THURSDAY 23 MARCH 2006

By Maria Ahmed, Derren Hayes, Mithran Samuel and Amy Taylor

Banned drug can reverse Alzheimer’s disease

A drug has been found to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease for those in the most advanced stages of the conditions, despite proposals for it to be made unavailable on then NHS for this group of patients.
The research on donepezil, published in The Lancet, challenges the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence’s plan to confine the drug only to those with moderate Alzheimer’s.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 18

Grammar school success ‘not due to hard work’

Education minister Lord Adonis has called on top-performing schools with large middle-class intakes to become less exclusive.
He made the comments in evidence to the education select committee yesterday.

Source:- Daily Mail, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 31

NHS crisis ‘threatening patient care’

The president of the Royal College of Surgeons has said that the NHS financial crisis is threatening patient care.
Bernard Ribeiro’s comments came after 2,000 redundancies were announced across the service.

Source:- Daily Telegraph, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 2

Patients in self-harm study

Self-harm patients at a hospital in Stafford are being allowed to harm themselves in a “safe environment” as part of a study into their treatment.

Source:- Daily Telegraph, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 2

Mother jailed over truant daughter

A woman has been given a three-month jail term for failing to ensure her 14-year-old daughter attended school over a period of more than four months.

Source:- Daily Telegraph, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 10

Neighbour searching for two-year-old who drowned failed to look in pond

A police officer told an inquest yesterday that a nursery had breached its duty of care to a toddler, who drowned after falling into a pond after going missing from the nursery.
Detective Inspector George Stepney, of Warwickshire police, made the comments about Ready Teddy Go nursery in Brailes, Warwickshire, at the inquest into the death of two-year-old Abigail Rae.
The nursery is not being prosecuted.

Source:- Daily Telegraph, Thursday 23 March 2006, page 12

Police target sex traffickers

A police crackdown on sex trafficking has rescued 13 women allegedly forced into prostitution, and a girl aged 15. Operation Pentameter, which involves all 55 forces in the UK, has also led to more than 50 arrests of suspected human traffickers.

Source:-The Times, Thursday 23 March 2003, page 30

Teacher convicted

A primary school teacher who used his mobile phone to photograph a half-naked seven-year-old pupil was found guilty of making, possessing and distributing indecent images. Ryan Price, 41, from Kingsbury, north east London, will be sentenced by Harrow crown court on April 12.

Source:-The Times, Thursday 23 March 2003, page 2

Muslim girl loses 2-year-battle over her uniform

Shabina Begum, a young Muslim girl yesterday failed in her two-year legal battle to force every school in Britain to allow pupils to decide their own dress code according to their religious belief.

Source:-The Times, Thursday 23 March 2003, page 13

Brown taunts the Tories: we invest, you cut taxes

Education and environment made priorities but no more for health in the Budget

Source:-The Guardian, Thursday 23 March 2003, page 1

Scottish news

Hammer killer probe reveals mental health care failings

A man was bludgeoned to death by a killer with a history of mental problems because of a catalogue of failings by the authorities, a damning report has found.
It condemned a lack of strategic leadership in the mental welfare system, too little clarity over who should take key decisions, and a failure to respond adequately to clear signs that the killer’s mental illness had relapsed while he was in the community.
The report was produced by the Mental Welfare Commission into how Stuart Robertson, a father-of-three, was killed with a hammer by James Smith, in Pollok park in October 2004, 11 months after being released from Leverndale Hospital in Glasgow on a conditional discharge.

Source:- The Herald, Thursday 23 March 2006

Welsh news

 £45 million public services budget boost

An extra £45 million was awarded to public services in Wales over the next two years in the budget yesterday.
About £17 million will be awarded to the assembly now and about £28 million the following year.

Source:- icWales, Thursday 24 March 2006

Four Welsh quangos face scrapheap

Assembly members have decided to shut down four of Wales’s biggest quangos.
The Welsh Development Agency, Wales Tourist Board, and education bodies Elwa and Accac will be scrapped on April 1.
The Conservatives have objected to the move.

Source:- icWales, Thursday 24 March 2006