July 2008 Archives

Ivan Lewis has caused a stir among the political commentariat today with an interview in The Independent dubbed the first direct attack on Gordon Brown by a minister since the Glasgow East by-election disaster.

By Daniel Lombard

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has issued crime safety advice to men for the first time.

All the evidence shows that we need it.

      by Keith Hassell

I was not at work yesterday. Instead I got together with thousands of others who were not at work either. But whereas I was on a day off from my desk at Community Care they were on strike.

by Bronagh Miskelly

The collaboration between the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families to improve children's services has given rise to a new great double act in the traditions of British comedy it seems.

   by Anabel Unity Sale

It's official: playing Nintendo Wii games is good for your health. According to a study by researchers at Newcastle University's Institute of Neuroscience, children with hemiplegia cerebral palsy can benefit from playing specially-designed computer games.

 by Bronagh Miskelly

It was with a muted fanfare that communities secretary Hazel Blears launched the white paper on community empowerment - Communities in control: Real people, real power. But then petitions and housing associations probably aren't as grabbing as car tax.

The General Social Care Council has announced that it will consult on whether personal assistants employed by direct payment recipients in England should be registered.

This is a very difficult area with many in the service user movement likely to suggest that compulsory registration - involving a Criminal Records Bureau check and having to meet minimum training requirements - curtails their freedom to employ who they wish. Against that range those who suggest that there are not only adult protection issues but workforce quality ones to take into account - particularly given estimates from Skills for Care that the number of PAs may increase ninefold over the next two decades and warnings that PAs' current access to training is limited.