A SECOND South Tyneside care home run by the company which owns St Michael’s View has been slammed by a watchdog. The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report on Garden Hill Care Home, in St Michael’s Avenue, South Shields, outlined complaints of residents being left freezing in their beds, people being fed the wrong food and trips and falls not being recorded.

A national survey has shown that seven in ten people have no plans in place to pay for any future care costs.

EMERGENCY steps taken to close a Southampton care home were unusual, a court heard. Normally homes were given 28 days’ notice but the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) acted quickly after a series of unannounced visits to The Briars in Thorold Road, Bitterne Park in September 2008 amid mounting concern about the level of patient care and lack of records Carol Payne, a CSCI regulation manager, told the city crown court that she spoke to owner Annette Hopkins about her day-to-day involvement.

Research has found that marriage has no bearing on a child’s outcomes, casting doubt on the utility of the Conservatives bid to reward marriage in the tax system and mend “broken Britain”.

Vulnerable children and young people were overlooked by the three main political parties in their election manifestos last week, disappointed charities have claimed.

AN occupational therapist told the Southampton care home trial she considered the technique of how residents were manually handled as “very poor.”

Social workers in England have seen a sharp rise in the number of child safety worries brought to their attention, researchers say.

It’s time for social work to get off its collective knees and launch a revolution in the great May tradition, says BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson in his PSW column next month.

The husband of convicted care home killer Rachel Baker has been cleared of perverting the course of justice.

Three senior managers of a troubled children’s services department have left. But Salford council insists their departure has not been forced.