The controversial chief executive of Powys Local Health Board (LHB) is stepping down, it has emerged. Andy Williams has been under pressure since announcing plans to make cuts at four Powys hospitals.

Fundamental change is necessary to deal with a rise in chronic conditions, the head of the NHS in Wales has warned.

The Minister of Health and Social Services in Wales has said she will press the UK government to implement a full 2.5% pay award for all nurses. Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Tina Donnelly, appreciated the news saying:

A former Cardiff prison governor has accused the government of breaking a promise that only carefully-vetted prisoners, who were unlikely to be violent, would be placed in court cells. Courtroom cells currently hold 24 prisoners, but the Prison Service has put courts on stand-by to accommodate up to 100 inmates a night.

Leading GP Dr Andrew Dearden launched an emotional attack last week on the “quagmire” of bureaucracy in the NHS which has forced at least one doctor to take sick leave.

Members of Swansea Council’s health and social care scrutiny board will look at the case of murdered baby Aaron Gilbert when it meets on Monday.The committee will review the report on how social services handled the investigation into reported abuse of the 13-month-old baby.

Older people in Wales are more likely to face abuse than in any other UK nation, a government survey has shown. The two-year study revealed that thousands of older people are being physically, sexually or psychologically abused, usually by their own relatives.

Rhodri Morgan has been asked to award nurses a full one-off pay increase today. Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones challenged him to reject the Treasury’s plan of spreading nurses’ pay rises over two stages and bring in a single pay rise, as in Scotland.

Millions of pounds of public money aimed at helping the most deprived areas of Wales are being sent back unused, it has emerged. Research by BBC Wales reveals that over £6m of Communities First funds was returned over the last two years.

A heroin addict with 77 previous convictions stole more than £200 meant for an autistic man. Samantha Richards, 30, cashed a benefits cheque for £217.13 addressed to the man’s mother, who was his full-time carer, a court heard.