Society daily 17.03.11

NHS protests — Demonstrators protest outside a meeting to discuss the government's health reforms. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Today's top SocietyGuardian stories

• NHS reforms will see 'shut' signs on hospitals, patients warned

• Social care facing '£1bn funding gap by 2015'

• Public sector workers being laid off far faster than officially predicted

• Cuts blog: Job cuts - more gloom, and worse to come

• NHS trusts fight health secretary over 'value-added' drug pricing

• Simon Gillespie: Protect MS nurses who save NHS cash

• Neil Barr: The internet will be king for the administration of personal care budgets

• Letter: No one sleeps rough for a free sandwich

• Stephen Overell: Jobs are not enough - it's the quality of work that counts

• Zoe Williams: This policy on child support is worthy of a budget airline

All today's SocietyGuardian stories

Other news

• Shadow work and pensions minister Karen Buck is facing calls for her dismissal after she was recorded saying that the government "don't want Muslims living in central London", reports the Independent. It says Buck, MP for Westminster North, told a public meeting that ministers were "deeply hostile" to poor people having children and that housing benefit cuts were politically motivated to force poor, ethnic minority and Muslim families out of central London. Her comments were condemned by the Conservative party chairman, Baroness Warsi, who has called on Ed Miliband to remove Buck from the Labour front bench.

• Hundreds of young people are trying to sue local authorities in England and Wales for failing to remove them from abusive homes, reports the BBC. It says victims claim that social workers' negligence meant they were not protected from abuse.

• Former communities secretary Hazel Blears has accused ministers of having "a secret agenda" by using social enterprises and mutuals as a cover for full-scale privatisation, reports the MJ. She told a Local Government Association event that the localism bill contained "a sub-plot which has remained largely hidden".

• Almost a third of NHS staff say basic hygiene supplies such as hot water and soap are not always available when they need them, according to a comprehensive survey of the workforce reported by the Telegraph.

On my radar ...

• A trio of blogs on the government's NHS reform plans. Alastair Campbell predicts the health service could be "back as Number 1 issue at next election", and Mike Smithson on the Political Betting blog asks why was Dave so unprepared on the NHS?

Meanwhile Paul Waugh's Politics Home blog asked Alan Milburn for his views on Lansley's reforms. Milburn told him:

"What the Lansley reforms are doing is to risk deepening the divide between health and social care. Labour would be very wise to resurrect the line in the Coalition Agreement on local authorities' input.
It would be very sensible for the Labour Party to go back and look at that Agreement. How could either of the Coalition parties disagree?"

• A tale of two emails. A press release arrived yesterday afternoon with the eye catching headline "Public Sector jobs rise 93.5% in one year". The notice, sent out by PR firm Euro RSCG, says:

"As unemployment figures rise, Working Links has seen a surprising increase in vacancies in the public sector - a jump of 93.5% on lasts [sic] years figure ..."

It does go on to point out that temporary jobs created by the census are behind the apparent boom, making clear that

"If we put those positions aside, public sector vacancies are still falling considerably."

An hour later, the same data (pdf) was resent with a somewhat tweaked headline: "Employment Insight from Working Links - Census drives job vacancies"

• The TaxPayers' Alliance, which has published its annual survey of local government pay, or as the alliance prefers to call it, a "town hall rich list". Read my colleague Hélène Mulholland's deconstruction of the figures on the Politics live blog.

• Our Christmas charity appeal beneficiaries Into University and Venture Trust, which are among the 26 organisations named by Prince William and Kate Middleton as they announced their charitable gift fund. Meanwhile, my colleagues on the Money site have some househunting tips for the couple, looking at what properties they would be able to afford if they got a mortgage based on their salaries and didn't have royal allowances to bolster their budget.

• Shocking statistic of the day from @Chris_Goulden

"4 in 10 lone parents going into a job from benefits were paid BELOW the adult national minium wage (DWP research 2004)"

• This wonderful idea from Good Gifts - buy a cherry tree for Japan: "Cherry blossom is a symbol of hope & beauty, very important in Japanese culture." (thanks @DameHilaryBlume). Our Global Development site poses the question Japan crisis: Should NGOs launch emergency appeals?

• The Learning and Skills Improvement Service Signpost to learning event, which is taking place in London today. The first of its kind, the event was organised by D/deaf students and will explore how the learning and skills sector can help them achieve alongside their hearing peers.

• Could anyone resist the slogan on this T-shirt?