TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2006

Care home residents get wrong medicine
Almost half of England’s nursing and care homes fail to meet national standards in giving residents their medication, with people sometimes given the wrong medication and even other people’s drugs, according to the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 10

100,000 attempts every day to access child porn websites
More than 100,000 attempts to access child pornography websites are made in Britain every day, according to figures compiled by BT. Eight out of ten attempts to access the websites are blocked by screening software.
Source:- Daily Mail, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 2

Bulled anti-bullying campaigners walk out
Two founder members of the Anti-Bullying Alliance walked out in protest yesterday – claiming its leadership had been “bullied” by the government into terminating their contracts.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 5

Trust attacked over nursing contract scheme
A pioneering move by East Elmbridge and Mid-Surrey primary care trust to let up to 700 staff leave its employ and contract their services back has been attacked by the private sector because the multi-million pound deal is not going out to tender.
Source:- Financial Times, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 3

Blair buys off rebels with concessions on education plans
A climbdown by Tony Blair on reforms to schools has bought off most of the Labour rebels who were threatening to vote against the government’s education reforms. The main concessions included a guarantee that councils will continue to have a strategic role over admissions, the government’s code on admissions policy will be given legal force and parental interviews for selection will be banned.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 4

Jail failed to improve safety despite deaths
Woodhill jail in Milton Keynes, which recorded 10 apparently self inflicted deaths in three years, has failed to implement safety measures recommended by inspectors, according to a report by the chief inspector of prisons.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 13

Home oxygen service chaos
A new NHS service to supply oxygen to dangerously ill people at home has broken down within days, leaving patients without deliveries and at least one needing hospital treatment. It has been unable to cope with the level of requests sent by GPs.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 4

GPs could be forced to report girls on pill
The government is considering making it compulsory for all GPs and other health workers to contact the police if a girl of 13 or under seeks contraceptive advice.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 7 February 2006, page 11

Scottish news

Executive accused of bullying councils
Council leaders last night accused the Scottish executive of resorting to bully-boy tactics and spin in an effort to silence criticism of this year’s local authority funding settlement. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has written an open letter complaining about the executive’s approach. It said that ministers are concentrating on “peripheral issues”, such as the amount that authorities have in reserves and the pay of senior officials, to deflect attention from their financial crisis.
It argues that reserves are managed by councils effectively and adds that the claim made by Tom McCabe, the finance minister, that balances could be used to reduce council tax, due to be set on Thursday, was putting “a spin on the real problem – the ongoing underfunding of local government”.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 7 February 2006

No idea how many kids raised by drug addicts
Deputy justice minister Hugh Henry has admitted there is “no definite figure” on the number of young people whose parents abuse drugs. And in Scotland, police revealed at least 70 children were arrested for drug dealing last year.
Ministers have been under pressure to provide more help for addicts and their families following the case of an 11-year-old Glasgow girl who collapsed at school after taking heroin.
Source:- The Record, Tuesday 7 February 2006

Welsh news

Call for action after apparent teen suicides
Action needs to be taken to stop the high rate of teenage suicides in Wales, the assistant children’s commissioner said last night.
Sara Reid made the call after two apparent teenage suicides in Wales in a short space of time.
Official figures show the suicide rate among 11-17 year olds in Wales is five times higher than in England.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 7 February 2006

More deliberation for Billie Jo jury
An Old Bailey jury will deliberate its verdict for the sixth day today in the Billie Jo Jenkins murder retrial.
Sion Jenkins, 48, of Lymington, Hants denies murdering his 13-year-old foster daughter Billie Jo. She died after being beaten with a tent peg at the family’s home in Hastings, East Sussex in February 1997.
Former deputy head teacher Jenkins, who is originally from Aberystwyth, was jailed for life for murder in 1998 but a retrial is taking place after he launched an appeal.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 7 February 2006