News

The British Medical Association’s vote to reject the government’s pensions offer seems to raise the prospect of the UK’s white coats downing their stethoscopes, forsaking their consultations with patients and picketing their own surgery or hospital. The 63% prepared to take industrial action over pensions is a big number, and BMA leader Dr Hamish Meldrum’s warning of medics considering protest “unprecedented in recent decades” and the union starting to “work up detailed plans on industrial action” deliberately ominous. Without a government rethink an emergency meeting of the BMA’s ruling Council on 25 February will decide how to run a ballot on industrial action, added Meldrum.

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The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care have today announced their intention to create a new carers charity that will provide support, information, advice and services for the millions of people caring at home for a family member or friend.

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As part of CoolTan Arts’ Personalisation project, we have just begun to work on a short documentary on Personalisation and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and the Trans community. The aim of the film is to illustrate specific needs of LGBT and how Personal Budgets could support them, the LGBT community’s hopes and needs of Personal Budgets. The film may also show the difficulties people have in applying and receiving Personal Budgets and the reasons why.

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This post has been written by Moira Fraser, Director of Policy at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers

The Prime Minister’s  been saying a lot on domestic policy recently. I wonder if he was saving it all up over the Christmas break, making notes in between his turkey and plum duff. He’s been wading in on a few issues which he normally leaves to others, which have  hit a bit close to home on the caring front.

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Time and Talents are a community organisation based in Rotherhithe that runs a variety of social groups for older people.

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New study finds disabled people are being wrongly denied benefits after health assessment errors

Chris Linacre says the work capability assessment made her feel as though she was regarded as someone ‘just milking the state’.

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Reforms to welfare payments for cancer patients are set to be challenged in the House of Lords.

A government plan to tighten the rules on welfare payments to cancer patients will be challenged by peers from across the House of Lords on Wednesday.

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The newly bereaved are at greatly increased risk of heart attack after the death of a close loved one, US researchers say.

Heart attack risk is 21 times higher within the first day and six times higher than normal within the first week, a study in the Circulation journal of nearly 2,000 people shows.

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This is a request for art works to be submitted for the first exhibition of Southwark’s artists in the German town of Langenhagen.

Langenhagen is 700 years old in 2012, and we’d like to help them celebrate the anniversary by exhibiting great art from Southwark.

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David Cameron has ordered health and social care services to be brought together in order to benefit patients in a move which government advisers are calling the NHS’s most urgent overhaul.

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