£10,000 for widow, 89, ‘fed talcum powder’ by care staff

£10,000 for widow, 89, ‘fed talcum powder’ by care staff
A frail widow has been awarded more than £10,000 compensation after her family produced a video which allegedly showed her being force-fed talcum powder by the care workers who were supposed to be looking after her.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 12 July 2006, page 9
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Probation staff do not carry out proper risk assessments of prisoners
Probation staff are not carrying out proper risk assessments on thousands of prisoners released from jail, according to the chief inspector of probation.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Wednesday 12 July 2006, page 4
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Tax losses reach £1.3 billion
Fraud and error in the tax credits system costs the taxpayer up to £1.28 billion a year – almost three times initial estimates, official figures have revealed.
Source:- The Independent, Wednesday 12 July 2006, page 13

Growing crisis in premature baby care
Nine out of 10 neonatal intensive care units had to turn away new admissions in the second half of 2005, revealing a crisis in care for sick and premature babies.
Premature baby charity Bliss, who conducted research into the issue, said many parents were facing long journeys to receive care as a result.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 July 2006, page 10
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Temporary nurses still costing NHS £790 million
The use of temporary nurses varies from one to 30 per cent between hospitals and is costing the NHS £790 million a year, a National Audit Office report today said.
The NAO said the service could save up to £85 million a year through better workforce planning.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 July 2006, page 10
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Scottish news
 
Youth crime: ‘councils not pulling weight’
Justice minister Cathy Jamieson said she was disappointed after figures showing the number of children responsible for serial crimes had risen despite government efforts to cut it.
Jamieson, who renewed her pledge to cut persistent young offenders to under 1000 by 2008, suggested councils and other agencies were not pulling their weight.
She said: “Too many areas are still not delivering the necessary improvements for their local communities and are not progressing towards nationally agreed standards of performance, particularly in terms of persistent young offenders.”
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 12 July 2006
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Only an excuse? Football’s healthy
Psychiatrists meeting in Glasgow today will hear that research found supporting a football club helps ward off depression – regardless of results.
Alan Pringle, a lecturer in mental health nursing, will say that the sport has a positive influence on men, in particular.
He will also explain that, amid concern about levels of depression and suicide among young males, a psychiatric nurse is to be stationed at Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 12 July 2006
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92 youths accused of nearly 1000 crimes in Edinburgh
New figures showed a hardcore of 92 young people was responsible for nearly 1000 crimes in Edinburgh last year.
The number of persistent young offenders in the Capital and across Scotland went up, despite a Scottish executive target to cut it by ten per cent.
The figures show there were 92 individuals in Edinburgh aged between eight and 16 last year who were referred to the children’s reporter on five or more occasions in the course of any six-month period.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 12 July 2006
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Welsh news
School funding to come under closer assembly scrutiny
School funding is set to come under closer scrutiny by the Welsh Assembly government after a highly critical report from a committee of AMs.
The schools funding committee found that the school funding system was not transparent and unfair.
Education minister Jane Davidson said she backed the findings of the report and that the government would work with local education authorities to try to make improvements.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 12 July 2006
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