The average stay by an elderly person in a home with nursing care costs more than £70,000, according to research today, underlining the financial pressures faced by older people. Figures show that 30 months is the average duration of an older person’s stay in such a home and, with the weekly cost of nursing care at £545, the total cost comes to £70,796. The figure in Greater London would be £91,650.

A loner with Asperger’s syndrome who did not know the difference between right and wrong killed a colleague in ‘cold blooded’ revenge after being sacked. Shane Freer stabbed grandmother Jackie Marshall to death in a ‘frenzied, ferocious and crazed’ attack in front of horrified diners at the McDonald’s where they worked. The horrified onlookers included a children’s birthday party she was supervising.

{mosimage}The UK’s most vulnerable children are being “betrayed” by a care system that is guilty of a catalogue of failings, according to a damning report. The majority of young people leaving institutions are destined to become prostitutes, homeless or spend time in prison, the study states. Harriet Sergeant, author of Handle with Care: an investigation into the care system, said: “It is not just a tragedy for the individual. A successful system of care would transform this country. At a stroke it would empty a third of our prisons. It would halve the number of prostitutes, reduce by between a third and a half the number of homeless and remove 80% of Big Issue sellers from our street corners.

Children are to be given lessons in how to avoid falling prey to internet sex predators. A programme which aims to reach 1 million secondary school pupils by March will warn them against giving personal details over the internet or arranging to meet online “friends”. The ThinkUKnow project is run by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. It will involve more than 1,000 police, child protection specialists, social services staff and teachers.

Frail elderly people are being slowly stripped of the right to vital home help that enables them to keep living independent lives, a scathing report found yesterday. It said that social workers are quietly removing help like meals on wheels, cleaning, washing and dressing and transport from all but the most disabled among older people who live at home.

Asylum seekers could be ferried from London into Birmingham in taxis – with taxpayers footing the £500,000 bill. Under controversial plans they would be driven 120 miles in mini-cabs from Dover and London up to the city and across the West Midlands over the next three years.

Local home owners say youngsters from Oak House, Pellon, Halifax, are making their lives a misery with foul language, noise and anti-social behaviour. The home opened in February 2004 and is owned by Broadwood Residential which also operates another centre in Sowerby Bridge. Concerns about the company’s sister home, Maple House, in Industrial Road, were so high residents recently called a public meeting with the owners, police and Calderdale councillors, demanding it be shut down. Now neighbours in Pellon have called for action.

Councillors have decided to spend £1.7 million on projects which should save money long-term. Cambridgeshire County Council’s cabinet has approved 16 bids for cash from projects including helping parents of disabled children access direct payments for care, increasing the number of people in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland helped to live in their own homes and to allow older people to leave hospital as soon as possible after treatment. The schemes are all part of the council’s Invest to Save proposals.

Two-thirds of the baby boomer generation have made no plans for their future care needs, a poll suggests. A survey of 942 adults for the charity Help the Aged showed 62% of 45-65 year olds had made no provision for care. One in five admitted they felt ‘life is too short’ to worry about something which may not happen – and many were ill-informed about the current rules. The charity’s survey found widespread confusion among those approaching retirement age. Currently, in England and Northern Ireland anyone with savings of £21,000 or more, including the value of a home, is expected to meet the full cost of care home fees without any state funding. But almost half of those surveyed believed the government would contribute in some way towards their care needs – and one in 10 61-65 year-olds thought the state would pick up the whole bill. Over half (55%) thought that should they need a place in a care home, they planned to rely on their basic state pension to help cover costs.

Psychiatry services in England and Wales have been accused of being institutionally racist, but are these accusations justified? In 2005, the “Count me in” census for England and Wales showed higher rates of admission for mental illness and more adverse pathways to care for some black and minority ethnic groups and led to accusations of institutional racism within psychiatry. Several reports and inquiries have also alleged that psychiatry is institutionally racist.