Some 65% of doctors say they can “rarely” offer psychological therapy to depression sufferers within two months of referral, a study suggests. |
The Royal College of GPs survey of 590 UK doctors also found 15% said access to psychological services was only “usually” possible in that timeframe. |
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme aims to treat 900,000 extra people in England by 2010/11, with half of them moving to recovery and 25,000 fewer on sick pay and benefits. |
“Waiting months and months for urgent treatment would not be acceptable for patients with other health problems, and it should not be acceptable for patients with depression,” he said. |
A Lib Dem spokesman said: “We are totally committed to ensuring that people with mental health problems are given guaranteed access to the treatment that they need and we want to work with Mind and the Royal College of GPs to find out what the spending implications would be of a 28-day guarantee.” Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
Tell you what, I wish I had a job like banking or student loans - if you fail, dismally, the Government throws cash at you. I can fail (although, to be honest, probably not as dramatically) if the rewards are high enough…
Student loan delays ‘may reoccur’
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| England’s student loans and grants system is at “substantial” risk of being hit by delays again this year, a government watchdog has warned. |
It made slow progress, with only 46% of the applications fully processed by the start of the 2009 term compared with 63% the previous year, it added. |
Over the 12 months from February 2009, it only answered about half of the telephone calls made to its call centre. |
Thus, customer service was “poor”, the report said, with half of students surveyed by the NAO saying they had been asked to send the same paperwork more than once. |
| Tory leader David Cameron has announced plans for a new tax on banks - even if other countries decide not to do so. |
In a speech in London, he said the levy was “necessary” and the banks were one of the “vested interests” he was determined to confront. |
“In America, President Obama has said he will get taxpayers back every cent they put in. Why should it be any different here?” |
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat economics spokesman Vince Cable said: “The other parties seem to be moving on to ground the Liberal Democrats have occupied for some time: banks must pay for the protection they enjoy from the taxpayer.” Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
Can you afford not to go to university?
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| As universities in England learn how hard they will be hit by higher education funding cuts, students may be concerned they face increasing costs just to get through their degree. |
| But as more young people go to university in the UK, will those who decide to call it a day after A-levels find this decision proves a costly one? |
But graduates can expect to earn £100,000 more over their working life after tax than teenagers who get a job after A-levels, according to the government. |
“It is true at the end of this degree I will have £28,000 worth of debt but having done science I am certainly one of the winners. I can go into finance or I can transfer to law or even stay in science,” he says. |
Final-year student Sophie Richardson also took her French and linguistics degree because she was interested in the subject. Even with a debt of £36,000 the 22-year-old does not regret her decision. Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
Manchester police chief admits snowballing mistakes
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| The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has criticised some of his officers for recording snowball throwing as “serious violent crime”. |
Peter Fahy said the officers concerned had failed to show any common sense. |
Mr Fahy, who took over as chief constable in 2008 after moving from neighbouring Cheshire, said he was trying to change the culture of over-recording crime in Manchester. |
The chairman of the police authority, Paul Murphy, said: “I am disappointed some officers couldn’t distinguish between different types of crime but the force’s performance is improving significantly.” Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
OK, so there is a problem with the finances, yada yada, we are, I am quite sure, all a lot more doomed than the Government of media are letting on. But never mind that…
The UK Government apparently didn’t keep records of how much it had borrowed until 1993? How is that even possible? The Office for National Statistics said the government had borrowed a further £4.3bn last month. |
| The government must act more quickly to cut Britain’s huge budget deficit, a group of economists has said. |
“However, in order to be credible, the government’s goal should be to eliminate the structural current budget deficit over the course of a Parliament, and there is a compelling case, all else equal, for the first measures beginning to take effect in the 2010/11 fiscal year.” |
“Obviously during a recession you have to spend extra money, the deficit has to go up, to get rid of unemployment. |
“But once all that has passed us, we will have to tackle this because we can’t go on borrowing money. The markets are going to get very tight because it’s not just [that] we are borrowing money but everybody else is borrowing money.” |
In December’s pre-Budget report, Labour announced belt-tightening measures including a 1% cap on public sector pay rises and an increase in National Insurance from 2011. Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
UK firms ‘cut dividends by £10bn’
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A total of 202 listed firms cut their dividends, 74 of which paid none at all. Meanwhile 179 companies increased their payouts and 60 held them steady. |
A dividend is a cash payment from a firm’s earnings that is distributed to shareholders - essentially an investor’s share of a company’s profits which they receive as a part-owner of the company. |
Meanwhile defensive firms, which make consistently steady profits, increased dividend payments by at least 5%. |
Drug companies, for example, paid 20% more in dividends, while electricity suppliers, food retailers and tobacco producers raised dividends by at least 10%, the report said. Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
Yeah, hold that, you probably won’t be able to take more foreign students, because we are going to reduce the number we let in.
Foreign student visas to be cut by UK
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| The number of visas granted to students from outside the EU is to be cut in a crackdown on abuses of the system, UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said. |
• Successful applicants from outside the EU will have to speak English to a level only just below GCSE standard, rather than beginner level as at present. |
• Students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for only 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present. |
• Those on courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work. |
• Additionally, visas for courses below degree level will also be granted only if the institutions they attend are on a new register, the Highly Trusted Sponsors List. Read more at news.bbc.co.uk |
Presumably, you should park and get out… so what if you are on a motorway?
Obviously, if the defendant’s version is true (and I have no reason to think otherwise) this is an example of idiotic policing. The balance of evidence, in general, would tend to point that way, sadly…
Driver fined ‘for blowing his nose’
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Michael Mancini, from Prestwick, said he was sitting in stationary traffic with the handbrake on when he used a tissue to clean his nose. |
“I stopped the van and put the handbrake on. I saw four police officers nearby. The traffic moved on and I was waved across by an officer. |
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