Society daily 10.11.11

Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top SocietyGuardian stories • Newborn babies in peril of abuse or neglect by 'toxic trio' parents • Private firm to run NHS hospital • Recession puts north-south divide back on map • Wealthy pensioners asked to donate winter fuel payments to poor • Security scaled down at Stepping Hill Hospital • Caspar Walsh: Gangs are good for society • Jonathan Waxman: Politics is bad for our health • Caroline Diehl: How digital media can transform charities' reach • Louise Bolotin: Disability hate speech has no place anywhere – not even online All today's SocietyGuardian stories Other news • BBC: Councils 'lose £7m in bank scam' • Children & Young People Now: YOIs fail to provide young offenders with legal services, Blunt concedes • Community Care: 'Statutory watchdog needed to resolve care funding crisis' • Independent: Wakefield's colleagues in spotlight for MMR scare • Inside Housing: Welsh repossession hotspots revealed • Localgov.co.uk: Survey to throw spotlight on council websites • Public Finance: 'Don't work here', say public sector staff • Telegraph: Breast cancer drug refused on the NHS • Third Sector: Capacitybuilders redundancy costs were more than £500,000 On my radar ... • The NSPCC's All Babies Count report, published this morning. The charity claims 198,000 babies in the UK are at high risk of death or abuse because one or both parents are beset by a "toxic trio" of domestic violence, mental health difficulties or substance dependency. The report, and our story, have generated a lot of debate - especially the term "toxic trio" and the links made between parents' mental health issues and the risk of abuse. Rob Dyson tweeted : wow, how stigmatizing is the phrase 'toxic parents'? On the thread below the story, bipolarpuzzler says : I thought that we were trying to get away from the caricature of the violent and dangerous person with mental illness. 1 in 4 of us will suffer with mental illnesses of one sort or another - is the NSPCC seriously suggesting that all of us have our children removed at birth, or spend years being scrutinised by social services? The NSPCC should also be more careful with their fact-checking - they are not describing a 'toxic trio' but a duo; addiction disorders are mental health problems. I have had a highly successful professional career and brought up four healthy children who are all now successful adults. I have had two mental health diagnoses since student days and have learned to manage them just as colleagues with type one diabetes, severe orthopaedic problems, severe asthma and other physical conditions have done. I am saddened to read this sort of stigmatising report. Cherb responded to bipolarpuzzler: As someone that works for said charity and has a mental illness, I found this response quite full on. The article is not suggesting removing children of parents with a mental health issue at all. It is partly relaying some of it's concerns that babies are particularly vulnerable to abuse; it is then saying that NSPCC are working on methods to help support and educate parents who might be in one of the 'toxic trio' categories to better take care of their babies. From what I know of some of the programmes, it is the midwives and health visitors that will take on this educational role, not necessarily social workers and our staff. Like yourself, I have coping strategies for day to day kind of things with my illness, but I also recognise that the added pressure of having a newborn baby would require me to think up new strategies and could be particularly challenging - so any support I could get would be welcome. And on our Facebook page , Charlotte R comments: this has disgusted me, I have two little girls neither one neglected or abused, yet I have serious depression and mental health problems, and they have witnessed mild domestic violence, which I got them away from. I pride my self on being a good mum!! my little girls keep me strong! I think this report is stereotypical and demeaning when you struggle so hard to fight against something you cant control to be told your child is at risk, I am fuming! • News that private company Circle is to take over the running of Hinchingbrooke health care NHS trust Cambridgeshire. On the Liberal Conspiracy blog, Sunny Hundal asks why this morning's news reports of the story make no mention of Tory links to Circle : ... emails released to the Guardian (by SpinWatch) in July this year showed Circle was part of a lobby group that took the NHS regulator to expensive gala dinners. In January 2010 the Telegraph revealed that Andrew Lansley was 'bankrolled by private healthcare provider' . The paper now reports that this opens the way for other 'financially failing hospitals' to be run by private firms. Around 20 are thought to be candidates for a takeover. The privatisation of our hospitals is taking place in front of our eyes. Writer and consultant Richard Blogger raises many interesting issues on his Twitter stream, including: Circle get a 10 year deal? How many years do NHS Trusts usually get to turn their finances around? It is not usually as long as 10 yrs • Graphic of the day, tweeted by Suzanne Moore, which compares average workers' pay with chief executives' salaries around the world. • The Media Trust, which is today hosting a conference exploring how charities can use digital media to drive social change. The trust's founder and chief executive, Caroline Diehl, says in a post about the event for our Joe Public blog, "If content is king, distribution is queen." Follow the conference on Twitter using the hashtag #mtconf • This charming film about the work of Silver Comedy , which claims to be Britain's first specialist comedy training company for older people. It runs comedy sessions in day centres, sheltered housing and care homes. As the company's managing director, George Baddeley explains: Comedy really is a great way of engaging with people because even people who seem quite unhappy, if you look closely in their eyes, through comedy you can identify a little bit of mischief, and get to the mischief inside them and I find that's a great way to bring people out of themselves, getting to their inner mischief. On the Guardian Professional Networks • Gareth Thomas MP outlines what should be learned from the collapse of Rise , a social enterprise that helped other enterprises • NHS staff aren't stupid, but their misuse of Facebook is, argues Sade Laja • Should we be giving the government the green light on housing policy , asks social policy lecturer Alex Marsh • Professor Cary Cooper on the sensitive leadership needed to marshal a Dunkirk spirit for local government • The NHS Confederation, Local Government Group and Age UK have opened their commission to examine solutions to the neglect and abuse of older people in homes and hospitals: Events and seminars Making your multimedia content work for you Are you using multimedia content as effectively as you can to get your stories seen and heard? This session, in partnership with sounddelivery, will bring together experts and real case studies to ensure you have the vision, strategy and practical know-how to maximise the opportunities at hand. 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