Health Minister Rosie Winterton today expressed her deep concern about the impact on patient and public protection that the amendments the House of Lords has made to the Government’s Mental Health Bill.

{mosimage}Rosie Winterton told the Local Government Association conference on the Mental Health Bill in London : “Every year, over 1,300 people in contact with mental health services take their own lives. Every year, mental health patients commit around 50 homicides. Often, these are preceded by a reluctance to continue taking the treatment that would keep them well.

“We believe the present law can deny treatment to those who are in urgent need of it. We want to modernise the law to remove these obstacles both for community-based and hospital treatment for the good of patients themselves and to better protect the public.

“But the Peers have seriously weakened our plans for better protection for patients and the public. I want to spell out the impact of the changes that the peers have made and the very real risks if they are not reversed.”

Help the Aged today announces that it is funding 20 new studies across the UK through its biomedical Research into Ageing programme. The studies, totalling £1.7m in value, will research treatments and solutions to bring better health and independence to older people.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has told MPs that nurses and other public sector workers will get below inflation pay awards, sparking anger from unions. Mr Brown said he had accepted pay review body recommendations that awards be kept within the government’s 2% inflation target.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), the regulator for social care in England, has today responded to the Government’s consultation document, “The future regulation of health and adult social care in England”.

Overflowing bins, unhygienic kitchens and out-of-date medical records were just some of the discoveries made at care homes in Mole Valley last year. Inspections carried out by the Commission for Social Care uncovered alarming problems at residential homes for the elderly and disabled members of the community.

Tony Blair tried yesterday to patch the cracks in his Cabinet over the Government’s policies on marriage and single parents as he defended its record on tackling poverty.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance which is the first of its kind to make specific recommendations on the identification, treatment and management of all mental health disorders in antenatal and postnatal women.