Care for people with dementia in England and Wales must be more co-ordinated, with better access to specialist services, a watchdog says. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence also called for carers to be given access to counselling as part of its guidance.
Campaigners are to urge MPs to join their push to secure a right to a break for carers of disabled children.
People with learning disabilities are benefiting from some extra space at a day care centre in Alfreton.
Disabled and terminally-ill children are going without vital equipment as the NHS and councils are not providing enough funding, research shows. BDF Newlife, formerly the Birth Defects Foundation, found the bodies spent just £60 a year per child - leaving 250,000 children waiting for equipment. The charity said children under two need £7,000 of specialist equipment, including beds and wheelchairs.
Treating children in adult psychiatric wards is a "national scandal", the Children's Commissioner has said. Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green told the BBC he fears children leave in a poorer condition than when they went in.
The government is pushing ahead with plans to toughen up 23-year-old laws governing the treatment of people with severe mental health problems. Ministers want to amend rules to allow people with untreatable personality disorders to be detained even if they have not committed a crime. The new bill also suggests beefing up powers to ensure patients have therapy once they are back in the community.
