Poverty Linked To Mental Health Deterioration
Research from the General Medical Service has shown that areas of high mental illness are found in London, the north of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all with high-deprivation areas.
Read MoreResearch from the General Medical Service has shown that areas of high mental illness are found in London, the north of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all with high-deprivation areas.
Read MoreNew figures show the number of young people in prison is likely to reach an all-time high this summer, pushing the youth custody system to “saturation point”. Official figures released today by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) revealed that there were 2,878 under-18s in jail last month – the highest figure for February since comparable records began in 2000.
Read MoreThe number of people newly homeless is falling, official figures show today. Cases totalled 17,310 in October to December in England last year, compared to a peak of 35,770 three years earlier, National Statistics said. The number of households in temporary accommodation dipped below 90,000 for the first time since 2003, to 89,510.
Read MoreWomen’s prisons should be shut down and replaced with small secure units, according to a report commissioned for the Home Office. The plan is being recommended by Labour peer Baroness Corston as part of a 10-year reform programme.
{mosimage}She says women should be held in units near their families and not in large jails like the one in Holloway, London. Her review was prompted by the deaths of six women at Styal prison, Cheshire, between August 2002 and August 2003.
If adopted by the home secretary, Baroness Corston’s approach would see Holloway and about 14 other all-female prisons in England and Wales shut down or converted into jails for men.
Lady Corston recommends a significant cut in the overall number of women who are sent to jail, with greater use of community punishments instead. There are currently 4,300 women in jail in England and Wales.
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said “prison simply doesn’t work” for women. “From lack of staff training and inadequate healthcare, to questionable policies such as segregating women at risk and the over-use of force, the systemic failings of imprisonment that the Corston Review highlights must be addressed by the government. If the Government fails to take radical action it will be held accountable for the deaths and injuries of women in prisons for years to come.”
Read MoreEqual pay claims for up to 1.5 million public sector workers could cost the taxpayer more than £10 billion and mean that hundreds of thousands of men will lose up to 40 per cent of their salary.
Read MoreThe Board of the Social Care Institute For Excellence (SCIE) is delighted to announce the appointment of Julie Jones to the post of Chief Executive, as successor to Bill Kilgallon who retires at the end of March.
Read MoreDr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, commenting on the Public Accounts Committee report on out-of-hours care, said: “We would confirm the Committee’s findings that the quality of many out-of-hours services leaves a lot to be desired.
Read MoreThe head of the Army has defended the hospital treatment of soldiers who are injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. General Sir Richard Dannatt said the authorities were “working hard” to create excellent facilities at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, where many troops are treated.
Read MoreThe family of a London woman who died six days after giving birth to a baby girl have received £600,000 in damages. Jessica Palmer died from an infection after giving birth in June 2004. A coroner concluded she could have been saved had she been treated earlier.
Read MoreMore support for people with mental health needs is now available from West Wiltshire District Council’s housing team. A part-time specialist housing co-ordinator, Alison King, has been appointed to work with individuals who have mental health problems and are either homeless or threatened with homelessness.
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