Some learning disability patients in long-stay disability hospitals have been waiting up to 15 years to be resettled, a new report has said. According to a NI Assembly Public Accounts Committee report, this is despite being assessed as fit to leave and keen to move into the community. It found that 250 patients were still in hospitals, many of whom were keen to be resettled. The report examined Muckamore Abbey, Longstone and Lakeview hospitals.
Researchers have shed new light on the mechanism behind epilepsy attacks in the brain, revealing a potential new target for drug treatment. Around half a million people in the UK have some form of epilepsy. Until recently the focus of research has been on cells called neurons, but a US study points to a completely different cell.
A grandmother has won the legal right to be paid as a foster carer for looking after her granddaughter. The woman, 64, referred to as "GM", took over caring for the 15-year-old, referred to as "A", at Kent County Council (KCC) social services' request. KCC had refused to pay her the same rate as a foster carer even though the child would have been taken into care in 2004 had she not stepped in. The High Court ruled KCC must pay GM £146 per week instead of £63. The grandmother will now receive the same payments that a foster carer with no family connections would.
Disability sports will get £3.5m as part of the government's "legacy" plans for the 2012 Paralympic Games. Minister for Disabled People Jonathan Shaw said the investment was a step towards achieving "disability equality by 2025" for 10 million people. Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said the plans would increase employment opportunities and develop "a greater appreciation of disability issues". The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has backed the move.
Urgent changes must be made to the system of vetting foreign doctors offering out-of-hours GP care, MPs say. The Health Committee warned NHS trusts "were not doing their jobs" by failing to check language and medical skills. That meant patients risked being treated by doctors who were incompetent or were not fluent in English.
Commenting ahead of the Health Select Committee report today on the employment of foreign doctors in the NHS, Norman Lamb, said:
