London health trusts are failing to train staff to spot signs of child abuse, warns an official report published today. Health regulator the Care Quality Commission named nine primary care trusts and hospitals in the capital that have failed to meet basic standards on child protection.

Cornwall Council says it is taking decisive action to improve the quality of the social care services it currently provides to children, young people and families in the county.

Lawyers acting for the sacked Haringey children’s boss Sharon Shoesmith have demanded that Ofsted release key documents that would shed light on claims that it deliberately “manipulated” performance data in the wake of the Baby Peter furore.

Social Workers’ morale is lower than it was five years ago and social work needs a morale boost. This is the finding of a survey published today which also shows support in the profession for a Government-appointed Chief Social Worker.

A CORONER has hit out at a nursing home where a Liverpool gran received “appalling care”. Gillian Moore had six sores on her legs, mouth ulcers and rotten teeth when she died.

Sharon Shoesmith boasted that the year in which Baby P died was “hugely productive” for child protection in Haringey. The council’s former director of children’s services hailed the progress her staff made in the months in which Peter Connelly was tortured and neglected.

Surrey County Council is set to launch a £6,000 recruitment campaign to attract social workers back to the profession as the authority continues its drive to find local solutions to the national problem of staff shortages.

FEMALE care staff are continuing to work night shifts at an old people’s home despite the fact that the building has stood empty since the last residents moved out two weeks ago.

The woman who lost her job as head of Haringey children’s services over the Baby P case was left feeling suicidal and facing financial ruin, a court heard today.

The children’s department charged with looking after a toddler who died at the hands of his family was the “worst ever seen”, an Ofsted inspector has said.