Youth crime board is failing to meet targets, says report

By Mithran Samuel, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

Nice says arthritis drug is not cost-effective on NHS

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has proposed that Orencia, a drug that may help people with severe arthritis, was not cost-effective to enough to be prescribed on the NHS.

The move was criticised by the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, whose chief executive, Ailsa Bosworth, said around 12,000 people with an aggressive form of the condition would be “condemned to a life of pain and disability” which would be equally costly to the NHS.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 2 August 2007 page 8

Youth crime board is failing to meet targets, says report

The Youth Justice Board looks set to miss almost all of its key performance targets, its annual report has revealed.

It showed that the YJB was “highly unlikely” to hit its target of reducing custody numbers for under-18s by 10% from 2005-8, and further targets on reducing the number of first-time entrants to the system and reoffending rates by 5% were “at risk”.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 2 August 2007 page 13

How known criminals are allowed to work in the NHS

Over 1,350 people whose criminal records bureau checks revealed the police held information on them were cleared to work with the NHS last year, it has emerged.

Just 56 people were rejected from posts due to CRB checks, a figure that was criticised by patient group Patient Concern, who demanded a justification for the finding.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 2 August 2007 page 9

Disabled lad bully pair free

A mother has hit out at the sentences given to two former family friends who bullied her disabled son when she left him with them for a weekend.

Brett Kitchin was sentenced to four months in prison – but bailed pending an appeal – and Craig Hurst was given a community order after pleading guilty to assaulting the 12-year-old boy, whose mother asked: “How can you have faith in the justice system?”

Source:- The Sun Thursday 2 August 2007 page 15

MPs have questioned whether the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, which will take over equalities monitoring across the UK on 1 October, will be in a position to do its job effectively.

The communities and local government select committee, in a report today, said it feared the CEHR would have an inadequate budget, while expertise from the three bodies that will be merged into the new commission – the Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commisison and Equal Opportunities Commission – would be lost.

Source:- The Financial Times Thursday 2 August 2007 page 2

Stressful job found to double risk of depression

Almost half of new cases of depression or anxiety could be attributable to stressful work as a result of excessive workload and time pressures, a study has found.

The King’s College London research showed that people in stressful jobs, such as in the financial sector, were more than twice as likely to develop diagnosable forms of depression or anxiety as people in less stressful work.

Source:- The Financial Times Thursday 2 August 2007 page 2

The chief executives of the NHS and the Healthcare Commission have clashed over whether the new joint health and social care regulator – Ofcare – should be able to inspect the commissioning functions of primary care trusts, which control three-quarters of the NHS budget.

NHS chief executive David Nicholson is understood to want this to remain a role for strategic health authorities, which report to him, while Healthcare Commission chief Anna Walker said the public had a right to an independent assessment of how PCTs spent their money.

Ofcare will replace the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission by 2009.

Source:- The Financial Times Thursday 2 August 2007 page 3

Brain-damaged man ‘recovers with aid of electrode implant’

A man who spent six years unable to talk, eat or walk as a result of severe brain damage has made a massive recovery thanks to the implant of electrodes deep into his brain.

The 38-year-old American is now able to talk, eat, drink and brush his teeth.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 2 August 2007 page 1

One in five adults ‘has debts worth more than £10,000’

Eight million Britons have unsecured debts of more than £10,000 and are struggling to meet repayments, according to new research.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 2 August 2007 page 6

Mother released from care to kill her children

A mother with a severe mental illness killed her two children after being allowed unsupervised access despite the warnings of their father, the Old Bailey in London heard yesterday.

Vivian Gamor, from Hackney, east London, was detained indefinitely after admitting the manslaughter of 10-year-old Antonie and three-year-old Kenniece in January.

She had previously been sectioned but was later allowed unsupervised contact with the children despite the protests of their father, Jimi Ogunkoya.

Hackney Council has launched an independent inquiry into the deaths.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 2 August 2007 page 10

Scottish news

Charity worker embezzled £12,500

A former Scottish charity worker has admitted embezzling £12,500 from autism sufferers and their support group.

Kenneth Fulton admitted stealing the money from the Scottish Society for Autism between November 2003 and April 2005.

He had worked as an area administrator with the society at its offices in Roslin, Midlothian.

Source:- The Scotsman, Thursday 2 August

On-the-spot fines for drunken yobs

Drunks will get on-the-spot fines as part of a new police bid to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Cops will also dish out £40 tickets for offences such as vandalism, urinating in public and breach of the peace.

Lothian and Borders are giving 500 Edinburgh officers electronic notebooks that issue the fines and pass details to the courts.

Source:- The Daily Record, Thursday 2 August

Welsh news

Councils lose more and more social workers

Nearly every local authority in Wales is experiencing difficulties in recruiting social workers new research has revealed.

A survey by the Care Council for Wales found 84 per cent of Welsh councils were having problems recruiting and retaining frontline social workers.

Meanwhile today councillors at Swansea Council will discuss “serious concerns” raised by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales on the city’s family services.

Source:- Western Mail, Thursday, 2 August 2007