff shortages.

“You can’t say that you’re going to invest in all these new scanners and open all these community diagnostic centres unless you’ve thought about the professionals who are going to conduct the scans and provide patient care,” she said.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise the pressures facing diagnostic services, including the sonography workforce, and we are taking action to ensure the NHS has the skilled staff it needs to meet rising demand and deliver timely care to patients.

“We have already taken action to expand services for patients, rolling out new community diagnostic centres and expanding opening hours, keeping patients away from busy hospitals and cared for in their local communities.”

A stay at Queen Elizabeth II’s Scottish castle may sound like a fairy tale, but for a royal bride-to-be, Balmoral can quickly turn into a high-stakes audition where every misstep is remembered.

Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who recently wrote a memoir, “The Royal Insider,” described the “Balmoral Test,” an unspoken assessment where senior royals size up newcomers to determine whether they truly belong within the family’s deeply private world.

“The ‘Balmoral Test’ was cruel,” wrote Burrell. “Outsiders, most importantly potential brides, were brought there like specimens to be inspected by the family to see if they came up to scratch and if they were suitable.”

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This August 1981 photo shows the former Prince Charles and Princess Diana at Balmoral Castle. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

He noted that the rite of passage has “been this way since Queen Victoria’s day, which is no surprise, as the castle hasn’t changed much either.”

Royal commentator Amanda Matta described it as a silent compatibility test.

“Most modern families would probably recognize that dynamic, where newcomers are vetted against the existing family structures,” she explained. 

“The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana” by Paul Burrell is out now. (Hachette Mobius)

“The main difference between the ‘Balmoral Test’ and a barbecue at my family home would be the established, highly conservative standards of the extended family. Even in private family moments, hierarchy never fully disappears.”

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The royals aren’t just looking for impeccable manners, though that’s only the bare minimum. Guests are expected to roll up their sleeves and prove they can handle the grit of country life, with no exceptions.

“You were expected to shoot and hunt,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “[In the past], there was the fox hunt, which involved foxes being chased on horseback, eventually being caught and torn to pieces by a pack of dogs, with blood everywhere.”

An aerial view of Balmoral Castle. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

“Camilla was a regular fox hunter, while Diana would find these traditions barbaric,” he said. “I am quite sure both Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton may have been totally dismayed at the carnage, although Kate, being more used to country pursuits, may have endured some of the process. Fox hunting has been banned, but it is alleged that riding with hounds still exists.”

This undated photo shows Camilla Parker Bowles on a hunt. (Mathieu Polak/Sygma/ Sygma via Getty Images)

While hunting may no longer top the agenda, potential brides are still expected to tough it out and embrace the rougher side of country life.

“Balmoral remains the monarch’s most private sanctuary,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “It’s as remote and as private as it can be, and approval there by the family signals inner-circle status. It’s all about loyalty to the family and adaptability to their unique unwritten ways.”

Queen Elizabeth II walking cross-country at the grounds of Balmoral Castle, circa 1967. (Central Press/Getty Images)

“It’s totally country-oriented,” Fordwich stressed. “Those who do best are those who understand rural ways, such as Kate. Walking even in inclement weather came naturally to her. She was instantly at home. Being sporty and athletic, she enjoyed nature and hiking. She still relishes it. In contrast, Meghan reportedly took umbrage at hunting and wasn’t into any of the field sports.”

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reportedly wasn’t on board with hunting at Balmoral.  (Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

“What’s being evaluated isn’t just manners, though ideas of comportment and deference do matter,” said Matta. 

“But adaptability is another key point. Balmoral is famously informal by royal standards, but there are still schedules and rhythms that are observed. There are country walks, shoots, fishing expeditions and formal dinners. Newcomers will find themselves assessed on how they can ‘let their hair down’ and interact across generations, while still balancing the Firm’s unspoken rules.”

Queen Elizabeth II and the former Prince Charles pose alongside the tree which they planted to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion, Balmoral estate in Scotland on Oct.1, 2021.  (Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Matta said that despite Diana’s personal feelings, she ultimately passed the test “with flying colors,” thanks to her aristocratic upbringing. It meant she already knew exactly what the royals were looking for.

The former Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their honeymoon in Balmoral by the River Dee, circa 1981. August 1981. (Princess Diana Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“She was perceived as an easygoing, ‘jolly’ presence who thrived in that country-house atmosphere,” said Matta. “Did that early success mask deeper incompatibilities that would later emerge in her marriage to Charles? Sure. Diana would eventually struggle because she was naturally more expressive than the senior royals. But in the beginning, the Balmoral setting rewarded her ability to perform the role expected of her.”

“Her experience highlights that passing the test doesn’t guarantee long-term success in the royal fold,” Matta warned. “The emotional realities of modern royal life can’t be summed up by a shooting weekend.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla visit Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve on April 20, 2006, in Scotland. At the time, the couple broke off from their private stay at nearby Birkhall on the Balmoral estate to be shown around the reserve. (Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/Getty Images)

British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that the “Balmoral Test” goes far beyond embracing the outdoors. For guests, especially love interests, it’s about fully grasping royal traditions and etiquette. Every move is quietly observed and silently judged.

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Catherine, Princess of Wales, seen here with her husband Prince William, is known for her love of the outdoors. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

“You don’t simply click your heels three times and, by magic, happily blend in,” said Chard. “Believing in the monarchy is key, along with a dedication to royal duty, understanding hierarchy within the family, and realizing every member has their role to play. Yes, it is a learning curve and, at times, it may be challenging. However, it’s also a prerequisite to a successful, happy life within ‘The Firm.’”

“It only takes one black sheep to create havoc within a family or organization,” Chard continued. “Certain personalities may adapt to royal protocols more quickly than others. 

A view of the Balmoral estate from the River Dee, photo date unknown. (Anwar Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)

“However, many believe that time and a supportive partner willing to educate, give clear guidance, and help settle the ‘newbie’ into royal family life are key. It also highlights the love and strength of the relationship, preventing the ‘fish out of water’ feeling from creeping in.”

Catherine, Princess of Wales (wearing her pearl and diamond earrings which previously belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II) attends a service to commemorate the life of Her Late Majesty at St. David’s Cathedral on Sept. 8, 2023, in Wales.  (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

In his book, Burrell pointed out that even men faced judgment behind closed doors.

“Diana wasn’t the first to be scrutinized,” he wrote. “Even Princess Anne brought a cavalry officer called Mark Phillips here to meet the family.”

Princess Anne and her then-husband Mark Phillips, circa 1975. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

Famously, Kate passed the test with ease, quickly winning the royals over.

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Catherine, the sporty Princess of Wales, quickly won the royal family over. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“Her reputation for being down-to-earth and outdoorsy translated well at Balmoral, where comfort in the natural landscape is highly valued,” said Matta.

“She was so well-received that her parents were invited to a shooting weekend the following year. Unlike Diana, Kate’s ‘Balmoral Test’ and subsequent visits might reveal her more durable alignment with the family’s dynamics, both in private and public. She has long been viewed as a royal partner who is willing to ‘go with the flow.’”

The former Prince Charles with his sons Prince William (left) and Prince Harry (right) by the River Dee at the Balmoral estate. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

These days, the “Balmoral Test” has relaxed. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022. But the senior royals of today still keep a watchful eye on their guests.

Queen Elizabeth II died at her beloved Balmoral Castle in 2022. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“Any introduction to royal in-laws will naturally become a check on whether you understand the modern monarchy’s need for unity and discretion,” said Matta. “I do really think that the ‘test’ is better understood as a very elevated version of ‘meeting the family,’ where you’re quietly assessed on how well you mesh. It’s not decisive on its own, but it carries the weight of an extended first impression.”

A 19-year-old has been convicted over a fatal stabbing after police matched DNA on a cigarette found at the scene to that on his asthma inhaler.

Ali Abdul Basit was convicted at the Old Bailey on Friday for his role in killing Michael Patrick Afonso Peixoto, 27, Metropolitan Police said.

Basit’s conviction followed a two-year investigation, after he fled to Pakistan.

Mr Peixoto was attacked in Thornton Heath in south London on 19 December 2023, police said.

A group of men in a white BMW were seen waiting in the road when Mr Peixoto arrived with a friend in a Vauxhall Grandland on the night of the killing.

The 27-year-old father was stabbed multiple times with a knife after he stepped out of the car, including once in the chest as he attempted to climb back in.

The victim’s friend was threatened with a knife and forced out of the car. The vehicle was later found abandoned nearby.

Mr Peixoto was found by police officers on the floor with multiple stab wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Three men were convicted for their part in the attack in December 2024, after police found DNA on cigarette butts located at the scene.

Zak Baako, 30, was found guilty of Mr Peixoto’s murder on 20 December, 2024, and was later sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison.

John Budal, 20, from Thornton Heath, was found guilty of manslaughter and robbery and Omari Peat, 23, from Mitcham in south London, was found guilty of robbery.

Basit, from Mitcham in south London, fled to Pakistan after he was seen at the scene of the robbery before Mr Peixoto’s murder, police said.

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Police used mobile phone data and other evidence to link Basit to the three convicted men, and he was arrested when he returned to the UK in May last year.

DNA found on an asthma inhaler found at Basit’s house during a police search matched the DNA found on a cigarette butt at the scene.

Detective Inspector Martin Thorpe, who led the investigation, said: “Basit returned to the UK after the conviction of three other men in connection with Michael’s death, possibly on the false pretence that he has got away with his actions.

“What Basit didn’t know is that our officers had compiled an extensive amount of evidence, including phone data, which linked him to the other three convicted men at the time of the assault.

“After he was arrested, our officers were able to get his DNA from an asthma inhaler at his house, which matched DNA found on a cigarette butt at the scene.”

Basit will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 22 May, police said.

On Thursday, March 19, an 18-year-old college student at Loyola University in Chicago named Sheridan Gorman was allegedly shot dead by an illegal alien from Venezuela, Jose Medina. The networks could barely touch the story, or talk about the immigration status of the alleged shooter. CBS only spent two minutes, followed by ABC at 79 seconds and NBC at 23 seconds. Searching for it on PBS or NPR found nothing.

PBS stations did waste 90 minutes on a documentary titled, “White With Fear,” about how Republicans use overtly racist tactics to win elections, and one of those, they claimed, was highlighting violent crimes by illegal immigrants. Their primary example was conservatives reporting on the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco.

The networks hate reporting on crime committed by illegal immigrants. They would insist it’s atypical. They love to proclaim that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans – if you’re willing to dismiss the crime of entering the country illegally or overstaying a visa. But this ignores the obvious logic for grieving families like Gorman’s – if the alleged illegal alien killer hadn’t been allowed into the country, their loved one would still be alive.

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Gorman’s family put out a statement about their loss and the politics of it: “Sheridan’s death cannot be reduced to a general ‘tragedy,’ nor can it be explained away by broad references to failures somewhere else,” the family said. “We are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another. If there were failures—as the Governor [J.B. Pritzker] himself has acknowledged—then every one of them must be identified, examined, and addressed directly.”

Sheridan Gorman smiles alongside the Chicago skyline in Illinois. (Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram)

“Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability,” they added.

The networks could cover this story by leading with empathy and not politics, but they’re too defensive of the Democrats, and these stories feel like “pro-Trump” narratives, so they fear upsetting their liberal friends more than they fear looking insensitive to the victimized. They don’t want anyone to think that mass deportation will deter violent crime.

In a sad note for the future of journalism, the editors of Loyola’s student newspaper abjectly apologized for describing the alleged assailant accurately in the headline as an “Immigrant man.” They changed it to merely “man” and then described him as a “Rogers Park resident” instead of an illegal immigrant. “That headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members,” they wrote. As opposed to the “harm” the illegal immigrant is alleged to have done.

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Gorman is not alone. Stephanie Minter, age 41, was stabbed to death on February 23 at a bus stop near George Washington’s Mount Vernon in northern Virginia. The alleged killer is Abdul Jalloh, an illegal alien with more than 30 arrests. “Jalloh is currently being held in Fairfax County on murder charges in Minter’s death,” according to WJLA in Washington, D.C. We didn’t find that story on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS or NPR.

But they will pounce on the immigration enforcers when someone dies while obstructing their enforcement. The ICE agent shooting Renee Good as she drove into him was a national cause for weeks, drawing hours of coverage. But Laken Riley and Rachel Morin and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray were skipped over as MAGA talking points. Riley and Morin’s convicted murderers were illegal immigrants. The alleged attackers charged in Nungaray’s murder are also illegals.

Last year, at the Media Research Center, we found that ABC, CBS, and NBC had spent 143 minutes from April 1 to 23 championing the cause of accused MS-13 gang member and “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, who Trump deported to a “notorious” prison in El Salvador. But the trial of the illegal-alien assailant of Morin, a mother who was raped and murdered in Maryland during a jog, drew a mere 12 seconds on NBC, and nothing on CBS or NBC.  The networks spent 717 times more coverage on Abrego-Garcia.

Rachel Morin’s mother’s condemnation of Maryland Democrat Sen. Van Hollen — in front of the White House press corps — could not spur network coverage. But ABC’s Mary Bruce did promote the “remarkable image” of Van Hollen’s visit in El Salvador with “wrongfully deported” Kilmar-Garcia.

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Also in Maryland, an illegal immigrant named Hugo Hernandez-Mendez was charged with the murder of 19-year-old Black woman DaCara Thompson last September, to zero coverage on the networks. The alleged perpetrator had been arrested in April and charged with driving under the influence by the U.S. Park Police, but was let go pending his trial in that case.

The networks could cover the Sheridan Gorman story by leading with empathy and not politics, but they’re too defensive of the Democrats, and these stories feel like “pro-Trump” narratives…

Thompson’s mother said she was “very disappointed” to learn that her daughter’s alleged killer had been released in April instead of being remanded to ICE custody. “We may not be here today if they did what they were supposed to do.”

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This underlines that the “nightly news” on these elitist networks is not an objective assessment, but a carefully manufactured narrative, where the “news” they favor helps the politicians they favor. No one was seeking to embarrass Maryland’s members of Congress or Maryland Democrat Gov. Wes Moore for these murder victims.

In this midterm election year, journalists will try to keep immigration as a negative issue for Trump and the Republicans. They imply everything Trump touches turns into disaster. They helpfully promoted Democrats claiming ICE might kill people when they helped out the TSA with security at American airports. The “news” feels upside down – that ICE is “lawless” and the illegal immigrants are all nonviolent and “law-abiding.”

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An investigation has been launched into the policing of Peter Sullivan, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1986.

Mr Sullivan claimed that police blackmailed him into confessing to the killing of florist Diane Sindall, 21, in Wirral, Merseyside.

He was jailed for 38 years – the longest miscarriage of justice in British history.

Mr Sullivan, now 68, was only freed when DNA matching somebody else was found on crime scene samples in 2023.

He told a BBC interview last November that Merseyside Police threatened to charge him with “35 other rapes” if he did not confess to the killing of Ms Sindall.

“They threw a blanket over the top of me and they were hitting me on top of the blanket with the truncheons to try and get me to co-operate with them,” he added.

As a result of the comments, The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched a probe into the police’s conduct at the time of his arrest.

IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “Mr Sullivan was a victim of one of the worst miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. Our thoughts are with him as he continues to rebuild his life.

“In light of the significant impact this has had, as well as the severity of some of the allegations contained in the complaint, it is important for these matters to be independently investigated.

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“The fact this took place almost 40 years ago poses substantial evidential challenges, however we will do all we can to progress our inquiries as quickly as we can, while taking all appropriate steps to ensure this does not hinder the ongoing investigation by Merseyside Police into the horrific crime against Ms Sindall.”