Solicitors of a pensioner who received a five-figure payout after care workers allegedly force fed her talcum power have welcomed the settlement. Lucy Neal, 89, had allegedly been given the powder by care workers at her home in Handsworth, Birmingham. Nordia Noteman, Maxine Davidson and Rosemarie Malvo, who worked for the Welcome Care Agency, were cleared of assault in February 2004. The pensioner’s lawyers said the agency admitted negligence in a civil action. The five-figure settlement would help Mrs Neal overcome a “harrowing” experience and raise awareness for other people in a similar situation, her legal team said.

The family court system will be made more accountable to the public under proposals for consultation announced by Constitutional Affairs Minister Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman QC MP today. The plans will see the family court system opened to the media so that they can report on their work to the public. This will affect a range of cases including those where a local authority acts to take a child into care, or where parents dispute child contact or residence. The proposals also include new safeguards to ensure the anonymity and privacy of individuals.

A new £75,000 ‘adoption’ programme to give breaks to adults with learning difficulties is to be set up in Norfolk. At least 10 people, from the east of the county, will take part during the first 12-months of the pilot adult placement scheme to provide support and accommodation in ordinary family-style settings. The county council run scheme will concentrate on increasing options for short term breaks for people with learning difficulties, assisting children in foster care to remain with their foster family in adulthood and provide a service for adults receiving council support who wish to live for a longer period of time in a family style setting.

PCTs will be encouraged to consider local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations when commissioning health and social care services thanks to a new report by the Department of Health’s third sector taskforce, launched today.  TheThird Sector Commissioning Task Forcereport sets out practical tools for PCTs, advising them how to make the most of the third sector, which can bring additional benefits to patients and service users with a wide range of high-quality and personalised services.

The Care Ambassadors theatre group, a group dedicated to educating people about working in social care, entertained delegates at the Skills for Care West Midlands conference last Tuesday (July 4th) at the Hilton Hotel in Coventry. The conference, called ‘Making a Difference’, was for employers and staff from social care organisations, those interested in a career in social care, training and education providers, and people who use social care services. It provided an update on the work Skills for Care does to improve care services through the development of the workforce.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has apologised to people with learning disabilities abused whilst in the care of Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust. She was responding to a report last week that raised serious concerns about treatment of people in some care homes. The apology came as one family at the centre of the allegations was told there would be a new inquiry into what happened to their son, Ryan Blakey. Ms Hewitt said the failings identified were “horrifying”.Several centres were inspected by the Healthcare Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

Medical staff could face prosecution over the deaths of 10 elderly patients at a Hampshire hospital. A lengthy police inquiry into 90 deaths at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital has led to 10 cases being sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS will decide if there is enough evidence to charge anyone. The families of the patients claim sedatives like diamorphine were over-prescribed at the hospital, leading to the deaths.

{mosimage}More than 100 woman were raped, sexually assaulted or sexually harassed in NHS mental units over two years, a study is believed to have found. The report was passed to the Department of Health eight months ago, and has yet to be published. However, the Times newspaper says it includes details of more than 10 rapes – at least three leading to pregnancy. Officials said the report was still being finalised, and it would be published as soon as it was complete.

Mental health is always the bottom of the heap. Campaigners call it the Cinderella service, but that underestimates the problems. No prince has come and no rescue is in sight. The Government has been promising a new mental health Act since it was elected. But every draft so far has mobilised the mental health charities into concerted opposition. What they want is better treatment, more equitably provided. What the Government appears to want is the right to lock up people with personality disorders in the manner that it held terrorist suspects after 9/11.

Making the criminal justice system more effective at rooting out and tackling racism and racist crime must be a priority for all, Home Office Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said today, as the Government republished its Section 95 statistics. Mr Sutcliffe reiterated the Government’s commitment to working closely with communities and criminal justice agencies to further increase black and minority ethnic groups’ confidence in the system. The Section 95 figures, contained in Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System, were originally published on 30 March 2006. They were withdrawn after concerns over their accuracy.