A judge has slammed the social services system in Manchesterl for ‘a startling lack of urgency’ in the days leading up to the death of a baby boy.

A SECOND South Tyneside care home run by the company which owns St Michael’s View has been slammed by a watchdog. The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report on Garden Hill Care Home, in St Michael’s Avenue, South Shields, outlined complaints of residents being left freezing in their beds, people being fed the wrong food and trips and falls not being recorded.

A national survey has shown that seven in ten people have no plans in place to pay for any future care costs.

EMERGENCY steps taken to close a Southampton care home were unusual, a court heard. Normally homes were given 28 days’ notice but the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) acted quickly after a series of unannounced visits to The Briars in Thorold Road, Bitterne Park in September 2008 amid mounting concern about the level of patient care and lack of records Carol Payne, a CSCI regulation manager, told the city crown court that she spoke to owner Annette Hopkins about her day-to-day involvement.

Research has found that marriage has no bearing on a child’s outcomes, casting doubt on the utility of the Conservatives bid to reward marriage in the tax system and mend “broken Britain”.