Paedophiles who abuse children of 12 or under may receive shorter jail terms if their victims ‘consent’ to sex, according to sentencing rules published this week. The law currently considers such youngsters incapable of giving consent – so sexual intercourse is automatically classed as rape.
Read More
Lord Ashley of Stoke’s Disabled Persons (Independent Living) bill has received approval from the House of Lords and with early day motions of 150 MPs also supporting the bill, looks set to be on its way to becoming law soon.
Read More
A company trying to evict an 83-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer from a private care home it runs is facing a legal battle in a historic case that could affect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.
{mosimage}The patient, who is female and known as YL, is taking Southern Cross Health Care to the House of Lords today on the grounds that the eviction would breach her human rights. Southern Cross is arguing that it is not undertaking a public function. Doctors say that evicting her would lead to a 25% chance that she may die within 6 to 8 weeks. If she wins, it could provide protection to 300,000 care home residents potentially at the mercy of private firms who run 91% of care homes in England and Wales.
Her action is being backed by Lord Falconer, the secretary for constitutional affairs, and by disability and human rights campaigners. Due to a legal loophole, the Human Rights Act offers no protection to elderly people in private care homes who may be at risk of eviction, abuse or neglect.
Read More
A former health minister is calling for a radical rethink on drugs policy. Former Labour MSP, Susan Deacon, who is not standing for re-election, said politicians from all parties should stop talking tough on drugs.
Read More
Views expressed by eminent social care leader, Dame Denise Platt, in her national review of the Status of Social Care services have been warmly received by Skills for Care, the national workforce development organisation for people working in adult social care.
Read More
More than 40 staff from Scotland’s care watchdog are celebrating success in a pioneering new course designed to help drive up standards. The Care Commission officers have all gained a new academic qualification which puts them at the forefront of modern regulation for nurseries, care homes and other care services.
Read More
The creation of the new Vetting and Barring Scheme has taken an important step forward with the appointment of Sir Roger Singleton as chair of the new Independent Barring Board (IBB). He will oversee the development of the scheme in preparation for its launch in 2008.
Read More
Talks on the nurses’ dispute being held at Government Buildings have been adjorned until Tuesday. Efforts to end the four-week old dispute over pay and a shorter working week had been ongoing since mid afternoon under the auspices of the National Implementation body.
Read More
The proportion of chronically ill young children dying in intensive care after being admitted to other hospital wards has steadily risen year on year since the end of the 1990s, reveals a study in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Read More
Pharmacists are warning the country’s methadone treatment scheme could collapse. The Irish Pharmaceutical Union says the State’s medicines schemes – including the methadone treatment used to wean heroin addicts off the street version of the drug – could come to an end if the HSE doesn’t review fees paid to its members.
Read More