NHS Ward Ratings A 'Patient-Led Revolution'

The first results of a system allowing patients to rate the hospital ward or department they have been treated in are to be published later.

Hundreds of thousands of patients have taken part in the NHS Friends and Family Test during April, May and June 2013.

They were asked for their views after staying in hospital overnight or visiting an A&E department.

It is the first time a national health service has published a single measure of patient satisfaction for every hospital.

They all answered one simple question. "How likely are you to recommend our ward/A&E department to your friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?"

Tim Kelsey, NHS England's National Director for Patients and Information, said:  "At the heart of the tragedy of Mid Staffordshire was one simple lesson: the NHS has got to do better at listening to patients and doing something about what they say.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt: 'This is an historic moment for the NHS'

"This is a radical response, a potential game changer. It creates a direct conversation and gives NHS staff the opportunity to respond quickly to what they are being told.

"We hope to encourage a patient-led revolution in healthcare, driven by the transparency, better information and public participation in design of services."

The test was announced by David Cameron in January 2012 with the aim of giving patients a stronger voice when deciding whether their care is good enough.

Hospitals will be able to take swift action to make any necessary improvements and NHS England will publish monthly updates to ensure regular feedback about what patients think of services.

NHS England plans to extend the test to maternity services in October and to GP practices and mental health services by end of December 2014, with other services following by 2015.

NHS Trusts will also invite patients to provide more information so they can understand more deeply what they are being told.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "This is an historic moment for the NHS - we will eventually know what patients think about almost every ward, at every hospital, across the county.

"This simple test will throw a spotlight on both good and poor care, and sends a clear signal to every NHS organisation that patients must come first every time."

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Cybercrime: Britain 'Losing The War' Say MPs

The threat of a cyber assault on Britain is considered so serious it is marked as a higher threat than a nuclear attack, according to an influential group of MPs.

Despite being the preferred target of online criminals in 25 countries, the UK is still "complacent" towards cybercrime as victims are "hidden in cyberspace", the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

The group of MPs said funding and resources for tackling online crime, which includes identity theft, industrial espionage, credit-card fraud and child exploitation, has not been sufficiently allocated.

Cybercriminals in 25 countries are said to be targeting the UK

Tougher sentences for online criminals and improved training for police officers are recommended by the Committee to deal with the growing threat.

Committee chair Keith Vaz said: "We are not winning the war on online criminal activity. We are being too complacent about these e-wars because the victims are hidden in cyberspace.

"The threat of a cyber attack to the UK is so serious it is marked as a higher threat than a nuclear attack.

Christopher Whitehead, the hacker at the heart of an attack on Paypal

"You can steal more on the Internet than you can by robbing a bank.

"If we don't have a 21st century response to this 21st century crime, we will be letting those involved in these gangs off the hook."

Online crime - committed by lone hackers, activist groups and nation states sponsoring industrial espionage - has been estimated by online security firm Norton to globally cost around £250bn ($388bn) in financial losses.

The Committee heard that the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau had discovered about 25 countries predominantly targeting the UK and said it was "deeply concerned" that EU partner countries are not doing enough to prevent the attacks.

The Committee added it was "surprised" hackers from the group Anonymous, who cost Paypal more than £3.5m, were not given stiffer sentences.

Christopher Weatherhead, a 22-year-old university student who was described as a key operator in the group, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the attack. 

Hidden in cyberspace: The UK is too complacent towards e-crime, say MPs

Commissioner Adrian Leppard, of City of London Police, the most senior policeman in the country on online fraud, warned the Committee that a quarter of the 800 specialist internet crime officers could be axed as spending is cut.

The Committee was also alarmed that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre is having its budget cut by 10% over four years and its chief executive Peter Davies is leaving.

Last week, David Cameron threatened to impose tough new laws on internet firms if they fail to blacklist key search terms for illegal images by October as part of a wider crackdown on online pornography.

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Arrest Made After Twitter Rape Threats

A 21-year-old man has been arrested after a barrage of sexual abuse was posted on Twitter aimed at the woman who campaigned for a female figure to appear on British banknotes.

Caroline Criado-Perez received hostile posts, including threats to rape and kill her, nearly every minute in the 48 hours after she attended the Bank of England's unveiling of the new £10 note, with Jane Austen's image on, on Wednesday.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 21-year-old man has today been arrested in the Manchester area on suspicion of harassment offences.

"The arrest is in connection with an allegation of malicious communications received by officers in Camden on Thursday, July 25."

The abuse started after Ms Criado-Perez fronted the £10 note campaign

On Sunday,  Ms Criado-Perez said she had been informed that an arrest had been made.

On her Twitter page she wrote: "Just heard from police that an arrest has been made. That's all I have at present."

She earlier called on the social networking site and police to take action over the abuse.

Twitter is under increasing pressure to take a tougher stance

She told Sky News: "It was really really disturbing to find that something as small as asking for one woman on a banknote could result in such a barrage of threats of sexual violence.

"It's just not acceptable and more than that it's actually a crime and Twitter needs to take it seriously and the police need to take it seriously."

Her comments come as an online petition in support of her, calling on Twitter to introduce a button to allow speedy reporting of abuse, has attracted more than 25,000 signatures.

She has also received support from MPs and celebrities.

Ms Criado-Perez added: "This is something that happens specifically to women and it's to make them shut up because there is a certain type of man who doesn't like women speaking and they don't like women speaking back to them.

"I wasn't going to give them what they wanted so I decided to start being very very public about the abuse I was receiving even though it was really unpleasant and obviously it's invited more abuse to a certain extent, but it's also invited so much support which has been absolutely incredible."

A spokesperson for Twitter said: "The ability to report individual tweets for abuse is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and we plan to bring this functionality to other platforms, including Android and the web.

"We don't comment on individual accounts. However, we have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter.

"We will suspend accounts that, once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.

"We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report forms: https://support.twitter.com/forms."

Jane Austen will appear on the front of £10 notes from 2017

The Metropolitan Police is conducting inquiries into the matter after receiving an allegation of abuse.

Labour's shadow home secretary and shadow minister for women Yvette Cooper has written to the head of Twitter in the UK urging stronger action over the matter, saying she is "deeply concerned by the handling of serious and violent threats of abuse and rape".

The letter says: " ... Despite the scale and seriousness of these threats, the official response from Twitter continues to be extremely weak - simply directing Caroline away from Twitter towards the police, and, belatedly, directing users to abuse reporting forms on Twitter.

" ... I urge you to go further and ensure that Twitter carries out a full review of all its policies on abusive behaviour, threats and crimes, including more help for Twitter users who experience abuse, a clear complaints process and clear action from Twitter to tackle this kind of persecution."

Comedians Chris Addison and Dara O'Briain are among the celebrities to back Ms Criado-Perez with messages on Twitter.

Addison wrote: "In case you missed it, here's the link to petition to add a 'Report Abuse' button to Twitter … Least we can do, right?"

And O'Briain posted: "If the ladies leave Twitter because of all the dumb, rapey 14-year-old boys, then I'm outta here people. Like most grown-up men too, I'd say"

MPs including Stella Creasy and Diane Abbott also voiced their support via the microblogging site.

Ms Criado-Perez, a freelance journalist who co-founded The Women's Room, an online database of female experts, organised a campaign which included a petition signed by more than 35,500 people after the Bank of England decided to replace Elizabeth Fry with Winston Churchill on new £5 notes.

The move would have meant there were no women apart from the Queen on sterling banknotes.

Her campaign was a success, with an announcement by the Bank last week that Pride And Prejudice author Austen will replace Charles Darwin on the new £10 note when it is introduced 2017.

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Lads' Mags Told To Cover Up Scantily-Clad Models

The Co-operative has given publishers of lads' magazines an ultimatum to cover them up in "modesty bags" or face having them removed from shelves in 4,000 stores.

Titles such as Front, Loaded, Nuts and Zoo - known for their pictures of scantily-clad models - have been given until September 9 to deliver the magazines in pre-sealed bags.

The retail group, which describes itself as one of the UK's largest magazine sellers, introduced opaque screens on shelves earlier this month to prevent children from seeing "lewd pictures" on front covers.

It comes amid an increasing debate about the effects of sexual images on children, with Prime Minister David Cameron setting out a raft of reforms this week which will introduce family-friendly filters that automatically block internet porn unless people choose to opt out.

The Co-operative said the move was a response to concerns by its members, customers and colleagues.

Steve Murrells, retail chief executive for the Co-operative Group, said: "As a community-based retailer we have listened to the concerns of our customers and members, many of whom say they object to their children being able to see overt sexual images in our stores.

"Whilst we have tried to mitigate the likelihood of young children seeing the images with a number of measures in-store, the most effective way of doing this is for these magazines to be put in individual, sealed modesty bags.

"As an interim measure, we have introduced our own opaque screens on shelf to reinforce our existing policy limiting the display of such material.

"The publishers of these magazines now have until September 9 to start providing their own modesty bags, after which any lads' magazine which does not have the relevant bag will not be supplied in our stores."

The Sport newspaper has already agreed to deliver all editions to stores in bags from September 9, the Co-operative said.

Jo Swinson, Minister for Women and Equalities, said: "Many parents aren't comfortable with the way that sexualised imagery has become like wallpaper - everywhere from the bus stop to the corner shop.

"Exposing children to lewd pictures that portray women as sex objects is not appropriate. That's why The Co-operative's decision to implement the Bailey review recommendation for publications with overtly sexual images on the cover to be displayed and sold in modesty bags is very welcome.

"Adults should be left to make their own decisions about what legal sexual images they look at, but the place for these is not next to the sweets at children's eye-level. I hope other retailers will follow the Co-operative's lead."

Sophie Bennett, a spokeswoman for Lose the Lads' Mags campaign group, called for the Co-operative to stop stocking the magazines altogether.

The campaign, set up by pressure groups UK Feminista and Object, calls on retailers to withdraw the magazines.

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Twitter Rape Row: Abuse At £10 Note Campaigner

Twitter has become embroiled in a rape row after the woman who headed the campaign for a female figure on banknotes was subjected to vile sexual threats on the microblogging site.

Caroline Criado-Perez received rape threats on Twitter nearly every minute in the 48 hours after the new Jane Austen £10 note was unveiled.

Ms Criado-Perez, co-founder of the Women's Room, an online database of female experts, has highlighted the abuse on her Twitter account and blog by posting a number of the messages.

It has sparked a campaign for Twitter to install a 'report abuse' button on every post.

One supporter, Norfolk woman Kim Graham, has started an online petition which, by Saturday afternoon, had garnered support from over 12,000 people.

Writing on the petition Ms Graham said: "We need Twitter to recognise that it's current reporting system is below required standards. It currently requires users to search for details on how to report someone for abuse; a feature that should be available on each user's page."

A movement has been started under the Twitter hashtag #takebacktwitter, which includes some MPs and women journalists and calls on the social networking site to take action.

Writing in the New Statesman, Ms Criado-Perez said: "The rape threats started on Thursday, and have continued for the past forty-eight hours. And this experience is by no means unique to me.

The row began after novellist Jane Austen was unveiled as the new £10 face

"Amid the abuse, I have received countless messages from women telling me of their experiences.

"The head of WHO called violence against women a 'global health problem of epidemic proportions'; she should take a look at twitter, where we have our own nasty little epidemic: an epidemic of misogynistic men who feel so threatened by any woman speaking up, that they feel they must immediately silence her with a threat of sexual violence."

She said that when supporters started posting messages to Twitter's manager of News and Journalism, Mark S Luckie, about the rape threats, he locked his account. 

She said she was getting 50 rape threats every hour.

However, Tony Wang, general manager of Twitter in the UK, posted a series of messages on Saturday which appeared to be in response to the row.

His Tweets included: "We take abuse seriously and will investigate reports made via support.twitter.com/forms. For more info, see support.twitter.com."

And: "Also, we're testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the "Report Tweet" button in our iPhone app and on mobile web.

And: "We will suspend accounts that, once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules."

Twitter says it will suspend accounts linked to abusive messages

But Ms Criado-Perez pointed out that the report process was too lengthy for someone who had been subjected to a "tidal wave of abuse".

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, is one of those supporting Ms Criado Perez.

"What Caroline has had to deal with in the past day is not only disgusting, but criminal," she said.

"A quick look at Twitter this morning shows that women are not prepared to stand by and take this kind of abuse.

"Twitter needs to get its house in order, and fast."

Labour MP for Hackney Diane Abbott wrote on Twitter: "Shocked at the abuse @CCriadoPerez has had to put up with. Almost as shocked that @marksluckie refuses to do anything about it."

The Sunday Times columnist India Knight posted a tweet saying: "If you have concerns about the grotesque abuse directed at @CCriadoPerez, @TonyW is the general manager of UK Twitter."

While The Times journalist Caitlin Moran pointed out: "For those who say "Why complain - just block?" - on a big troll day, it can be 50 violent/rape messages an hour. exhausting and upsetting."

A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police confirmed to Sky News that officers in Camden had received "an allegation regarding comments made on a social networking site", reported on Thursday 25 July.

Inquires are continuing and no arrests have yet been made, he said. 

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Theresa May 'Shocked' By Diabetes Diagnosis

Theresa May has spoken of her shock after being diagnosed with a chronic illness, but insists it will not affect her political career.

The Home Secretary was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two months ago and must now inject herself with insulin at least twice a day for the rest of her life, the Mail on Sunday has revealed.

Commentators had seized on Mrs May's dramatic weight loss over the past 18 months as proof that she was undergoing a style makeover in preparation for a future leadership bid.

But the Conservative Cabinet minister told the newspaper that dropping two stones was partly down to the illness.

"The diabetes doesn't affect how I do the job or what I do. It's just part of life ... so it's a case of head down and getting on with it," Mrs May told the Mail on Sunday.

"It was a real shock and, yes, it took me a while to come to terms with it."

There are around 300,000 people in the UK with Type 1 diabetes

Speaking about the timing of the announcement, Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig said: "I suspect she wanted to get the Abu Qatada deportation out of the way and wanted nothing to distract from that."

There are around 300,000 people in the UK with Type 1 diabetes. Despite decades of research, no vaccine has been found to prevent the disease.

Pressed on whether the illness would prevent her from one day succeeding David Cameron, she told the newspaper: "There is no leadership bid. We have a first-class Prime Minister and long may he continue."

Doctors told Mrs May she had the condition, which means her body does not produce insulin, in November but initially they thought she had Type 2 diabetes.

"It doesn't and will not affect my ability to do my work. I'm a little more careful about what I eat and there's obviously the injections, but this is something millions of people have," she said.

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Sasha Marsden: Barman Guilty Of Teen's Murder

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

A barman has been found guilty of killing teenager Sasha Marsden, whose partially burned body was found in a Blackpool alleyway.

David Minto, described by police as "cold, callous and evil", sexually assaulted the youngster before stabbing her 58 times with a kitchen knife.

She suffered such serious injuries that her body, which was found wrapped in carpet underlay and bin liners, had to be identified using DNA from her toothbrush.

Sasha was just 16 years old and had been studying childcare at a local college.

However, her plan to take up a part-time cleaning job in a Blackpool hotel to earn some extra money ultimately cost her her life. 

Minto, who worked at the Grafton House Hotel, owned by his girlfriend and her mother, first met Sasha through a mutual acquaintance on a night out.

The 23-year-old contacted her on Facebook, where his online name was David "Demon" Minto, and used the promise of part-time work to lure her to her death.

He told Sasha to come to the hotel on a day when he knew it would be empty.

After sexually assaulting and stabbing her, mainly in the face and neck, he tried to destroy the evidence by setting her body on fire.

The prosecution at the trial in Preston said she was found with several defensive wounds, showing she tried to fight for her life.

Minto claimed he had consensual sex with the teenager and said her blood was on his clothes because she had a nose bleed.

He claimed she left the hotel alive but the jury refused to believe him and found him guilty of murder.

Sasha's mother Jayne Marsden said:  "For his sexual gratification he's robbed us of saying goodbye to her. But he's also robbed us of her 18th birthday, her 21st birthday and her future. He's just robbed us of everything. I can never forgive him. Never."

Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: "After our dealings with Minto, I would describe him as cold, callous, and evil.

"He's put Sasha's family through a real ordeal by pleading not guilty and taking this to trial.

"But the family have been brave and very dignified, appearing in court every day to hear the terrible evidence about what happened to their daughter."

More follows...

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Heavy Rain And Thunder Warning For Britain

Britain's spell of sunshine may be about to end after the Met Office issued a weather warning for heavy downpours and thunderstorms across the country.

Weather experts have warned that some regions of the UK may be hit by localised flooding this weekend as thousands of holidaymakers prepare to set off for their summer break.

The Met Office has issued a "yellow" warning of rain following concerns that heavy showers and thunderstorms expected over France could move north to affect south-east England and East Anglia.

The thundery weather is then expected to move north to cover large parts of England, with as much as 30mm of rain falling in an hour in South East areas, forecasters have warned.

Sky weather presenter Sarah Pennock said: "Saturday morning will see the cloud build across southern and western Britain. Thundery rain will spread northwards from France, bringing torrential downpours for some.

"Most other places will see a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers with the best of the afternoon sunshine for northwestern England and Wales."

A man walks down a flooded road in Oxfordshire last December

Sean Penston, forecaster at MeteoGroup, said there was "every chance" of flash flooding in areas affected by the torrential rain.

"This rain will keep pushing north on Sunday into northern England and Scotland. Then, moving in from the west, further showers and outbreaks of rain with the risk of thunder will affect south-west England and Wales."

The South East will bear the brunt of the weekend's rain with as much as 30mm expected to fall within an hour, and 50mm within three hours in some places, according to the Met Office.

This compares to an average rainfall of around 80mm for the whole month of July, MeteoGroup said.

In its weather warning, the Met Office said: "Thunderstorms and areas of heavy, thundery rain are expected to move north from France during the course of Saturday afternoon and evening.

"The public should be aware of the risk of localised disruption to travel, due to surface water flooding and lightning strikes."

Temperatures will remain warm for most of the country, however, with highs between 23C to 25C (73F to 77F) for much of England today, Mr Penston said.

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Wonga: Church Of England Funding Link Revealed

Sky sources say the Archbishop of Canterbury is "furious" after learning the Church of England invests in a key financial backer of Wonga.

The Most Rev Justin Welby has made no secret of his opposition to the payday loans firm and had earlier said he wanted to "compete" it out of business by expanding the reach of the Church's credit unions.

But now a link has been found between the Church and the very company that lies within the Archbishop's sights.

The Financial Times reports that the CofE's pension fund has put money into Accel Partners, a US venture capital firm that led Wonga's 2009 fund-raising efforts.

The fund claims to have a strong ethical investment policy that bans firms involved in payday lending.

A Church spokesman said an investigation would be launched. "We are grateful to the Financial Times for pointing out this serious inconsistency of which we were unaware," he said.

Mr Welby earlier said he had informed Wonga's chief executive, Errol Damelin, of his credit union mission.

"I've met the head of Wonga and we had a very good conversation and I said to him quite bluntly 'we're not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence, we're trying to compete you out of existence'," he told Total Politics magazine.

"He's a businessman, he took that well."

The Archbishop launched a new credit union for clergy and church staff earlier this month at the General Synod in York.

Mr Welby, who has served on the parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, has said he plans to expand the reach of credit unions as part of a long-term campaign to boost competition in the banking sector.

The Government is investing £38m in credit unions to help them offer an alternative to payday lenders.

The entire payday lending industry, worth £2bn, was referred last month for a full-blown investigation by the Competition Commission after the trading watchdog uncovered "deep-rooted" problems with the industry.

Wonga is to launch an advertising campaign which will set out "ten commitments" about its lending practices - an apparently tongue-in-cheek reaction to the Archbishop's remarks.

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Stuart Hall Facing Longer Prison Sentence

Stuart Hall faces will find out later if he has to spend more time in prison as judges review the length of his sentence for sex offences.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve has referred Hall's case to the Court of Appeal to consider whether his 15-month jail term is "unduly lenient" and should be increased.

Hall, 83, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, admitted 14 counts of indecent assault against girls as young as nine between 1967 and 1987.

The former It's A Knockout presenter was sentenced in June at Preston Crown Court by the Recorder of Preston, Judge Anthony Russell QC.

Hall directly exploited his role as a popular BBC presenter to target four of his victims, while he assaulted another four on the pretence of giving elocution lessons to them at his home.

Before entering his guilty plea in April, he had made a public pronouncement on the steps of a court, describing all the claims against him as "cruel, pernicious and spurious".

Hall was arrested and subsequently charged on December 5 last year with indecently assaulting three young girls.

More women came forward as a result of publicity and he was rearrested before he later admitted sexual offences relating to 13 victims.

Judge Russell told Hall: "Several of these cases reveal an abuse of the trust placed in you by the parents of these children but all of them reveal an abuse of power by you because your status gave you an influence and standing which you abused."

The judge said Hall would have received 20 months after a trial but he reduced the sentence to reflect his guilty pleas.

Hall's defence barrister Crispin Aylett QC said that 27 years had passed since the last offence and that the presenter had led an "unblemished" life over those years.

The length of the jail term was immediately criticised as "unduly lenient" by shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry.

Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour party, also added to calls for the sentence to be referred.

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