Sue Ryder has picked up a five-year contract to provide all specialist palliative care services in west Berkshire in the first instance of an NHS-run hospice being transferred to a voluntary sector provider.

A Lincolnshire mental health charity has made the decision to close following cuts to its funding. Lincoln Mind’s main contract with the county council will not be renewed beyond March.

Three-quarters of women on mental health wards have to share them with men, according to an official report.

The parents of a chronically sick Somerset man who died after an overdose of prescription drugs have called for social services to take better care of the long-term ill.

AN investigation is underway at a privately-run care home after staff were suspended. The group of five workers have all been suspended from Stanley Park Care Home in Stanley, County Durham, owned by the Darlington-based Southern Cross Healthcare.

A lack of investment in workforce development is threatening to damage professional standards in children’s homes, the chief executive of the Social Care Association (SCA) has warned.

A new chief officer for children’s social care has been appointed at Bracknell Forest Council. Lorna Hunt, who is head of children’s services at West Berkshire Council, will take over from Penny Reuter, who retires this month.

A children’s charity is asking people to sponsor two of the youngsters who use its therapy service.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has been awarded nearly £17m for the next financial year to redesign the Early Years Professional Status qualification and roll out the New Leaders in Early Years scheme.

The highest proportion of  whistleblowing calls—around one in seven—made to the independent charity Public Concern at Work’s helpline come from the adult social care sector, reveal figures published today.