The Liberal Democrats are to demand sweeping changes to the much-criticised employment support allowance (ESA), the chief benefit for Britain's 2.5 million sick and disabled people, providing a potential breakthrough for disability campaigners.
A woman who hit her head on the bottom of a swimming pool during a late-night party in Surrey has lost her claim for £6m damages in the High Court. Kylie Grimes, now 23, of Farnham, was left paralysed from the chest down when she dived into the pool in August 2006. The pool owner David Hawkins, of Compton Way, Farnham, denied liability and said he considered the pool safe. Mrs Justice Thirlwall ruled in favour of Mr Hawkins, describing the pool as "not unsafe for diving". Ms Grimes, of Stephendale Road, broke a vertebra below the base of her neck jumping into the pool.
People with dyslexia struggle to recognise familiar voices, scientists suggest. The finding is the first tentative evidence that small sounds in the human voice that vary between people are difficult for dyslexics to hear. Writing in the journal Science, the scientists say that many people could have some degree of "voice blindness".And by studying it, scientists hope to better understand how the human brain has evolved to recognise speech. Humans rely on small sounds called phonemes to tell one person from another.
Cllr Bob Shepherd MBE has a long history of support for charities, including Riding for the Disabled and, as a former senior Police officer was particularly shocked at the recent mobility scooter/express train incident at Kelvedon (Essex Chronicle 28 July 2011).
A care watchdog has reported a "systemic failure to protect people" at a hospital where alleged abuse was secretly filmed by the BBC. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) published its findings after an inspection of Winterbourne View near Bristol. The review was ordered after BBC Panorama filmed patients being pinned down, slapped and taunted.
Many dementia patients being prescribed "chemical cosh" antipsychotic drugs could be better treated with simple painkillers, research says. The British and Norwegian study, published on the BMJ website, found painkillers significantly cut agitation in dementia patients. Agitation, a common dementia symptom, is often treated with antipsychotic drugs, which have risky side effects.
