The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has begun a probe into the UK supply of medicines, after changes at the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer. Earlier this month, Pfizer began selling its prescription drugs through just one medical wholesaler, Unichem.

A man has been arrested and placed in the care of mental health services following a siege in Bentley near Doncaster. Officers were called to a house in New Street by neighbours after a 26-year-old man barricaded himself in.

IVF clinics that produce twins and triplets in more than one in ten pregnancies will face disciplinary action under plans to cut multiple births announced yesterday. The cap proposed by the fertility watchdog would mean that about 50 per cent of women having IVF treatment, mostly first-time patients under 35, would be allowed to use just one embryo at a time.

{mosimage} It would virtually eliminate chances of having twins or triplets, which is the greatest health risk of the procedure, but could slightly reduce the prospect of a successful pregnancy at the first attempt. While the measure is backed by doctors and patient groups, it creates fresh pressure on the Government to improve funding of fertility treatment on the NHS.

Modern techniques mean that success rates with one embryo can be as good as with two for young women with a good prognosis, but only if a back-up cycle of treatment with a frozen embryo is offered should the first one fail. Very few NHS trusts currently provide this, and about 75 per cent of IVF patients pay for their own treatment.

More than 1,000 people in South Yorkshire could find themselves jobless due to mental health problems, according to a national charity. The Shaw Trust estimates that as many as 955 people in Sheffield, and more than 400 in Rotherham, could find themselves unable to work in the next six months.

As a young teenager in the East Sussex town of Hastings, Jenny Cross’s life had taken a turn for the worse – she was homeless and having problems with alcohol and drugs. Now at the age of 18, she has turned her life around with the help of the Xtrax young people’s centre.

Toddlers who spend three or more days a week in nursery are more likely to become anti-social, worried and upset, government research has found. The evaluation of a £370m scheme to expand children’s centres found youngsters were more likely to behave poorly the longer they spent in care.

{mosimage}But the report also found 30 hours in care increased children’s confidence. The research comes as teachers warn children are being “institutionalised” by the push to get mothers into work. The study – A National Evaluation of Neighbourhood Nurseries – assessed the neighbourhood nurseries initiative, which was set up in 2001 to provide more childcare in some of the poorest parts of the country.  The Department for Education and Skills report said:

“The ‘tipping point’ for daily attendance appears to be relatively low in relation to anti-social behaviour. When compared with children who attended either one or two days per week, children who attended for three days per week or more were significantly more anti-social.”

Offenders are escaping punishment for breaking their community penalties because probation staff are not following Home Office guidelines, according to a watchdog report.

A Birmingham nurse serving life for murdering her partner by drugging him and injecting him with insulin had her sentence reduced because of her “wholly exceptional progress” in prison.

“Talking” CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be installed in 20 areas across England. They are already used in Middlesbrough where anyone seen misbehaving can be told via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff, to stop.

By 2009 all women would be able to choose between giving birth at home, in a unit led by midwives or under the care of a consultant in hospital. Lives will be at risk under ‘scandalous’ maternity plans which mean that poorlytrained assistants could deliver babies, campaigners have warned.