Society daily 29.02.12

An older woman in a care home — Draft report into treatment of elderly people in hospitals and care homes says 'fundamental changes' are needed. Photograph: Richard Pasley/Science Faction/Getty Creative

Today's top SocietyGuardian stories

• NHS reforms: Lords to debate bill's competition clauses
• Scrap the health bill, GP urges David Cameron
• Dignity in Care report calls for shake-up in staff selection and appraisal
• Survey of artery surgery death rates finds wide variations between hospitals
• Clegg urges Miliband to 'rein in' McCluskey over Olympics comments
• Mental health scheme to get cash boost
• Emma Harrison appointment comes under fresh scrutiny
• Chris Grayling meets businesses to reassure them about work scheme
• Workfare that shames UK plc or a leftwing plot by the job snobs?
• NHS mental health trust criticised by coroner over girl's death
All today's SocietyGuardian stories

In today's SocietyGuardian pages

• Will plans to scrap legal aid for clinical errors put people off claiming damages?
• Why retirement villages are building in popularity
• Why we should take a measured approach to targets
• Patrick Butler: Why the work programme is a bad business

On the Guardian Professional Networks

• High risk child maintenance plans 'rely too heavily on IT system'
• Care professionals fear impact of cuts
• Geoff Mulgan: Focus on achieving more cures for less outlay
• Dick Philbrick explains how a Scottish engineering firm became an employee owned enterprise
• Tom Levitt, from Sector 4 Focus, questions whether the law should require charities to demonstrate their public benefit, arguing that that a common system of impact measurement is neither possible nor necessary

On my radar ...

• The Nuffield Trust health policy summit, which opened this morning. Andrew Lansley will be this afternoon's keynote speaker. Follow the event live, including tweets from the Guardian's healthcare network, using the hashtag #ntsummit

• The Dignity in Care report, published today, which says nurses, doctors and care workers should be recruited as much for their compassion as for their exam results. On the Social care network, Ermintrude writes that care staff deserve dignity too:

A glance through the report tells me nothing new and that's frustrating. All the prescribed tenets about involving families and carers, treating people as individuals and eliminating ageist language and assumptions are things that should be happening today and not need to be established in a 'dignity' document. As professionals working with older adults, it says a lot when we have agencies telling us that we should involve families more. It actually feels a bit insulting.
It feels insulting because we all know what we should be doing and it goes beyond treating individuals with respect. It is about providing quality services which are able to meet the needs of older adults in the same ways that we would expect regardless of age. Would we consider placing younger adults in large care homes with 90+ residents? We have moved away from institutionalisation to models of smaller group home residential settings for younger adults so why is it allowed for older adults?

Meanwhile, Age UK is urging people to add their views to the public consultation on improving dignity in care. The Age UK chairman, Dianne Jeffrey, a joint chair of the commission on dignity in Care, writes on the Age UK blog:

This report is not a repetition of well-documented problems. Neither is it a best practice guide, much excellent work already exists and we have no desire to reinvent the wheel. Instead, we have focused on how to tackle the underlying causes of poor care which too often means excellent practice and innovation does not flourish.
We now welcome views from the public, professionals and organisations across the system on the detail of this report. We want to know whether there is anything fundamental that we have missed, or whether we should go any further in the changes we recommend and why. Most importantly, we want to know what we can do to make sure these changes take place. This is not a report intended to sit on our library shelves, we are committed to working collectively to bring these recommendations to life.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence has a package of resources on dignity in care (thanks to Tony Butcher for sharing the link)

• Chris Grayling's interview on Channel 4 News last night, in which the minister was repeatedly asked about whether or not work experience is mandatory. Thanks to Tentacle Sixteen for sharing the link to this YouTube clip.

• Question of the day, posed by John Hocking on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation blog, Could welfare reforms create a new class divide?

• Black Dog Tribe, the online community for people to discuss mental health issues, which has officially launched this week. The site, backed by Ruby Wax, has been in beta form for some months but has now formally launched with some new features. Interestingly, the site is using the 1 in 4 statistic (as mentioned in yesterday's Society daily) to generate debate on mental health today.

Other news

• BBC: Patient safety row as Plaid and Labour clash before hospital protest
• Children & Young People Now: Work with young offenders in Newham 'disappointing'
• Community Care: Boost status of care staff and managers, says dignity inquiry
• Independent: Fuel poverty deaths three times higher than government estimates
• Inside Housing: Charities warn of welfare reform damage
• Telegraph: Breast cancer deaths fall 10pc
• Third Sector: Government 'unlikely to pay back lottery money used for Olympics until 2020s'

Events and seminars

The Guardian Public Health Dialogue

14 March 2012, Kings Place, Kings Cross, London

Join us for the first of an exciting new series of events with experts from the NHS, local and central government, voluntary sector, social enterprise and industry. This evening event offers a forum for debate and discussion, to develop practical solutions and to help shape public health policy, strategy and delivery.

Local Government Leaders Quarterly

19 April 2012, Kings Place, Kings Cross, London

This series of evening events has been designed to help public leaders discuss the key issues facing local authorities as they struggle to manage punishing funding cuts while spearheading a revolution in public service delivery. The event, consisting of a debate followed by round table discussion groups, will offer a forum to share problems and find solutions with your council peers.

Places are free but limited and available by application only.