Review of the Papers, Tuesday 21 August

Government

• Thousands of newly qualified nurses are facing unemployment because of hospital cutbacks, with vacancies at their lowest for 10 years. New National Health Service figures have revealed how difficult it is for nurses, physiotherapists, scientists and doctors to find jobs. The highest vacancy rate was among consultants, with 1.2 per cent of jobs empty compared with 0.4 in trainee nursing. There are currently 5,000 newly qualified nurses who cannot find a job and half of the 2,413 newly qualified physiotheraists have not found permanent posts. ore than 20,000 jobs have been cut in recent years as managers struggle to bring NHS finances back into balance. Vacancy rates across the medical professions have dropped, showing the boom and bust nature of workforce planning in the health service. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/21/nhospital821.xml
• Long ambulance journeys are putting the lives of severely ill patients at risk, according to the first research to test the government's plans to close some A&E departments. The study of more than 10,000 patients over five years found a marked increase in the chances of a patient dying with every extra kilometre travelled to a hospital in an emergency situation. The evidence comes as the Conservative leader, David Cameron, called yesterday for a moratorium on closures of emergency departments amid Tory claims that 29 district general hospitals are also at risk. Patient groups warned last night that closures would put lives at risk. The researchers examined ambulance records for life-threatening call-outs in four areas and found that 5.8% of patients who travelled less than 10km (six miles) by ambulance died, compared with 7.7% who travelled 11-20km and 8.8% who travelled more than 21km. http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2152992,00.html
• A row has broken out within the government body that hands out more than £450 million each year to medical research over its new chairman's fitness for the job. Sir John Chisholm, who became chairman of the Medical Research Council last year, has run into stiff opposition from scientists who fear that a US-style business-orientated agenda is taking clinical research in the wrong direction. Sir John, a former chief executive of the defence company QinetiQ, was appointed by the Government last year as it seeks to reshape medical research. Ministers have placed a new emphasis on turning discoveries into therapies that can create wealth from health. While British science has always been good at winning Nobel prizes, it has been less successful at commercialising discoveries, such as those that underpin many modern cancer drugs. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2296356.ece
• Set responses to tackle angry homeowners who are upset that their council tax bills are about to soar have been issued to officials by the Government, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. They have been advised to beware of being swayed by emotional blackmail when confronted by householders who have had their properties revalued. The news comes after it emerged that inspectors were being trained to "snoop" on desirable properties in an attempt to revalue homes for council tax purposes. The advice is contained in a "workbook on resolving appeals", which was prepared in June by the Valuation Office Agency - the Government organisation which has to provide councils with accurate bandings for houses. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/21/ntax121.xml
• The Government has applied for a European grant to help the long-term recovery from last month's floods, the first time it has asked for aid in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The application to the European Union Solidarity Fund came as John Healey, the Minister in charge of the recovery operation, raised the estimate of damage to £2.7 billion - a figure that could rise still farther. In a letter to Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) put the cost of the floods at £3 billion and has demanded that he spend more on flood defences. Even if the grant is approved, only a proportion of the costs would be covered and it is likely to take nine to 12 months before the resources become available. Previous decisions by the Commission suggest that, if Britain's total damage bill is £2.5 billion, the funding would be between £62.5 million and £125 million. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/uk-and-roi/article2295856.ece
• More than 50,000 people have now signed The Daily Telegraph petition calling for a referendum on the controversial new EU constitution. Now Gordon Brown is being challenged to bow to popular pressure and raise the burning issue of the constitution when he meets Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, in London on Wednesday. As of today, a total of 50,774 people had backed The Daily Telegraph "let the people decide" petition which calls for a national vote on the proposed Brussels blueprint. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/20/neu320.xml
• A school uniform maker said yesterday it was "seriously considering" adding tracking devices to its clothes after a survey found many parents would be interested in knowing where their offspring were. Trutex would not say whether it was studying a spy in the waistband or a bug in the blazer but admitted teenagers were less keen than younger children on the "big brother" idea. The Lancashire company, which sells 1m blouses, 1.1m shirts, 250,000 pairs of trousers, 200,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear each year, commissioned an online survey for 809 parents and 444 children aged between nine and 16. It said 44% of the adults were worried about the safety of pre-teen children and 59% would be interested in satellite tracking systems being incorporated in schoolwear. While nearly four in 10 pupils aged 12 and under were prepared to go along with the idea, teenagers were more wary of "spying". http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2153054,00.html
• Taxpayers are shelling out more than £40 million a year to subsidise "Mickey Mouse" degree courses such as equestrian psychology and baking technology, according to a pressure group. A rise in the number of school-leavers going to university in recent years has fuelled a huge increase in courses of "dubious academic merit", said the TaxPayers' Alliance. In a report today, it identified 401 courses which it claimed were not suitable to be taught in universities. They include a course on golf management, offering students an understanding of the game, combined with regular trips to courses such as St Andrews and Carnoustie, and baking technology, which focuses on the design and production of bread. The report also criticised a degree in equestrian psychology, which it is claimed "investigates the unique partnership between horse and rider during husbandry, training and competition". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/21/nmickey121.xml
• A group of pensioners who campaigned for a bench next to a bus-stop have been left angry and bemused after it was built facing away from the road in case they tripped and fell. Council chiefs were worried that elderly passengers would stumble and topple over into the road in the scramble to board a bus so they installed the metal bench facing a 10-foot high hedge. A group of senior citizens living in Leek Road in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, had been fighting for the bench to be fitted for more than a year. They were overjoyed when they heard their campaign had been successful but their delight turned to despair when the bench was unveiled. Passengers waiting at the stop now have to constantly crane their necks round to make sure they see the bus coming. Officials from Stoke-on-Trent City Council made the decision because some elderly commuters were "unsteady on their feet". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/21/nbus121.xml