{mosimage} A Hospital for people with learning disabilities, at the centre of an investigation into patient abuse, will close. The Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust, which runs Budock Hospital, near Falmouth, was criticised in a report for “widespread institutional abuse” of patients. The report, part of an inquiry by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), was published this month, describing years of abusive practices, “underlying problems that have never been addressed” and the failure of senior trust executives to face up to concerns.

Multiple sclerosis sufferers have been offered hope of a normal life after doctors pioneered a wonder drug treatment. A five-year study, due to be published in August’s Journal of Neurology, found that patients with the aggressive form of MS had a reduced relapse rate of 90% under the regime. The drastic reduction means that patients who would have faced bedridden lives will now be able to work and raise families uninterrupted.

{mosimage} A documentary about manic depression made by Stephen Fry will be one of the highlights of BBC2’s autumn season unveiled today. Fry is making two films for the channel

Care homes are being urged to prepare early for potential heatwaves so they can help protect older people from the effects of high temperatures. Actions such as making sure windows can be opened and shaded, checking there are enough fans, making sure cold drinks are available and ensuring you know who is most at risk, can help to reduce the risk of older people getting heatstroke.

The home secretary, John Reid, yesterday launched a 24-point “get tough” criminal justice package which marked a clear return for Labour to the “prison works” policy of Michael Howard’s Home Office. In the face of a record prison population in England and Wales of 78,000 and climbing, Mr Reid became the latest in a long line of home secretaries to try to build his way out of a prisons crisis by announcing the provision of a further 8,000 prison places and longer sentences for the most serious criminals.

Residents at Sunnybank House care home in Weymouth, Dorset, were left without care after two staff members got locked in a kitchen and another injured herself plunging into a light

Oxfordshire’s social services are creaking at the seams because of the NHS funding crisis, councillors claim. Conservative county councillors are set to complain to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust that changes to its services are putting the social care department under extreme pressure. Members of the Tory-run council’s cabinet have called for a halt to cuts in community-based NHS services.

A new fee-paid fostering service has been launched in Suffolk in a bid to tackle a shortage of foster carers for older children. Suffolk County Council says there are not enough “in-house” foster carers for adolescents or children over eight, which means many have to be fostered out of the county and away from their friends and family. The council has now developed a scheme where it will pay a fee related to the number of youngsters the carer fosters in addition to children’s allowances and paid respite. The combined amount could add up to between £340 and £950 per week.

A hospital which was criticised in a report for “widespread institutional abuse” of patients is to close. Fourteen people with learning difficulties at Budock Hospital, near Falmouth, will be rehomed by December, the BBC has been told. Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust is also handing over the care of nearly 170 people in 46 community homes. The closure follows inspections by the Healthcare Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Thousands of elderly people will still be denied their legal entitlement to free long term nursing care despite proposed changes to the system, according to a lawyer fighting for free care. The government has published proposals which aim to clarify who should receive free care in nursing homes in England and started a consultation. But Nicola Mackintosh, who represented Pauline Coughlan in a test case to keep NHS care free, says that 1999 ruling will continue to be ignored by the NHS.