Appeal Following Shooting In London

Police are appealing for information following a shooting incident on Branksome Road, south west London. Police were called at approximately 19:50 hrs on 18 January, to reports of a shooting. Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene and a 17 year old boy was found with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition. Four people were arrested nearby on suspicion of attempted murder, a 16 year old boy, a 22 year old man, a 18 year old man and a 21 year old woman. They remain in custody. Police are appealing for anyone who saw or heard a disturbance that night in Branksome Road or Acre Lane to come forward.

BMA Says Health And Social Care Bill Is A 'Massive Gamble'



Commenting on the Health and Social Care Bill for the NHS in England, Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of Council at the British Medical Association (BMA), said: 

“Ploughing ahead with these changes as they stand, at such speed, at a time of huge financial pressures, and when NHS staff and experts have so many concerns, is a massive gamble. The BMA supports greater involvement of clinicians in planning and shaping NHS services, but the benefits that clinician-led commissioning can bring are threatened by other parts of the Bill. In particular, the legislation will allow competition to be forced on commissioners, even when they believe the best and most appropriate services can be provided by local hospitals.

 Forcing commissioners of care to tender contracts to any willing provider, including NHS providers, voluntary sector organisations and commercial companies, could destabilise local health economies and fragment care for patients. Adding price competition into the mix could also allow large commercial companies to enter the NHS market and chase the most profitable contracts, using their size to undercut on price, which could ultimately damage local services. 

Commissioners should be free to choose the best and most appropriate providers, creating care pathways across hospital and community care boundaries, without fear of a legal challenge from private companies or the health regulator.

 In addition to all this is the deadline for all trusts to achieve foundation status by 2014. Forcing all hospitals to become foundation trusts before they are ready could impact on patient care.

 The scope and complexity of the Bill is immense and will have significant impact on the future of NHS services as well as for the NHS workforce and public health. The BMA will examine the bill in great detail and will be lobbying very hard to amend the most damaging aspects of this legislation.”

Steel Firm Fined After Cherry Picker Plunge

A man was left with multiple broken bones when the scissor lift he was working in was struck by an overhead crane and fell to the ground. Steel Erector Alexander Struthers, 36, was using a scissor lift, often called a cherry picker, to drill holes in the roof at a paint workshop at steel fabrication firm BHC Ltd in Carnwarth on 3 April 2008. There was an overhead crane installed in the workshop to move steel around and Mr Struthers was working with his back towards it at the time of the incident. He did not hear the crane moving towards him as it hit the scissor lift basket he was in, knocking it five and a half metres to the ground. As a result, Mr Struthers broke his hip, pelvis, thigh bone, knee, ankle and nose. He was in hospital for six days and endured a nine-hour operation to repair various bones. A subsequent operation has left him with an 18-inch pin in his thigh bone as well as various pins, metal plates and screws in his hip, pelvis and ankle. He is in constant pain, still attends physiotherapy and walks with the aid of sticks. BHC Ltd pleaded guilty to breaking the Work at Height Regulations at Lanark Sheriff Court. The firm admitted failing to ensure the work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a reasonably practicable safe manner and was fined £20,000.

(BMcN/GK)