A&E 'must change or face collapse'
By Anonymous on May 15, 2013 02:30 am 14 May 2013 Last updated at 19:07 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News 
Pressures have been growing on A&E units for a number of years
Urgent changes must be made to the way A&E units are run - or the system could collapse, doctors and managers say.
Both the College of Emergency Medicine and Foundation Trust Network have put forward proposals to overhaul the system.
Funding, staffing and better non-emergency services have been highlighted as key issues.
It comes as fears grow over whether the NHS can continue to cope with rising demand.
Last week both ministers and the NHS regulator admitted the problems were a cause for concern.
A&E attendances have risen by 50% in a decade and this winter the NHS in England started missing its four-hour waiting time target.
Reports have even emerged of hospitals setting up temporary waiting areas in car parks and storerooms to cope with queues, while ambulances have been forced to wait to drop off patients.
Pressures have been noted in other parts of the UK too.
Shortages The review by the College of Emergency Medicine - based on feedback from more than half the A&E units in the UK - said the scale of the challenge was the biggest for a decade.
It said there were shortages in both middle-grade and senior doctors. The average consultant headcount for an A&E is seven-point-four - well short of the recommended 10 to 16.
As well as highlighting the workforce problem, the college also said more needed to be done to reduce unnecessary attendances.
It believes between 15% and 30% of patients do not need A&E care and instead could be treated in non-emergency settings.
The college suggested that locating urgent care centres beside emergency departments might help.
Meanwhile, the Foundation Trust Network (FTN) highlighted the funding system in England which penalises A&E units seeing a rise in patients.
Under rules designed to encourage the system to reduce A&E admissions, hospitals are only paid 30% of the normal fee for an emergency admission when the numbers rise above the levels that were seen in 2008-9.
But with the NHS failing to curb the rise in patients, that is costing some hospitals millions of pounds a year.
FTN chief executive Chris Hopson said: "Unless we can change the funding structure, the A&E system is going to fall over. We simply cannot carry on."
He said the last winter was "very, very difficult" although with the weather now improving there were signs the system was stabilising.
But he added: "Unless we can make some really significant changes over the next six months I think it's pretty clear the system is in danger of falling over next winter."
NHS England has already agreed to plough some of the money it saves through these rules back into the system to support the most troubled A&E units in the short-term.
It has also ordered a review of emergency and urgent care, led by medical director Sir Bruce Keogh. The findings are expected to be published soon.
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Police killers face whole life terms
By Anonymous on May 14, 2013 07:39 pm 14 May 2013 Last updated at 19:39 ET 
Twelve police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 2000.
Criminals who kill police officers will face minimum whole life sentences, Home Secretary Theresa May is to announce.
Mrs May will unveil the proposals in front of thousands of rank-and-file officers at the Police Federation annual conference in Bournemouth.
The current minimum sentence for a police murder is 30 years.
The Police Federation said: "We support any move that means a true life sentence will be applied to anyone who murders a police officer."
Twelve police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 2000.
Judge guidelines Mrs May will announce that the government is to propose that the minimum term should be increased to life without parole.
The home secretary will tell officers: "To attack and kill a police officer is to attack the fundamental basis of our society.
"We ask police officers to keep us safe by confronting and stopping violent criminals for us. We ask them to take risks so that we don't have to.
"That is why I am clear that life should mean life for anyone convicted of killing a police officer."
The change will be put before the Sentencing Council which produces guidelines for judges in England and Wales.
'Risk lives' Police Federation chairman Steve Williams said: "The public need to have confidence that the criminal sentence they read about in the paper is the sentence the offender completes.
"There is no hierarchy when it comes to victims of murder, however police officers risk their lives on a daily basis confronting danger on behalf of others.
"Would-be offenders must know that they will receive the most severe penalty possible."
Mrs May will face a question and answer session after her speech.
Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor, who is behind hotly debated changes such as fast-track recruitment and lower annual pay for new constables, will also address officers.
On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the three-day conference that government plans to withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant agreement would make it harder to catch criminals who went on the run abroad.
Read in browser » French economy falls into recession
By Anonymous on May 15, 2013 03:22 am 15 May 2013 Last updated at 02:03 ET 
The European Commission had warned France would be in recession this year
The French economy has entered recession after shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year.
The country's economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. A recession is defined as two quarters of negative growth.
France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence.
Earlier this month, the European Commission warned France would enter recession this year and said the eurozone would shrink by 0.4%.
Read in browser » Severn Trent rejects takeover offer
By Anonymous on May 15, 2013 03:23 am 15 May 2013 Last updated at 02:30 ET 
Severn Trent supplies water to 7.7 million people in the UK
Water supplier Severn Trent has rejected a preliminary takeover offer from international investors.
In a statement, the company said the proposal "completely fails to recognise the existing and potential value of Severn Trent".
A consortium led by a Canadian infrastructure firm and a Kuwaiti investment fund is behind the bid.
Severn Trent did not reveal the size of the bid, but earlier reports suggested it could be in excess of £5bn.
Read in browser » Oil firm raids raise fuel price fear
By Anonymous on May 14, 2013 08:00 pm 14 May 2013 Last updated at 20:00 ET 
The investigation relates to oil, refined products and biofuels
MPs and motoring groups have called on UK regulators to investigate claims that oil giants may have been linked to price-fixing for more than a decade.
It follows a raid on the offices of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Norway's Statoil by European anti-trust regulators.
The companies said they were cooperating with investigators.
The RAC said that the claims were "worrying news for motorists", while Tory MP Robert Halfon said drivers were being taken for an "expensive ride".
European Commission officials said its investigators made the "unannounced inspections" on Tuesday amid concerns that "the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices".
It did not name the firms, and emphasised that the raids did not mean the companies were guilty of any charges.
But BP, Shell, and Statoil, and also the oil pricing agency Platts, confirmed that they were working with the authorities in their inquiries.
"Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers,'" the Commission said.
As part of the investigation, the Commission said it was examining whether the companies may have prevented others from participating in the pricing process "with a view to distorting published prices".
It added: "Any such behaviour, if established, may amount to violations of European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and abuses of a dominant market position."
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Robert Halfon: "The OFT need to look at this again"
RAC technical director David Bizley said: "The Office of Fair Trading inquiry concluded at the end of January that the UK fuel market was operating fairly and not against the best interests of motorists, and therefore that a Competition Commission investigation was not needed.
"Motorists will be very interested to see what comes of these raids," he said, adding that there was a need for greater transparency in the UK fuel markets.
Mr Halfon, MP for Harlow, told the BBC that the OFT must look again at the fuel market.
'A need to know' Shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint said: "These are very concerning reports, which if true, suggest shocking behaviour in the oil market that should be dealt with strongly.
"When the allegations of price fixing in the gas market were made, Labour warned that opaque over-the-counter deals and relying on price reporting agencies left the market vulnerable to abuse.
"These latest allegations of price fixing in the oil market raise very similar questions. Consumers need to know that the prices they pay for their energy or petrol are fair, transparent and not being manipulated".
Platts, which compiles prices for energy markets, said it was "co-operating fully with the European Commission's review."
BP said in a statement: "We are co-operating fully with the investigation and are unable to comment further at this time."
A Shell spokesman added that it was "fully co-operating" with investigators.
Statoil, which confirmed its Norwegian headquarters had been inspected, said the suspected violations "related to the Platts' Market-On-Close price assessment process" and "may have been on-going since 2002".
Read in browser » Grooming case council boss to stay
By Anonymous on May 14, 2013 11:56 pm 14 May 2013 Last updated at 23:56 ET 
The court heard how vulnerable girls were drugged and suffered sadistic abuse after being groomed
The head of Oxfordshire County Council has insisted she will not resign after the abuse of young girls from the city.
Although she did not plan to stand down, Joanna Simons admitted that the council and others "take enormous responsibility for what's happened".
Seven members of a paedophile ring were found guilty on Tuesday of raping and trafficking girls aged from 11 to 15.
The crimes spanned eight years and social services and the police have apologised for not acting sooner.
Ms Simons, who has been the council's chief executive since 2005, said she had asked herself some "very hard questions" about her position.
She said: "There is going to be an independent serious case review which will look at the actions of all the agencies concerned.
"My gut feeling is that I'm not going to resign because my determination is that we need to do all that we can to take action to stamp this out.
"These are devious crimes that are very complicated."
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Victim: "I was scared to say no"
Her comments came after an Old Bailey jury heard six girls were drugged and suffered sadistic abuse.
The court heard victims were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts. Some had also been beaten, burnt and threatened.
Nine men had denied charges including rape, arranging child prostitution and trafficking between 2004 and 2012. Two were acquitted of all charges.
The jury considered the evidence for two-and-a-half days and returned the following verdicts.
Kamar Jamil was found guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to rape and one count of facilitating child prostitution.
Akhtar Dogar was found guilty of five counts of rape, three counts of conspiracy to rape, two counts of child prostitution and one count of trafficking.
Anjum Dogar was found guilty of four counts of rape, two counts of child prostitution, two counts of conspiracy to rape and one count of trafficking.
Assad Hussain was found not guilty of rape and guilty of two counts of sex with a child.
'Long sentences inevitable' Mohammed Karrar was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to rape, three counts of rape of a child, one count of using an instrument to procure miscarriage, two counts of trafficking, one count of assault of a child by penetration, one count of child prostitution, one count of rape and one count of supplying a class A drug.
Bassam Karrar was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape a child, one count of rape of a child, one count of child prostitution, one count of trafficking and one count of conspiracy to rape.
Zeeshan Ahmed was found guilty of two counts of sex with a child.
The judge told the guilty men: "You have been convicted of the most serious offences and long custodial sentences are inevitable."
They are due to be sentenced on 26 June.
The abuse began in Oxford but some of the victims would be later taken around the country to be offered to other men who were in contact with the gang.
Missed opportunities The court heard how the men identified vulnerable girls for abuse then groomed each one of them until they were under the control of the gang.
A number of opportunities to catch members of the gang are believed to have been missed.
The Old Bailey was told the key members of the group used and abused the six victims in a systematic and organised sex trafficking ring over eight years until their arrest in 2012.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it would look again at its decision to take no further action over allegations involving the girls between 2005 and 2006.
One of the victims had complained to police twice but no-one was charged.
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