Health bosses are meeting on Friday to agree the closure of the six remaining in-patient beds at Bracken House, Chard’s mental health unit. Somerset Partnership NHS and Social Care Trust, which operates the county’s mental health services, says the move is needed to avoid an overspend of £1m by the end of the financial year. The trust wants to close the beds by October but the move has been greeted with anger by town leaders. Chard Mayor John Malcolm said: “Every time they close a bed it means people have to go to Taunton or Yeovil. I recently took somebody who was having a nervous breakdown to Yeovil and the wait to actually see a doctor was from 2pm to 9.30pm.”

{mosimage} Nine out of 10 nurses say they do not always have time to help ensure hospital patients eat properly, a study has found. The charity Age Concern believes this could be one reason why six out of 10 older patients are at risk of becoming malnourished while in hospital. The charity said the NHS was continuing to fail patients despite guidelines which make feeding a core priority. Malnutrition is estimated to cost the UK over £7.3bn a year. Malnourished patients stay in hospital for much longer, are three times as likely to develop complications during surgery, and have a higher mortality rate. It is a problem which particularly affects the elderly: patients over 80 admitted to hospital have a five times higher prevalence of malnutrition than those under the age of 50. In 2004 the Department of Health issued core standards for the NHS which commit trusts to providing patients with a balanced and nutritional diet. This was followed earlier this year by guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence designed to help the NHS identify patients who are malnourished or at risk.

A service which provides residential support for adults with learning disabilities has been given the highest possible rating by Government inspectors. The Commission for Social Care Inspection rated the supported living house at King’s Hedges, Cambridge, run by Cambridgeshire County Council, as excellent after a recent visit. The three residents at the house rent their accommodation from a housing association and receive personal care and support from staff provided by the council’s office of environment and community services.

Government proposals for children in care to be educated in state and private boarding schools are to be taken a step forward, it was revealed yesterday. The Department for Education and Skills is expected to pilot the plans, which could give the most vulnerable youngsters at risk of poor educational achievement the advantage of regular, continuous schooling, funded by the taxpayer.

Indoor cannabis farms, which can produce up to £250,000 of the class C drug each year, are appearing in quiet residential streets throughout the country in unprecedented numbers, police have told the Guardian. A clampdown on the farms in big cities is forcing drug syndicates to decamp to converted family homes in the suburbs, detectives said.

A recent study by Barnardo’s highlighted how children in care are being failed by the education system; but for black children that failure is even more pronounced. The Barnardo’s report: Failed by the System aimed to highlight “the shocking levels of disadvantage” faced by children in care, in respect of their education, whom Barnardo’s claim are being virtually “written off”. Pam Hibbert, Principal Policy Officer for Barnardo’s told Black Britain: “This report doesn’t actually tell us anything that we didn’t already know,” given that there is already a plethora of research into the poor educational achievements of children in care.

Residents of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead who have care provided through social services are being encouraged to take advantage of a scheme that will give them greater freedom to choose who comes into their home to help them, and when. Direct payments gives people more power over the purse strings for their care, enabling them to arrange for their own care at times best suited to them and with services tailored to suit their way of life. From September 1 direct payments will be looked after by a dedicated borough team who will be available to all care users to discuss how the scheme could make their lives easier and give them control over the way their assessed packages of care can be delivered for their particular needs.

A teenager with severe psychiatric problems escaped after attacking his carer during an organised fishing trip. William Pritchard, 16, had been sent to St Nicholas Hospital, Newcastle, from a young offenders’ institution under a mental health order. On an outing in Felton, Northumberland on Monday, he threatened to sexually assault his carer, before attacking her and running off, police said. Northumbria Police said he might try to contact relatives in Worcestershire.

One in ten teenage girls self-harm each year, claims the largest-ever study of self-harm amongst 15 to 16-year-olds by Bath and Oxford universities. In a survey of 6000 teenagers, researchers found girls are four times more likely to have self-harmed compared to boys. The survey found 64.5% of self-harm was inflicted by self-cutting. The research took place in 41 schools across Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Birmingham in 2000 and 2001. The survey also found 11% of girls had self-harmed in the last year compared to 3% of boys. Only 13% of self-harming incidents the pupils reported resulted in a hospital visit.

Cuts in social services are starting to take their toll on the elderly and infirm as help with shopping, housework and cooking is scrapped. Cash-strapped Wiltshire county council is reviewing the care packages of all its service users and many vulnerable adults have already been told that the amount of help they will receive from home carers will be significantly reduced. In a bid to save £2 million, the council has announced that only “substantial or critical needs” will be met and that elderly and disabled people may have to pay for private services or rely on help from family and friends if they need assistance with buying groceries or looking after their houses.