The Healthcare Commission has praised the treatment of military personnel injured on the front line as ‘exceptional’ and rehabilitation services as ‘excellent’. But the commission was critical of standards at military health care units. Describing conditions at some armed forces medical centres in the UK and abroad as ‘unacceptable’, chair Sir Ian Kennedy said: ‘We identified, for example, that premises weren’t clean, or that they weren’t maintained well, or that they were old and not properly looked after.’ The Ministry of Defence welcomed the review, and accepted there were areas where services could improve, such as the maintenance and cleanliness of some medical centres.
The Commons Treasury select committee has begun a series of open public meetings around the UK as it conducts its inquiry into the banking crisis. The first 45-minute session was held in Belfast at Stormont on March 2. Further meetings are being planned for Edinburgh and Halifax, both on March 9. A committee spokesman said the meetings were a chance for the inquiry, which has already taken evidence from ministers and both former and current bank executives, to get in touch with the grass-roots effects of the crisis. The committee hopes to report before Parliament’s Easter recess. Anyone interested in attending can apply for tickets, which are available on a first-come-first-served basis, by e-mailing [email protected].
Housing minister Margaret Beckett has extended the consultation period on the government’s controversial eco-towns scheme until April 30. Beckett said: ‘I know this is an issue that raises a lot of strong opinion on all sides. I have extended the deadline to ensure that all parties, irrespective of their views, are given the full opportunity to have their say, and I urge everyone to respond to this consultation.’ A viability study on the proposals submitted by developers is to be published shortly, after the High Court rejected demands by objectors to hold a judicial review of the proposals.
More people are using internet library services, according to the annual public library survey carried out by CIPFA for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The survey, published on March 3, showed that there were more than 76 million visits to library websites in 2007/08, up by 20% on the previous year. The services used included book renewals, catalogue enquiries, research requests and information on local events. The Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library in Norwich topped the list both in the number of visits in person — 1,500,695 — and for the number of books issued, 1,139,090. Birmingham Central Library had the second highest number of personal visits — 1,357,148 — and Chelmsford was second for issuing of books, with 742,048 borrowed.
The government does not learn from experience as much as it should, according to a National Audit Office report published on February 27. The main barriers to learning within departments are ineffective tools to capture and share experiences; keeping insights and information within the team rather than sharing them across the organisation; high turnover in the workforce leading to a loss of knowledge; and a lack of time given to learning from experience, the report said. Auditor general Tim Burr said: ‘We know from our audit work that projects and programmes are more likely to succeed and keep to time and budget where lessons have been learned and experience shared. Departments need to take learning more seriously. Getting better at learning from the past will help government secure better value for money in the future.’
