It is time to protect patients from “vile and cynical exploitation” by the alternative medicines industry, argues a cancer expert in the BMJ. It is estimated that up to 80% of all patients with cancer take a complementary treatment or follow a dietary programme to help treat their cancer, writes Jonathan Waxman, Professor of Oncology at Imperial College London. Yet the rationale for the use of many of these approaches is obtuse – one might even be tempted to write misleading, he says.

The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities has produced guidance to help child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) meet their targets. CAMHS are supposed to provide comprehensive services for all young people, including those with learning difficulties, by the end of the year. The guidance, ‘This is what we want’, consulted young people with disabilities from London.

A Colchester-based specialist care provider is celebrating an 18% increase in revenue over the past year. Health and social care provider Care UK plc described its progress as “excellent” after it saw its pre-tax profits rise by 5% to £14.2million, and its revenue go up from £169.2million to £199.4million.
Its operating profit went up 8% to £19.5million. All four divisions of the company – residential, community, specialist and clinical care – saw strong growth. The community care division’s revenue grew by 22%, while residential care’s increased by 16% and specialist care by 12%.

Many kids who have been adopted want to know more about their birth parents and why they were put up for adoption. Expert in kids’ rights Dr Roger Morgan said children told him they needed to know where they came from so they could understand themselves better. Another report says half of council-run organisations which help kids get adopted don’t give them enough support. But it wasn’t all bad news – as many kids said that being adopted made them feel happy and settled.

Social and aged care services in Berkshire could suffer if Whitehall does not increase council funding, the Local Government Association has warned. The association’s Autumn Statement said council tax payers would have to spend more to pay for services if the government funding shortfall is not met. Wokingham District Council is one of the worst-off in the UK, funding 80% of its programmes from council tax. The authority already has plans to cut social care and said it needs an extra £2.4 million a year to meet current commitments.

The bridges and barriers facing those who run faith-based charities will be at the heart of discussions between the Charity Commission and Jewish charities at a seminar in London this week. It follows on from the successful launch event with the Jewish charity community in Manchester and is part of a larger nationwide campaign run by the charity watchdog to develop its knowledge of the issues facing minority faith charities.

Six months after leading mental health charity Rethink published a worrying report outlining cuts to mental health budgets, a new report reveals the situation hasn’t improved; and will highlight further cuts. Despite Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt warning Primary Care Trusts in deficit against automatically turning to Mental Health Trusts to bail them out,* and National Mental Health Director Louis Appleby stating acute trusts should be ‘ashamed’** for taking money from under funded mental health services; Rethink’s new report ‘A Cut too Far: six months on’ highlights a further £37m of potential cuts across 11 areas of the UK.

Care for people with dementia in England and Wales must be more co-ordinated, with better access to specialist services, a watchdog says. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence also called for carers to be given access to counselling as part of its guidance.

{mosimage}But campaigners said the advice was being overshadowed by the decision to restrict use of four drugs. NICE said dementia care was not just about giving drugs to people.

The recommendations, produced in conjunction with the Social Care Institute for Excellence for services in England and Wales, cover the whole spectrum of services from day centres to access to consultants.

It said there should be a co-ordinated and integrated approach to allow referral across the health and social care divide.

NICE also said there should be better access to scans and memory assessment services – specialist clinics led by consultants – to help improve diagnosis and treatment.

Britons are in denial over the impact that drinking too much has on their health, according to new research. Just 12% of adults have worried about the effects of drinking too much on their health in the last three months, according to Legal > General.

Police trials of a hand-held electronic fingerprint reader are being launched. Experts hope the device will save massive amounts of police time and money by allowing officers to identify suspects on the roadside without having to take them to the station.