Can the sound of music really make elderly patients feel better?

Was Doc killed in revenge attack?

Police were exploring the possibility that a paediatrician, who was stabbed outside her home on Tuesday morning, was murdered in connection with her work.

A Kent Police source said they were investigating hospital records involving Dr Victoria Anyetei, who worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital in London and lived in Dartford, to see whether a dispute over treatment may have triggered her murder.

Source:- Daily Mirror, Thursday 16 August 2007, page 11

The government has extended its Dignity in Care campaign to people receiving mental health services, as well as older people in care homes and hospitals.

Care services minister Ivan Lewis made the pledge after a highly critical report by the joint committee on human rights on the level of care provided for older people by social care and health providers.

Source:- The Daily Mail, Thursday 16 August 2007, page 17

Osborne signals attack on Brown’s failure to spread wealth

The Conservatives are to launch a sustained attack on Gordon Brown for failing to spread wealth beyond the City of London, pointing to rising levels of child poverty and regional inequalities in income.

Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 16 August 2007, page 17

Minimum wage has shrunk pay levels, says study

The introduction of the minimum wage was has led to pay levels being compressed, removing differentials between jobs and incentives to improve skills, a report commissioned by the British Retail Consortium has found.

Source:- The Financial Times, Thursday 16 August 2007, page 3

Welsh news

Average drugs use of £187 per year

The average person in Wales used the equivalent of £187 worth of prescription drugs last year according to new figures.The stats show the number of prescriptions given out in Wales increased by 4 per cent in 2006-7 when the fee per item was reduced to £3.

Since April this year free prescriptions have been introduced and the figures suggest that next time around they will have increased further. Some doctors have already reported an increase in patients asking for prescriptions and this has led to calls for a nominal fee to be introduced to stop people from hoarding medicines.

Source:- Western Mail, Thursday 16 August 2007