Fears
cash will lure care staff from the Scottish Capital
GOLDEN hello payments worth £2400 to social workers are
threatening to exacerbate a care staff crisis in the Capital.
The
payments are to be introduced in Midlothian in a bid to attract
staff and beat a national shortage of social workers.
But
union chiefs today raised fears the payments would lead to Midlothian
effectively poaching staff from Edinburgh. The windfalls for new
recruits have been announced as part of a massive revamp of social
work services by Midlothian Council.
The
move comes at a time when Edinburgh’s social work department
has been particularly hard hit by staffing problems.
On
top of the struggle to recruit staff across the country, the city
has seen an exodus of workers following the damning report into
the death of baby Caleb Ness and the subsequent dismantling of
Edinburgh’s social work department.
A
report in August said that 30 per cent of posts dealing with children
and families were vacant in the Capital. more....
Child
law expert dies of cancer
Clare
Dyer
Wednesday September 29, 2004
Allan
Levy QC, a leading child law and human rights specialist and one
of the best-known silks at the English bar, has died aged 62.
Mr Levy appeared in many groundbreaking cases over two decades,
involving issues such as the right to die, surrogate births, inter-country
adoption and corporal punishment. He died on Sunday.
One
of his legacies was the Pindown inquiry into solitary confinement
in Staffordshire children's homes, in 1991. Mr Levy labelled the
regime, used against troublesome children, "a fundamental
abuse of human rights", leading to a payout for more than
140 children.
more.........
Appreciation
- here
Blood
test clue to cot death syndrome
A BLOOD test performed on pregnant women could predict whether
their baby will be at risk of sudden infant death syndrome, according
to the latest research.
Increased
levels of a foetal protein in the mother’s blood may help
indicate sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), says the ten-year
study carried out by Cambridge University and Greater Glasgow
Health Board’s Public Health Department.
Experts
looked at the records of 214,000 women who gave birth in the West
of Scotland between 1991 and 2001. Of those babies, 114 later
suffered cot deaths. All of the women underwent the standard tests
during their pregnancies. These included a check of levels of
alpha feto protein (AFP) which is found in the blood of pregnant
women. More....
