Articles by Date : September 01 2002 - September 30 2002

Scots mental health bill faces election obstacle
Mental health charities fear that next year's election to the Scottish parliament could hold up legislation to protect the nation's mentally ill.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

The drugs don't work
Helen Waddell's experience convinced her that psychiatric service users need psychotherapy, not just drugs. more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

More secure places for young offenders in Scotland
Around 25 extra secure accommodation places for young offenders are to be created as part of a multi-million pound investment to tackle Scotland’s.... more
(19 September 2002 14:23)

Similar scripts, but different stories
Iain Duncan Smith may echo Beveridge but it seems mutuality is far from his mind. more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

A sledgehammer to crack a nut
Giving medical staff more of a role with mentally ill people in the community is a bad idea, says Paul Jewitt. more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Charity unveils map of well-being
Detailed monitoring of children's well-being is needed to ensure that resources to improve their lives are been correctly targeted, a report.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Shelter urges more personal approach
Homeless children should receive direct support from a dedicated worker to help minimise their distress, a new report from homelessness charity.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Barnardo's wants prostitution laws
Barnardo's has called for additional legislation to protect children who are abused through prostitution. more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Suicide strategy aims to reduce deaths by 20 per cent in three years
The promotion of mental health among children and young people aged under 18 is a key objective of the government's National Suicide Prevention.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

South London councils reviewed
A joint review report into Merton social services department, south London, reveals uncertain prospects for improvement and accuses the council of.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

More broken promises
Our campaign on child and adolescent mental health, Changing Minds: Better Mental Health Care for Children, has focused on the urgent need to improve.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Courting success?
The Scottish executive has looked to the US drugs courts in a bid to stamp out the cycle of drug use and drug-related crime. Alison Miller found out.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Time for action
Scottish local authorities are facing a huge problem recruiting and retaining staff. Alison Miller reports on the scale of the problem and what is.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Home free?
Free personal care was implemented in Scotland in July, but are local authorities and care providers able to deliver on the promises made by the.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Thursday 19 September 2002
Blunkett drops targets on deportation of asylum seekers and criminal records checks. more
(19 September 2002 10:18)

Minister announces new cash for affordable homes
The government has announced an increase of £365 million to finance social housing, including a new £200 million challenge fund to provide 4,000 new.... more
(18 September 2002 18:13)

Delayed discharge fines "unworkable", councils say
The government’s plans to tackle delayed discharge of older people have been condemned by the Local Government Association as "costly, unworkable and.... more
(19 September 2002 00:00)

Disabled parents struggle to access services
Disabled parents often encounter problems when trying to access mainstream services because of a lack of joined-up working between children and adult.... more
(18 September 2002 12:36)

Wednesday 18 September 2002
Family court service faces legal challenge, and it is revealed police received information on two Soham officers before murder of Holly Wells and.... more
(18 September 2002 10:07)

Greenwich and Merton joint reviews published
Greenwich social services has been praised for "some very good and empowering new services for people with learning difficulties", by the Social.... more
(18 September 2002 12:16)

More people will qualify as homeless under new bill
A new bill which increases the number of people who can qualify as homeless has been issued by the Scottish executive. more
(18 September 2002 12:01)

Crowded prisons fail to offer rehabilitation
The record prison population is preventing prisons and young offenders institutions from providing adequate purposeful activity and resettlement work.... more
(18 September 2002 11:31)

Child mental health forms key objective of government suicide strategy
Promotion of mental health among children and young people is a key objective of the government’s new plan to reduce the number of suicides, writes.... more
(17 September 2002 14:56)

Children and parents win right to claim against CAFCASS
The high court has granted permission (11 September) to a number of children and parents to bring a judicial review claim against the Children and.... more
(17 September 2002 00:00)

Father given 7-year sentence for killing baby sons
A father of two baby boys has been sentenced at the high court in Edinburgh to seven years in prison for their culpable homicide. more
(17 September 2002 15:37)

Resources must be targeted to help children
Detailed monitoring of children’s well-being is needed to ensure that resources to improve their lives are been correctly targeted, a new report has.... more
(17 September 2002 15:16)

Care home dispute in Scotland settled
A long-running dispute between private care homes and local authorities has finally been settled, writes Nicola Barry. more
(17 September 2002 12:00)

Tuesday 17 September 2002
Prime minister's fines experiment helps to curb crime, and boy is detained after admitting the manslaughter of baby. more
(17 September 2002 10:07)

Milburn told mental health bill is flawed
The Mental Health Alliance has told health secretary Alan Milburn that the draft mental health bill is "fundamentally flawed, unworkable and.... more
(16 September 2002 17:10)

New mental health bill may be too late campaigners warn
Charities in Scotland are concerned that next year's elections could obstruct the introduction of a new act to protect people with mental health.... more
(16 September 2002 16:46)

Persistent young offenders face remand before trial
Persistent juvenile offenders could now be remanded in custody rather than being released on bail, home office minister Hilary Benn has announced, .... more
(16 September 2002 15:39)

Debate on black and ethnic minority community leaders
We asked how can black and ethnic minority people be enabled to become leaders of their own communities? more
(16 September 2002 14:32)

Executive u-turn on smacking ban
Proposals to ban the smacking of children under the age of three have been abandoned by the Scottish executive, writes Nicola Barry. more
(16 September 2002 12:16)

Police chief puts crime wave down to lack of treatment for drug users
Services for drug addicts in Wales are grossly inadequate and the lack of treatment available is leading to more drug-related crime, delegates at the.... more
(16 September 2002 12:10)

Disabled and dispersed
Refugees and asylum seekers who are disabled might reasonably expect to have left threats to their health and safety behind them. But once here, they.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Monday 16 September 2002
Duncan Smith promises to 'slay giants' that ruin lives, and new research shows impact of marriage break-up. more
(16 September 2002 10:08)

Training top-up needed
Last year, social services departments spent just 2 per cent of their wage bill on staff training, while across local government as a whole the.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Increase in older people readmissions
More older people are being readmitted to hospital after being discharged, according to government figures. more
(13 September 2002 17:11)

Executive unveils spending plans for next four years
The Scottish executive has announced its spending plans for health and community care , writes Nicola Barry. more
(13 September 2002 17:02)

New child protection bill in Scotland is welcomed
The charity Children First has welcomed a new child protection bill, which will close a loophole that previously allowed unsuitable people to work.... more
(13 September 2002 16:27)

news analysis of the ageing social care workforce
The social care workforce is ageing - making the recruitment of new blood urgent. But low pay and the need for experience are deterring young people.... more
(13 September 2002 00:00)

Out of the frame
The framework for assessing children in need sets out to be family-friendly. But when Brian Corby, Malcolm Millar and Anne Pope looked at how it is.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

UK in the dock
UK's imminent grilling in Geneva on its implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has sparked disagreement here between the.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Star teams drop in
The prospect of private management consultants getting involved in the work of zero-rated social services departments alarmed many in local.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Must do better
Jonathan Pearce examines the role that schools can play in detecting and treating mental health problems in pupils, and finds that teachers need more.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Reflections
I am a community care worker. Or at least I was. I worked for a community team and visited people in their homes, usually for monitoring purposes but.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Anti-poverty campaigns need participants with funding clout
Community partnerships aimed at tackling poverty in Wales can only succeed if the participants are senior enough to make funding decisions, the Welsh.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

Local authorities to play key health role
Welsh assembly minister for health and social services Jane Hutt told delegates that local government's role in the prevention of ill-health and.... more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

The value of friendship
Mabel Cooper appreciates the company of her circle of friends, but fears for those she has left behind. more
(12 September 2002 00:00)

More control is not the answer
The Mental Health Bill is misguided in taking compulsion in the community even further, argues Peter Campbell. more
(12 September 2002 00:00)