News round-up May 2

1 May 08
A poll by the Sutton Trust charity has shown that increasing numbers of 11 to 16-year-olds expect to enter higher education. The survey, released on April 28, found that 39% thought they were 'very likely' to go to university, and 34% 'fairly likely'. The total figure was up from 71% last year. The percentage deterred by worries about student debt fell from 20% to 13%. But Sutton Trust chair Sir Peter Lampl warned: 'While it is encouraging that three-quarters of young people aspire to university, less than

02 May 2008

A poll by the Sutton Trust charity has shown that increasing numbers of 11 to 16-year-olds expect to enter higher education. The survey, released on April 28, found that 39% thought they were 'very likely' to go to university, and 34% 'fairly likely'. The total figure was up from 71% last year. The percentage deterred by worries about student debt fell from 20% to 13%. But Sutton Trust chair Sir Peter Lampl warned: 'While it is encouraging that three-quarters of young people aspire to university, less than half currently end up in higher education.'

Public and Commercial Services union members at the Health and Safety Executive in London staged a protest on April 28 at a decision to move their jobs to Bootle, on Merseyside. The union warned that the move could lead to key parts of the organisation losing experienced staff as only 12 had expressed an interest in relocating. General secretary Mark Serwotka said: 'Members in the HSE are delivering improvements to the lives of millions. The loss of so much experience puts all workers at risk.'

Palliative care for non-malignant illnesses has been voted as the area of medicine where doctors can make the biggest difference. More than 4,000 people voted in a British Medical Journal poll to find which branch of health care could make the greatest improvement to patient care. The kind of palliative care given to cancer patients has recently been adapted to help people with fatal but non-malignant conditions such as dementia. Scott Murray, leader of the palliative care group at Edinburgh University, said: 'Good end-of-life care for all rather than for only some is surely a worthy aim of a civilised society. It is high time to embrace this challenge, and to work out new ways to care for all.'

Craig Anderson joined Partnerships UK on May 1 as finance director, in succession to David Goldstone, who left last year to join the government's Olympic Executive. Anderson has spent the past ten years at Thames Water, where he was managing director of non-regulated businesses until his appointment to PUK.

The Welsh Assembly finance committee is to carry out a review of funding for a new early years programme in schools that critics have claimed could be underfunded. The foundation phase, now being trialled before a national roll-out, is designed to move away from classroom teaching to learning through play-based activities. But local authorities and some head teachers have said the £107m funding is insufficient for a scheme that needs high staffing ratios of one teacher to eight pupils.

The government's drive to reduce MRSA hospital infections may be faltering. Figures for October to December last year show a small rise — from 1,080 cases in the previous three months to 1,087 — after falls over the preceding three years. In 2004, the government promised to halve MRSA infections by March 2008. Health minister Ann Keen said: 'One case of avoidable infection is one too many, and I am challenging the NHS to make full use of the resources at their disposal to eradicate avoidable infections.'

The number of people serving on a jury in Scotland, currently 15 and the largest in Europe for criminal trials, could be reduced under reform plans by the Scottish government. Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill told a legal magazine that he would be surprised if the review recommended retaining the current number. 'We have to get the right system for the next generation,' he said.

 

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