It is a “national scandal” that young people are being treated in the same psychiatric wards as adults, according to the Children’s Commissioner. Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green said he feared children could be more damaged than helped by the experience. Sir Al was speaking ahead of the publication of a report next week which is expected to warn that there are not enough emergency beds for children with mental health problems.

Campaigners are to urge MPs to join their push to secure a right to a break for carers of disabled children. Every Disabled Child Matters – a consortium of four charities – will meet MPs later to try to win their support for a private member’s bill.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt says she will take “personal responsibility” for dragging the NHS out of deficit. Ms Hewitt told MPs that the NHS would return to balance by the end of the financial year. She made the promise during an appearance before the Health Select Committee despite half-year forecasts showing the NHS was facing a deficit. Figures released last month showed a £94m deficit was being predicted after a small surplus was forecast in June.

Seventy criminals including three murderers have absconded from an open prison this year, the Home Office said. Of the 70 who fled Ford Open Prison in West Sussex, 29 are still at large. Among those are a murderer serving a life sentence and drug dealers. They were assessed as “low risk” to the public, according to the Home Office. Home Secretary John Reid said serious offenders were being rehabilitated before being returned to the community. “It’s to protect the public,” he said.

Life expectancy has hit record levels, but there are huge variations in the number of those years spent healthy. A man aged 65 in 2003-5 can expect to live for another 16.6 years – up from 13.2 years 20 years ago, the Office for National Statistics figures showed. Meanwhile, a woman aged 65 can look forward to 19.4 years extra, compared to 17.2 years in 1983-5. However, the ONS report said there were big gaps across the UK in how many years were lived disability-free.

People from broken homes may be more prone to psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, research suggests. Researchers said their findings suggest the illnesses are not simply brain diseases, but linked to factors such as social adversity. They found much higher rates among black people, who were also more likely to come from broken homes. The study, by London’s Institute of Psychiatry, will appear in the journal Psychological Medicine.

{mosimage}The number of people in the UK addicted to the ‘celebrity’ drug cocaine is out of control and has reached shocking levels, a new report has shown.

Britons consume more cocaine than almost any other country in Europe, a new report on international drug abuse is set to confirm.

Official UK figures show the government has failed to stem the tide of drug addiction, with more people dying from abuse, more drugs in circulation and more being seized.

The sorry picture of a nation of addicts follows a United Nations report in September which put Britain as having the highest levels of serious drug abuse in Europe.

The latest situation in 29 countries across the continent will be revealed on Thursday by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drugs Addiction.

Leaked UK evidence to the EMCDDA shows that although most class A drug abuse has increased by relatively small amounts, the number of people taking cocaine – including crack cocaine – continues to soar and its use has risen more than any other drug.

Some families are so poor that their children will go without basics such as food, clothes and heating this winter, according to a survey.

The Home Office is launching a drive to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the UK. Measures aimed at increasing the number of deportations from the country will include giving immigration officers greater powers of arrest.

Disabled and terminally-ill children are going without vital equipment as the NHS and councils are not providing enough funding, research shows. BDF Newlife, formerly the Birth Defects Foundation, found the bodies spent just £60 a year per child – leaving 250,000 children waiting for equipment.