Victoria Macdonald , Health and Social Care Editor
Victoria Macdonald is Health and Social Care Editor at Channel 4 News.
Victoria Macdonald is an award-winning journalist, who has been covering health and social care issues for Channel 4 News since 1999.
She reports on changes in the NHS - the reforms and the politics - whether it is in hospitals or in the community or, indeed in Westminster.
She closely follows the care system and how it impacts on the elderly and those with disabilities as well as investigating issues, including mental health, HIV/Aids and TB, and child health.
Victoria is originally from New Zealand and worked for the Sunday Telegraph before joining Channel 4 News.
-
5m
UK begins Covid vaccine rollout
“Today marks the start of the fightback against our common enemy – the coronavirus,” the health secretary said today.
-
3m
Covid vaccine arrives in the UK for mass rollout
The first batches of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine are thought to have arrived in the UK today
-
6m
Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine approved for rollout in UK from next week
The over 80s will be first in line.
-
4m
Catching HIV early saves up to £250,000 per patient in long-term costs, says AIDS campaigner David Furnish
David Furnish spoke to Victoria Macdonald about why they set up the AIDS testing pilot study.
-
4m
Aids testing pilot backed by Elton John Aids Foundation hailed a success
While the pandemic continues to rage, tens of millions of people across the world are still living with HIV.
-
4m
The science behind England’s new Covid tier system
One area going into Tier 3 is Kent. Case rates there vary widely – Swale and Thanet have the two highest rates in the UK, whilst other areas are below average. But the government decided to put the whole county into the highest level of restrictions, ignoring pleas from MPs for more localised measures. So…
-
10m
UK ‘not out of the woods yet’ with Covid, says Boris Johnson
The prime minister’s press conference at Downing Street.
-
5m
Oxford vaccine shown to be up to 90% effective, cheap and easy to transport
Finally, there is hope of an end to all this, hope of a route out of the pandemic
-
3m
Covid vaccine shows a strong immune response in elderly people
There has been some encouraging news from the team behind the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine, as their phase two trials show it promotes a strong immune response in older people
-
4m
NHS whistleblower speaks out on PPE contracts as PM faces criticism
Our health and social care editor Victoria Macdonald has been speaking to a whistleblower who describes what went on behind the scenes in the rush to acquire enough personal protective equipment (PPE) – when the rest of the world was scrambling to do exactly the same thing.
-
3m
What next for England after 2nd lockdown?
Nearly two weeks into England’s lockdown, MPs have demanded to know what’s going to happen when it officially ends on December 2nd. Scientists have been warning that stronger restrictions may well be needed and the Office for National Statistics has just reported the highest number of weekly deaths involving Covid-19 since the middle of May.
-
6m
Hopes raised as second Covid vaccine trial shows nearly 95% protection
The UK has signed an “initial agreement” to purchase five million doses, but only from April.
-
2m
Year-long hospital waiting list in England at highest level since 2008
Another impact of the pandemic – hospital waiting times in England have also shot up alarmingly, as new figures from NHS England have shown.
-
7m
British care home at breaking point – 70% of residents have Coronavirus
Seventy percent of residents and more than half of all staff have coronavirus – this is in a care home looking after people with highly complex needs, which is unable to draft in agency staff with the right expertise.
-
12m
UK becomes first country in Europe to pass 50,000 coronavirus deaths
Can a vaccine that’s been developed at breakneck speed really be safe?
