The National Housing Federation has called for the appointment of a homelessness champion in each region to ensure a more strategic approach is taken to tackling the problem. The champions would work within the regional assemblies to ensure that homelessness objectives are tied to other national policies, such as Supporting People.

Nearly 1,200 jobs are to go and 186 beds will be lost as bosses streamline services following the merger of two hospitals, it has been confirmed. Unions fear the cutbacks at Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Centre could affect patient care. Consultants, nurses, clerical staff and management are all affected. The hospital trust says it accepts this is an unsettling time for staff but says the changes will be made as quickly as possible.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has been given a wake-up call by community health watchdogs demanding to know what she will do about proposed mental health cuts. Cambridgeshire County Council wants the Government to stop dragging its feet over the £3 million cuts which include scrapping the young people’s service and closing hospital beds and day centre services. It asked the Government to respond five months ago and now councillors have written to Ms Hewitt demanding an answer.

With four children, six dogs and a full time job running a shop, the O’Neills already had a hectic life. Then they added foster kids into the mix. Heather, 38 and 47-year-old Dave took the life changing step of welcoming their first foster child into their home 12 months ago and have cared for six children since then. There have been tears and tantrums along the way, sibling rivalry and moments of doubt and frustration, but they say it is all worth it.

Anxious staff at a West Cumberland Hospital are facing an uncertain future and some may lose their jobs. The wards are combining to care for people of all ages and a range of mental health problems. The new unit is based at Yewdale Ward until a new multi-million pound facility is built. But staff – who say they are having to reapply for their own jobs as a result – say the move to combine the wards is “unsafe”. They say that people aged 65 and over will be moved on to a ward with people of all ages, some of whom may be drug users and violent.

Mental health bosses are hoping to take over the power to run services locally as a Foundation Trust. The North Cumbria Mental Health & Learning Disabilities NHS Trust is moving ahead with its application. NHS Foundation Trusts are “independent public benefit corporations, modelled on co-operative and mutual traditions”. It means that whilst remaining part of the NHS, power is devolved to locally run services with the freedom to innovate and improve care for patients. Local people, service users, carers and staff become ‘members’ and governors of the trust and have a real say in the running of their local services.

Many employers are paying workers with learning disabilities less than the minimum wage, according to a report. A “worrying” number of employers – especially local authorities and those in the voluntary sector – are defying National Minimum Wage (NMW) rules by under-paying staff with learning disabilities.

The government has won the right to deport failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe. The asylum and immigration tribunal ruling means up to 7,000 people who fled Robert Mugabe’s regime could be returned against their will. The tribunal reversed its decision of last year and yesterday ruled that failed asylum seekers would not automatically face persecution if returned to Zimbabwe. Last October the tribunal ruled against the policy after a failed asylum seeker, AA, won his appeal against the decision to deport him. That caused ministers to halt the forced removals.

Care for the elderly in Waltham Forest has improved, according to a new report. The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) said progress is being made in Waltham Forest Council’s social care services for older people, and that most people using it received a good standard of care. Although the report also said the council can do still more to improve care for older people, the verdict was a significant step up from the “poor” rating the department received in 2002.

{mosimage} Support from social care agencies to enable people to live at home in the advent of a disability or long-term health condition is a key expectation of the British public, an Ipsos MORI survey  reveals today. The Ipsos MORI survey, commissioned by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), the Equal Opportunities Commission and Carers UK, however, reveals a gulf between the public’s expectations about the kind of support they should receive and the reality of existing provision. This gulf is set to widen as the UK population ages and demand for social care grows, underscoring the need to reform the current system so that it enables both older and disabled people, and their relatives and friends who provide care for them, to keep their independence.