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Happy new year, and welcome back to the Guardian’s weekly roundup of public policy news, features and comment
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Today’s top SocietyGuardian stories
• Government rejects call for emergency summit to tackle A&E crisis
• Labour calls for emergency summit over A&E department woes
• Why is the NHS in trouble? Seven reasons why A&Es are struggling
• The Secret Doctor: A&E is run on pure fear – how much more can we take?
• End use of outdated term ‘child prostitution’, says MP
• Boris Johnson: it’s a disaster that some UK citizens don’t speak English
• Can curry cure Alzheimer’s? Four healthy ageing diet myths busted
• Farage v the facts: the truth about foreign doctors
• George Monbiot: Children in our towns and cities are being robbed of safe spaces to play
All today’s SocietyGuardian stories
In today’s SocietyGuardian section
• Tech innovations that could improve lives in 2015
• Clare Allan: Are our expectations of friends, partners or children too high?
• NHS mentors help jobless young people find work
• Rob Whiteman: Further cuts, alongside political posturing, mean a difficult year ahead
• Bob Holman: Why we should remember the first world war’s female munitions workers
• Ellen White: OCD can become a household joke
Jobs of the week
• Chief executive officer, Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
• Members and donors director, National Trust
• Campaign director, forests, land and climate, Global Witness
• Director of public health, Kirklees council
The Guardian’s public and voluntary sector careers page
Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs
On the Society Professional Networks
• Frontline NHS staff are working flat out, but the system simply can’t cope with the number of patients, warns Kailash Chand, deputy chair of the British Medical Association
• The election in May offers a stark choice about how to fund public services. Will public sector staff weigh in to try to save their jobs, asks David Walker
• Matthew Jenkin discusses initiatives that encourage people to give back to their community or a charity while exercising
• Peter Beresford on how to revive social care after a cataclysmic year
• Housing leaders recognised in New Year honours list
Pick of the blogs
• Chris Ham, King’s Fund: Three challenges and a big uncertainty for the NHS in 2015
• Ruth Patrick LSE blog: The realities of living on welfare are significantly different from government and media characterisations
• Robyn Munro, Institute for Government: Costing party policies in advance of the election
• Rick, Flip Chart Fairy Tales: Are the chancellor’s spending cuts feasible?
• Gareth Young, We Love Local Government: The boy who cried wolf
• John Tizard, New Start: The voluntary and community sector must speak and act as never before in 2015
Other news
• BBC: Schools ‘struggle’ with self harm
• Children & Young People Now: ADCS president-elect warns cuts could increase demand for care
• CivilSociety.co.uk: RVS deficit tops £6.7m as councils cut meals-on-wheels funding
• Community Care: First adult social care services to receive ‘outstanding’ rating announced
• Inside Housing: Sheffield unveils ‘ambitious’ housing plans
• LocalGov.co.uk: Government accounts do not give clear picture of deficit reduction plans, say MPs
• Public Finance: Authorities continue to cut back council tax support, LGA finds
• Telegraph: A&E crisis - hospitals tweet pleas for off-duty staff to report for duty
SocietyGuardian blogs
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Sarah Boseley’s global health blog
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SocietyGuardian editor: Alison Benjamin
Email the SocietyGuardian editor: society@theguardian.com
