General News
ScotGov: The latest organ donation campaign got underway last week with the message: Everyone has the potential to save a life. Every day 3 people in the UK die waiting on an organ transplant. More than 600 people in Scotland are currently waiting for an organ transplant. Recent research by NHS Blood & Transplant found 96% of people say they would accept an organ, but only 36% of Scots have actually joined the register.
MO: Web pages which explain the science behind the headlines on climate change have been launched by Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor, Sir John Beddington. Produced with the support of leading scientists from the Met Office Hadley Centre & others, they will help anyone wishing to get beyond the day-to-day headlines and gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental scientific issues involved.
WAG: Patients will be allowed to use their mobile phones in designated areas in all NHS hospitals in Wales, Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced. The move will help to reduce the cost of phone calls for patients & relatives.
The Health Minister has also decided that current contracts with providers of hospital phone & TV systems should not be renewed once the contracts end.
Newswire – ICO: A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said recently: “The ICO commissioned the Review of Availability of Advice on Security for Small and Medium Sized Organisations to better understand how well SMEs can access appropriate information security advice for protecting personal information.
The ICO recognises that SMEs will not have the technical expertise that many larger businesses will have at their disposal.…… The practical business based examples in the Guide can help SMEs safeguard personal data and meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act. We are also reviewing some of our other guidance in light of the report’s findings to ensure it is appropriate for the needs of SMEs.
Press release ~ Review of Availability of Advice on Security for Small and Medium Sized Organisations ~
FSA: Spring Hill Pure Spring Water with a ‘best before’ date of 15 August 2011 is being recalled in Northern Ireland, because the product is contaminated with E.coli and may be a risk to health. The Food Standards Agency has issued a Product Recall Information Notice.
TfL: One of the Capital's oldest & busiest London Underground stations, Kings Cross St. Pancras, is now completely wheelchair accessible from street to all platforms. Passengers who need to avoid stairs can plan their journey on the TfL website on the Journey Planner page using the advanced options - putting in the mode and that they can't use stairs.
Alternatively, they can use www.directenquiries.com which also shows the best route to take on the Tube which avoids long walks & steps, or the 24-hour Travel Help Line 0843 222 1234.
EH: English Heritage and partners from London Metropolitan University Special Collections, The Women's Library & TUC Library Collection invite you to catch a glimpse of the fascinating history of women's changing roles from Victorian times to the mid-20th century, shown through images of the buildings where they lived & worked in a new online resource.
Visible in Stone: a history of women through buildings, 1850-1950 was launched last week at www.english-heritage.org.uk/visibleinstone and provides a detailed insight into the changing social climate in which women in England lived their lives over the period and documents the pioneering changes they made to achieve a new freedom of access to public spaces, education, paid work and decent housing.
English Heritage is also appealing to the ‘great British public’ to upload images of the buildings that played an important part of their grandmother's lives to the website's Facebook and Flickr sites. Details at http://www.flickr.com/groups/visibleinstone/.
PCS: Thousands of PCS union members who work in galleries, museums and historic sites are launching a campaign to ‘defend the country's cultural assets’. To coincide with the European Trade Union Confederation’s day of action for jobs & growth last week, the union published a statement for supporters of the campaign to sign up to oppose cuts in culture, media and sport.
Newswire – ICO: “Freedom of Information has a key role to play in helping to deliver greater transparency and accountability. These are key priorities in public policy”, said Information Commissioner Christopher Graham in a message to mark Internation al Right to Know Day. .
IRtK Day is designed to raise awareness of individuals’ rights to access information held by public authorities and gain better understanding of how public money is spent. Over the past 12 months, decision Notices by the ICO have ordered the disclosure of the Youth Justice Board Physical Control in Care Prison Service manual, details of bonuses received by the City of London Police Force and information relating to the amount the BBC spends on taxi booking services.
