The Kremlin’s chief of staff Serge Ivanov confirmed that President Assad of Syria had ‘appealed to the leadership of Russia with a request for military aid.’ Russia claimed that the airstrikes which followed, on Wednesday, were against IS positions, but local Syrian sources reported that they were exclusively against anti-government rebels. Syrian Civil Defence Forces, a volunteer emergency responder organisation, reported 36 civilian casualties from the Russian airstrike in northern Homs, in addition to several civilian casualties in Hama. Although there are small IS “sympathetic” cells in the rebel-held pockets of northern Homs, this decision signals Russia’s intent to assist the Assad regime’s war effort at large, beyond anti-IS operations. See also the Europe article about Russia and military talks.

While soldiers are away there is a range of family welfare support available to both regular army families and to those of mobilised members of the Army Reserve. Army life means that soldiers may have to be away from their home and family on unaccompanied tours from time to time for an operational deployment, training or an assignment to a location that does not offer family support facilities such as healthcare or housing. The first point of contact for army personnel regarding any deployment issues is their Unit Welfare Officer. Families of regular army soldiers living in Service Families’ Accommodation (SFA) will normally keep their house for the whole period of an unaccompanied tour.

Former NHS call handler Irah Tahir said that the 111 call centre she worked at was dangerously understaffed, with 75% of calls going unanswered. Staff were under pressure and had to give medical advice when nurses were unavailable. She felt the service was completely unsafe. ‘I'm not medically trained and I wasn’t equipped to make those decisions.’ Also staff were begged to do overtime or cancel holidays because of staff shortages. Derbyshire Health United, which runs the centre, refuted the claims. The helpline began in 2010 for those needing urgent medical help or advice. If someone's illness is judged to be an emergency by the 111 team, then an ambulance can be sent out. An NHS England spokesman admitted there had been issues and ‘regional variations’ with the helpline, but said they are working to ensure these are addressed.

It's nearly six months since the start of the financial year, a year that many believe financially will make or break the NHS. We don't know how hospital, mental health, ambulance and community services are shaping up. Last year foundation trusts finished the whole year with a £249 million loss. With non-foundation trusts included, this topped £800m. Trusts broke even after receiving a £250m cash injection from funding meant to be spent on buildings. The two economic regulators for the sector have not released the figures for the first quarter of April to June. A survey of a hundred finance directors by the King's Fund thinktank over the summer found that two-thirds were predicting deficits. The outlook was particularly bleak in the hospital sector, where nine in ten thought they would finish the year in the red. The NHS is the fifth largest employer in the world, with 1.7 million employees.