Stafford Inquiry: 'Nurse Count' To Boost Safety

By Thomas Moore, Health & Science Correspondent

Hospitals will have to make public the number of nurses on their wards under a series of measures to improve patient safety.

The Department of Health said the monthly reports would be mandatory from next April.

Hospitals in England will also have to disclose the percentage of shifts that meet safe staffing guidelines independently approved by the health watchdog NICE.

The plans are part of the Government's response to the inquiry into the scandal at Stafford Hospital, in which several hundred patients are thought to have died as a result of poor care.

NHS England will also set up a national patient safety programme to spread best practice and learn from mistakes.

Health minister Norman Lamb said: "We are determined to see the NHS become a world leader in patient safety, with a safety ethos and level of transparency that matches the airline industry.

"We need transparency on staffing levels, backed up by a strong inspection regime to get better, safer care."

Figures from NHS England show that hospitals expect to recruit an extra 3,700 nurses by the end of the financial year.

Frank Robinson's son John died after misdiagnosis at Stafford Hospital

In February the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry by Sir Robert Francis QC made more than 200 recommendations to change the culture in the NHS and put compassion back at the heart of patient care.

The report had recommended that hospitals should have a duty of candour, a legal responsibility to tell patients if something has gone wrong in their care.

But the Department of Health has so far refused to fully introduce the policy.

Peter Walsh, the head of patient safety campaign group Action Against Medical Accidents, told Sky News: "The current plans are that this is limited to fatal cases and the most severe cases of permanent disability.

"That would be a disaster. In effect, it would legitimise the vast majority of serious harm caused to patients being covered up. That would take us in exactly the opposite direction from the one we need to go in."

Frank Robinson, whose son John died after he was misdiagnosed and sent home from Stafford Hospital, also urged the Government to introduce the duty of candour as soon as possible.

Patient satisfaction at the Princess Alexandra Hospital has soared

He told Sky News: "So many lives have been lost through cover-ups and so many people have suffered. I just don't want that to happen to anyone else and this is a golden opportunity, and if the Government miss this opportunity, that's shameful."

The Mid Staffs Inquiry had strongly criticised managers for chasing government targets, rather than treating patients with compassion.

But there is evidence that the report is beginning to change the culture in the NHS.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, has increased the amount of consultant time on the unit, and made sure patients have a full assessment by a senior nurse within 15 minutes of arriving.

Patient satisfaction has soared as a result.

Dr Joud Abduljawad, clinical director of urgent care at the hospital, said: "Targets are not our primary reason for looking after patients.

"If you give every patient a timely assessment and timely care you will achieve the target as a secondary point.

"It's not the target, it's what is best for the patient that we are focusing on."

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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Knocks Over Councillor

Toronto's disgraced mayor Rob Ford went down fighting as the city council stripped him of most of his remaining powers, after a heated debate where he knocked over a female councillor.

Mr Ford, who has been under fire for his drug use and drinking, as well as the way he has handled the accusations, has vowed in an interview to give up alcohol and lose weight.

In the latest chapter of the saga in Canada's biggest city and economic hub, Mr Ford was reduced to largely a figurehead following the latest sanctions against him for his admissions of smoking crack cocaine and binge drinking.

The council voted to cut his office budget by 60% and allow mayoral staff to join the deputy mayor.

"This is a coup d'etat," Mr Ford told council, denouncing the motion.

Members of the public chanted from the gallery "Shame! Shame!" at the mayor. But he taunted back at the hecklers, deriding them as "punks."

In chaotic scenes caught on camera, Mr Ford is shown running across the council chamber straight into councillor Pam McConnell, who falls to the ground.

Mr Ford has vowed to take the council to court

Another councillor asked him to apologise and Mr Ford said he was rushing to the defence of his brother, city councillor Doug Ford.

"I picked her up. I ran around because I thought my brother was getting into an altercation," Rob Ford said.

Visibly shaken after being run over, Ms McConnell, a petite woman in her 60s, said she never expected the chaos that broke out.

Mr Ford now effectively has no legislative power as he will no longer chair the executive committee. But he keeps his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions.

He has vowed to take the council to court and insists he will seek re-election next year, warning councillors that the campaign would rival the 1991 Gulf War.

"This, folks, reminds of when I was watching with my brother when Saddam (Hussein) attacked Kuwait," Mr Ford said.

"And President Bush said, 'I warn you, I warn you, do not (attack Kuwait).' Well, folks, if you think American-style politics is nasty, you guys have just attacked Kuwait."

Councillors turned their backs on Rob Ford in the chamber last week

The latest council motion is the strongest possible measure it can adopt against Mr Ford since it does not have the power to remove a mayor unless there is a criminal conviction.

Doug Ford also brought a motion that was later ruled out of order that would have called a snap mayoral election, something the mayor also has sought.

"This is a modern-day overthrow of an elected official. This is wrong," said the mayor's brother.

In an interview with CBC on Monday after the council action, Rob Ford said he had not had a drop of alcohol in three weeks and vowed to stop drinking completely.

"Finished," he said when asked by host Peter Mansbridge about his drinking.

"I've had a 'come to Jesus moment' if you want to call it that."

Rob Ford's troubles have thrust Toronto into the international spotlight

A new television show featuring the mayor and his brother also debuted on Canada's right-wing Sun News Network.

During the one-hour show, the mayor and his brother took recorded questions from viewers and defended his recent performance as mayor, but revealed nothing new about the scandal.

Rob Ford's troubles began in May when news reports first surface of a video showing him smoking crack.

Outbursts caught on camera and claims he verbally abused his aides and entertained a prostitute have added to the controversy.

Over the weekend, Mr Ford made the rounds of the US media to try to convey his side of the story, to general incredulity, and attended a Canadian football game where fans cheered him on.

He maintained, however: "I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict."

Of his critics, he said: "The haters are going to be the haters."

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Google Agrees To Block Child Abuse Images

Internet searches for child abuse images will be blocked by Microsoft and Google - a decision hailed by the Prime Minister as "significant progress" after the companies had insisted it could not be done.

The groundbreaking move will soon prevent illegal images and videos from appearing in more than 100,000 search terms associated with abuse.

Google says it has also developed technology that will allow illegal videos to be "tagged" so all duplicate copies can be removed across the internet.

The changes will apply across the world in more than 150 languages.

Microsoft, which operates and powers Bing and Yahoo, will reportedly confirm at a Downing Street summit on online pornography today that it is introducing similar reforms.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt, writing in the Daily Mail ahead of the No 10 talks, said: "We've listened.

"We've fine-tuned Google Search to prevent links to child sexual abuse material from appearing in our results."

Illegal images showing child sex abuse will not appear in search results

Mr Cameron welcomed the move as a "really significant step forward", but threatened to bring forward new legislation if search engine companies failed to deliver on their promises.

Calls for internet companies to take action against searching for illegal content grew following the trials of child killers Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazel earlier this year.

Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones, and Hazel, who killed 12-year-old Tia Sharp, both used the internet to search for child abuse images before the killings.

Senior figures from Google, Microsoft and BT were summoned to Parliament for a meeting with Culture Secretary Maria Miller in June where they were told they had to do more to combat the issue.

Mr Cameron told the Daily Mail: "We learnt from cases like the murder of Tia Sharp and April Jones that people will often start accessing extreme material via a simple search in one of the mainstream search engines."

The crackdown comes as Mr Cameron is set to reveal at the summit that Britain's National Crime Agency is to join America's FBI to tackle online child abuse.

The UK's National Crime Agency is to join forces with America's FBI

The transatlantic taskforce is being established by the US assistant attorney general and the British to target criminals who use the internet to hide from the law.

It will be specifically tasked with tracking down offenders who use the "dark web" - secret and encrypted networks that are increasingly being exploited by paedophiles and other criminals.

The NCA estimates the number of UK daily users of secret or encrypted networks will have risen to 20,000 by the end of the year.

While some will be using them for legitimate purposes, UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies believe paedophiles involved in distributing child abuse material are using them to hide their identities.

At the same time a group of industry experts is being set up to look at new technical solutions for removing child abuse material from the the internet.

Joanna Shields, the chief executive of Tech City UK, said it would be looking to spot the "threats of future" to protect the most vulnerable in society.

"It's vital that governments and industry work together to eradicate child abuse content from the internet, and that we mobilise the best and brightest in the technology industry to come up with innovative solutions to tackling this problem," she said.

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US Midwest Hit By Severe Tornadoes: Six Dead

At least six people have been killed after powerful tornadoes carved a path of destruction across the US Midwest.

Entire neighbourhoods were flattened within seconds as the twisters, triggered by a "very dangerous" and fast-moving weather system, touched down in as many as 10 states.

Forecasters warned the extreme weather, which destroyed homes, uprooted trees and flipped cars upside down, could affect more than 50 million people as it pushes east towards Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and New Jersey.

The devastation left behind by a tornado in Washington, Illinois

According to the National Weather Service, more than 60 tornadoes struck, unleashing 80mph winds and hail stones up to two inches in diameter.

Extensive damage was reported in Illinois, where three people are known to have died, as well as Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri.

At one hospital in Peoria, Illinois, doctors were treating at least 24 casualties, some of whom had head injuries and broken bones.

The storm caused major damage

Anthony Khoury, who saw a twister rip through his home city of Washington, Illinois, told Sky News: "Most of my neighbourhood is completely destroyed, everything has been demolished.

"Families have lost their homes, people don't have anywhere to sleep and the electricity has gone."

Michael Perdun, a fellow Washington resident, said: "I stepped outside and I heard it coming.

A car stands crushed beneath a fallen tree in Pekin, Illnois

"My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room.

"All of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone.

"The whole neighbourhood's gone (and) the wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house."

Ten states may be affected by the storms (Pic: National Weather Service)

Jeff Leeman, who was in his backyard with his son when a tornado struck Pekin, Illnois, added: "In a matter of seconds ... it was right on top of us.

"We hustled in the house and before we knew it, it was gone. It was that fast."

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Age Of Consent 'Should Be Dropped To 15'

The age of consent should be lowered to 15, a leading public health expert has said.

Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, has called for a national debate, saying that society sends "confused" signals about when sex is permitted.

His intervention comes against a backdrop of official figures which suggest that up to a third of teenagers have sex before the present age of consent of 16.

Prof Ashton told the Sunday Times that lowering the age by a year could "draw a line in the sand" against sex at 14 or younger.

It would also make it easier for 15-year-olds who are in sexual relationships to obtain contraception or sexual health advice from the NHS.

He said: "Because we are so confused about this and we have kept the age of consent at 16, the 15-year-olds don't have clear routes to getting some support.

Lowering the age would make it easier for 15-year-olds to get contraception

"My own view is there is an argument for reducing it to 15 but you cannot do it without the public supporting the idea and we need to get a sense of public opinion about this.

"I would not personally argue for 14 but I think we should seriously be looking at 15 so that we can draw a line in the sand and really, as a society, actively discourage sexual involvement under 15.

"By doing that, you would be able legitimately to organise services to meet the need."

The Faculty of Public Health, part of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, gives advice to ministers and civil servants although it is independent of government.

David Tucker, head of policy at the NSPCC, said he would be happy to have a debate on the issue but said he would want to see the evidence for Prof Ashton's claims.

He said: "Has there really been a significant change in the amount of young people having sex over the past 20 or 30 years?

"If it has changed, then is reducing the age of consent the most sensible way to deal with it?"

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Unions Probe: Review Into Intimidation Claims

David Cameron has set himself on a collision course with the unions by announcing an independent review into allegations of intimidation and bullying.

The move follows claims of sabotage and harassment related to the bitter industrial dispute which almost led to the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland.

Downing Street said the wide-ranging review, headed by Bruce Carr QC, will investigate allegations of the use of so-called "leverage" tactics by the unions as well as the impact of such disputes on the critical national infrastructure.

However, in a sign of renewed coalition tensions, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable made clear he had only agreed to the inquiry on the basis that it would also examine the practices of employers.

The Unite union dismissed the review as a "Tory election stunt" and warned that no trade union would be prepared to "collaborate" with it.

The review follows claims that Unite sought to intimidate executives from Ineos, the refinery's owners, including sending "mobs" of demonstrators to protest outside their homes and premises associated with Ineos chairman, Jim Ratcliffe.

In recent weeks the Prime Minister has repeatedly attacked the union in the Commons, challenging Labour leader Ed Miliband to hold an inquiry into claims of vote-rigging in the Falkirk constituency party in an attempt to secure the selection of Unite's favoured candidate for parliament.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has always denied any intimidation or bullying on the part of the union, insisting that it was acting within the law.

As part of his remit, Mr Carr will consider whether existing laws are sufficient to prevent what Government sources described as "inappropriate or intimidatory actions" in trade disputes as well as the response of the police to complaints.

Unite claimed Grangemouth employees had been bullied during the dispute

More generally, the review will look at the underlying causes of industrial relations difficulties in affected industries, the potential impact on the UK's critical national infrastructure and the consequences for investor confidence in key sectors.

It will also make recommendations on the respective roles of government, employers and employee representatives in ensuring effective workforce relationships.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, a Conservative, said: "Allegations about trade union industrial intimidation tactics, including attempts to sabotage businesses supply chains and harass employers' families are deeply concerning.

"That's why we need an independent review to get to the bottom of these activities, as well as to look at the role played by government, employers and employees in industrial disputes.

"This forms part of our long-term plan to ensure Britain remains competitive and to secure an economic recovery for hard-working people."

Mr Cable, in contrast emphasised that Britain had generally enjoyed good industrial relations for the past two decades while strikes were at a historically low level.

"There were clearly some very serious matters going on in Grangemouth. That is why I have agreed to a proportionate and rational review of industrial disputes, including leverage and other tactics used by both unions and employers," he said.

"There are rogue unions but there are also rogue employers, some of whom have in the past engaged in illegal tactics like blacklisting. This Government will tolerate neither"

A Unite spokesman said: "This review is a sorry attempt by the coalition to divert attention from the cost of living crisis. Vince Cable may not have noticed but the Grangemouth dispute has been settled.

"This review is nothing more than a Tory election stunt which no trade unionist will collaborate with."

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Most Wanted British Fugitives Hunted In Spain

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Reporter

An "unlucky 13" of Britain's most wanted criminals who are thought to be hiding in Spain will be unveiled today, including the suspected leader of a £90m cocaine-smuggling ring.

Ian Stanton, 42, from Liverpool, is accused of being the ringleader of a gang who smuggled more than 400kg of cocaine to the UK hidden in a shipment of Argentinian beef.

The drugs were found at Tilbury docks in Essex in May, and the shipment was due to be delivered to a cold-storage company in Wigan.

He has links to Merseyside - specifically Crosby, Kirkby and Maghull - but also London, the Netherlands and Spain.

The full list of 13 is due to be unveiled in Madrid on Thursday by Crimestoppers, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and Spanish police, in the eighth appeal of its kind run under Operation Captura.

Hank Cole from the NCA told Sky News: "They are a mixture of serious criminals ranging from alleged sex offenders, those who've committed or attempted to commit murder, and significant drug traffickers.

"So these are the worst or most serious criminals that the National Crime Agency is looking to capture.

"Historically Spain had no extradition treaty to the UK so it was seen as a safe haven for UK criminals, since then the law has changed and we've successfully extradited large numbers of UK criminals back to the UK."

The initiative, targeting criminals thought to have fled to Spain, was launched in 2006 and so far has seen 53 out of 63 suspects caught.

Crimestoppers founder Lord Ashcroft said: "Despite our success so far, there are still a number of dangerous criminals who see Spain as a safe haven to hide from their past. But with the support of the Spanish and UK public, we can hunt them out and bring them to justice."

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