March 2009 - Posts
Remember the child poverty targets? Halving the rate by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020? It's just so 1990s. To this anti-climax can be added the government's target to build three million new homes by, you've guessed it, 2020. And, you're...
More women are seeking psychiatric help, according to the NHS Information Centre . It seems that a combination of caring duties and maintaining paid employment, particularly for those aged 45-64, is contributing to mental overload. Read More...
Conservative MPs are famous for having their epiphany moments: Michael Portillo's face at his constituency's general election count in 1997 signified his; former party leader William Hague, who fought the 2001 general election as the scourge of...
A ruling by appeal court judges that ended the life of a seriously ill baby contrasted with the battle fought in the courts by multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy . Read More...
Don't faint: the national press has delivered a positive news story about a UK social worker. Read More...
It is such a shame that Sir Liam Donaldson's proposals to reduce the nation's alcohol intake have been dismissed so widely. Read More...
The media are getting a bad press at the moment and with
some justification. The periodic vilification of social workers and the
demonising of young people are now coming under increasing criticism from us
journalists. Read More...
How should we react to shoplifters? Is it a crime or is it symptomatic of something else: a mental illness or a substance addiction perhaps, as this personal account on the Frank website describes? Read More...
The Department of Health's Dignity in Care campaign was
delivered a jolt this week as pensioners joined Age Concern, MP Paul
Burstow and actress Sylvia Sims in a protest about the paltry sums on which
care home residents survive. Read More...
There was never likely to be many banks in the Sunday Times
Best 100 Companies to work for, although former bosses benefiting from
multi-million pound pension largesse may affect surprise at this. Read More...
My thanks to the blogsite Liberal Conspiracy for drawing my
attention to the predictable rant about teenage mothers made by, less
predictably, a Labour MP. Read More...
I must admit to knowing little about the TV soap Emmerdale
except that it is set in Yorkshire and the intriguing name Dingle crops up. Read More...
This morning I read a Community Care article headlined
"Haringey social services fights back". Damned right it should, I thought, and
continued. Read More...
Findings that young former servicemen are at increased risk
of suicide are published today. The timing is apt. Read More...