A retired social worker has picked up a prestigious national award after 10 years as a volunteer at Carlisle’s Eden Valley Hospice. Lorna Hadden, 64, of Carlisle, was presented with the Badge of the Order of Mercy in a ceremony at the Mansion House in London. Only 25 of these awards are handed out each year. This year’s recipients included Baroness Betty Boothroyd.

Companies that bid for multimillion-pound Government contracts will be rejected if they do not employ enough black and Asian workers, under new proposals seen by The Times. A powerful committee that includes seven ministers has drawn up plans to question competing companies about their attitudes to race before choosing which to employ.

The Roman Catholic Church covered up the criminal past of a paedophile priest and gave him a job in a school for deaf children where he went on to sexually assault vulnerable young boys, an Observer investigation can reveal. The church is now facing a massive compensation claim from the victims of the priest, Father Neil Gallanagh, who accuse the authorities of ‘wilful neglect’. Child abuse campaigners are calling for a public inquiry into the case, which they claim led to a ‘reign of sexual terror’ for some boys at the school.

The Government has failed to close a loophole that allows people convicted of trying to abduct children to avoid being placed on the sex offenders’ register, despite being alerted to the problem five years ago, writes Ben Leapman. Criminals found guilty of trying to snatch children are kept off the register because abduction is not regarded in law as a sex crime. The Home Office was told about the loophole and said it would be closed in 2001, yet no action has been taken.

Belgium has become the most popular destination in Europe for British “health tourists” seeking to escape NHS waiting lists for hospitals that offer cheaper, better treatment. Companies that specialise in sending patients abroad report demand for operations in Belgium has overtaken that for the established favourites, France and Germany. The growing willingness of patients to hop across the English Channel for surgery highlights the government’s failure to rebuild confidence in the NHS despite record spending.

Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes has launched a consultation on proposals to review the frequency and methodology of inspections, as part of a wider review of the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for children’s social services. The review will consider what changes are needed to enable inspections to become more targeted to where they are most needed. And it will help to avoid placing unnecessary burdens on providers with a good service record.

{mosimage} People with long term health and social care needs will be able to assess their own support needs and apply directly for services to help them, thanks to 11 new pilots announced by Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis. The ground breaking new projects will explore the scope for enabling people to self assess their need for support from a range of services, such as equipment, home care, standard housing adaptations and low-level preventative services. This could, for example, involve using the internet, or approaching a third sector organisation for help with filling in an online form. The outcome of an assessment could be receiving reliable information about equipment and services, or result in them receiving a piece of equipment directly, rather than being assessed by social services.

Toni-Ann Byfield was shot so she could not identify her drug-dealing father’s killer, a man who has now been convicted of the two murders. But how did a young girl come to be placed at the centre of such violent criminal circles? Toni-Ann had made it clear she had a strong relationship with Bertram Byfield, the man she believed to be her father. The “bright, lively” seven-year-old looked forward to her weekend visits to his north-west London home.

A third of nurses expecting to graduate next month have failed a basic English and maths test set by a hospital as part of a new selection process. As nurses must be able to calculate drug doses and keep accurate notes, this high failure rate has alarmed the hospital and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The questions involve simple arithmetic and everyday comprehension. They will be given to all nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and clerical and other workers seeking jobs with the East Kent NHS Hospitals Trust, in Canterbury.

A “GOLDEN hello” of £3,000 is on offer to social workers who are prepared to come to work in Peterborough. The bold move is prompted by the shortage of people qualifying as social workers and the city’s 18 vacant positions, which offer a starting salary of £20,895. The move mirrors that of other local authorities as councils across the country battle to attract social workers to their area.