Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, set up an independent inquiry yesterday into plans to axe NHS maternity units in north-west England that provoked a mutiny by her cabinet colleague Hazel Blears.

New figures show the number of young people in prison is likely to reach an all-time high this summer, pushing the youth custody system to “saturation point”. Official figures released today by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) revealed that there were 2,878 under-18s in jail last month – the highest figure for February since comparable records began in 2000.

The number of people newly homeless is falling, official figures show today. Cases totalled 17,310 in October to December in England last year, compared to a peak of 35,770 three years earlier, National Statistics said. The number of households in temporary accommodation dipped below 90,000 for the first time since 2003, to 89,510.

An independent inquiry is to be launched after a charity highlighted six deaths of people with learning disabilities in NHS care. Mencap’s report says there is widespread ignorance in the NHS which has resulted in “institutional abuse”.

UK scientists have identified a way of using light to rapidly detect the presence of bacteria. The technology could have wide applications in wound healing, counter-terrorism and screening patients for MRSA infection.

{mosimage}The team at Sheffield University are developing a portable kit in which specially designed molecules emit a light signal when bound to bacteria.

Current laboratory-based detection of bacteria can take hours or even days. The team have spent five years designing special large molecules, or polymers, which can bind to cells. Once bound the polymer changes shape and emits a light signal.

This can either be a coloured light, such as a red glow, or a light that is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected under a fluorescent lamp, depending on the type of polymer that is used.

With funding from the Ministry of Defence, the researchers are now developing polymers which can attach to bacterial cells. Putting the polymers into a wound would show doctors whether there was a bacterial infection by the presence of a light signal.

The technology would be particularly useful in a war-zone where laboratory facilities are not readily available, said the researchers. The kit, which could be available in three years, could also be used to detect deliberate release of bacteria, for example in an anthrax attack.

A paedophile who molested a 14-year-girl after meeting her on the internet has been sentenced to 14 months in jail. Gareth Crowther, 37, of Nether Langwith, Nottinghamshire, groomed the teenager in a chat room, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Hospital staff missed warning signs in a baby suspected of being the youngest victim of MRSA, an inquest has heard. Luke Day died in Ipswich Hospital, Suffolk, in February 2005, just 36 hours after being born.

A majority of Britons will be obese within 25 years because so many people are leading such unhealthy lives, warns a new report commissioned by the government. It concludes that record numbers of people will die from diabetes, strokes, heart attacks and cancers.

A pilot scheme introducing books dealing with gay issues to children from the ages of four to 11 has just been launched in England’s schools. It is being argued that the books, one of which is a fairytale featuring a prince who turns down three princesses before falling in love and marrying a man, are necessary to make homosexuality seem normal to children.

Tougher penalties for drink-drivers could be introduced if a recommendation in a government-commissioned report is adopted. The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) report also called for the consequences of taking alcohol to be included in the school curriculum.