More than eight million people in Britain are considered problem drinkers, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Health.

People providing substantial care for their spouse or partner are less likely to consider themselves as ‘carers’, putting them at risk of missing out on the extra cash benefits they are entitled to, according to Age Concern.

Learning and physical disabilities and behavioural problems are part of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders [FASD]. These lifelong conditions can drastically impact on the lives of the individual and those around them.

Guidelines to assist health professionals who suspect cases of forced marriage have been launched by the Government. Aimed at frontline practitioners such as GPs, school nurses, midwives, and A&E staff, the guidelines provide practical advice on how to recognise the warning signs, and what to do if a patient discloses that they have been, or are about to be, forced to marry.

Herefordshire Council is to consult on changes in the way it charges for a range of services to adults needing non-residential social care. These services include the provision of care in people’s homes, attendance at day centres, adaptations to buildings and the provision of transport and meals.

Mental health charity Mind has commented on a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which shows that mental illness is now the second largest reason for UK workers taking time off sick.

Children are not being given the freedom to play out unsupervised with their friends because of adult fears over their safety, a survey has revealed.

A hearing into the conduct of a Registered Social Worker from Portsmouth will be held on 12 and 13 June 2007 by the social care workforce regulator for England, the General Social Care Council (GSCC).

Police will today begin exhumations of elderly people who were living at a care home, as part of a widening investigation into concern about how they died. Detectives will announce they are investigating at least seven suspicious deaths at the Parkfields residential care home near Glastonbury, Somerset.

{mosimage}In what officers admit is a “drastic step”, the remains of Nellie Mary Pickford, who died almost a year ago at 89, will be removed from a graveyard. A postmortem will try to establish how she died, after which she will be reburied. Over the next five weeks, two forther former residents of the home in Butleigh will be exhumed and examined. They follow the arrest of a registered nurse, Rachel Baker, 42, and her husband, Leigh, a 48-year-old chef, who ran the home. Mrs Baker was questioned on suspicion of administering a noxious substance, and Mr Baker of “being concerned” in the administering. Both are on bail.

The police inquiry began after concerns were raised by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), which registers, inspects, and reports on social care services in England. Its concern followed the death of one resident, Lucy Cox, aged 97, at the home on New Year’s Day. Detective Superintendent Trevor Simpson of Avon and Somerset police, heading a team of 25 officers, said they had “considered long and hard” before taking this “drastic step” of exhumations.

He said: “It is a very serious step to take, unprecedented in this force’s history; but we feel that to successfully and properly conduct this investigation we need to do this. The purpose is to conduct a postmortem looking for the cause of death and achieving samples for analysis. Hopefully then, within three days, the family can conduct a private burial and she can be returned to her resting place.”

The other two exhumations will take place in Butleigh next Tuesday and in Kingweston on July 10. Police will not reveal the identities of the bodies.

A postmortem has been completed on Ms Cox. The bodies of a further three former residents were cremated. Det Supt Simpson would not comment on whether any other deaths at the home were being queried or investigated.

The inquiry began in January after fears about the care home were flagged up by the CSCI. Neither the police nor the CSCI has said who raised the concerns, but it is understood to have been a staff member.

A new bid to alter current abortion laws is to be made in Parliament – the third such attempt in eight months. Ann Winterton’s bill would require women to be counselled about possible ill-effects, then to wait a week to consider them before going ahead.