The health watchdog - Care Quality Commission (CQC) - has had plenty to keep it busy so far this year, inspecting care homes in Greater Manchester and Cheshire. The CQC send in inspectors to make sure the accommodation and staff provide residents with a safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led service. They then give the care homes ratings of either: outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. Throughout 2019 we will publish the results of each care home whose inspection result was published, along with what the experts had to say. Here are the ratings and reports for GP surgeries in the region published in January, February and March: Berkeley House - Good Address: Cuerden Developments Limited, Berkeley House, Ellesmere Road, Wigan, WN5 9LA Report published: 1 January Overall rating: Good Safe: Good Effective: Good Caring: Outstanding Responsive: Good Well-led: Good What the inspectors had to say: "People living at the home … [Read more...] about Every care home inspection rating for Greater Manchester published in 2019
Affecting change or effecting change
These new laws in 2019 will affect MOTs, the Highway Code and overtaking
Changes to the MOT law in 2019 will affect how we drive as well as how vehicles must be kept maintained. With technology constantly improving vehicles, the law has to adjust to match, and drivers are responsible for keeping up to date with the changes to the Highway Code. In 2018 there were changes to rules concerning learner drivers and how cars are taxed. But for 2019 there's set to be a whole host of changes, including new motorway laws, and further updates to MOT and learner driver regulations. There are also new rules coming in that could fine divers that don't leave enough room when they pass cyclists. SO you can stay on top of the changes Wales Live and Grimsby Live have put together the whole list of changes coming in the new year. Passing cyclists It has always been inadvisable to pass too closely to a cyclist for safety reasons but you could now be fined if you come within a certain distance while overtaking. Following law changes in March, motorists could be fined for not … [Read more...] about These new laws in 2019 will affect MOTs, the Highway Code and overtaking
Did 2018 give us the wake-up call we needed in the fight against climate change?
This year was full of apparent wake-up calls. The first came over the summer when a heatwave swept the northern hemisphere, setting parts of the Swedish Arctic ablaze and pushing Europe close to its hottest temperature on record. While many in the UK welcomed the endless weeks of sunshine, there was a dawning sense that it was a little unusual. Even newspapers not normally associated with cutting-edge climate science seemed grudgingly to acknowledge a possible link to global warming. To be clear, weather is not climate. When Donald Trump tweeted in 2013 that he was “in Los Angeles and it’s freezing”, that did not merit his conclusion that global warming is a hoax. It was December after all. But climate certainly does affect weather. Over the last couple of years, scientists have become increasingly confident in identifying the “fingerprints” of climate change on extreme events, from the UK heatwave to hurricanes striking Texas, and flooding in … [Read more...] about Did 2018 give us the wake-up call we needed in the fight against climate change?
Smartphones, tablets could change children’s brain structures
Photo: Internet NEW YORK, 11 Dec. (BelTA - Xinhua) - Children who spend more than seven hours a day on screens like smartphones and video games experience "premature thinning of the cortex," according to a new and ongoing study. Funded by U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH), the study plans to follow more than 11,000 adolescents for a decade to see how childhood experiences impact the brain.The first findings from the study is already available. By scanning brains of 4,500 participants, researchers found that children who use smartphones, tablets and video games more than seven hours a day showed premature thinning of cortex."That's typically thought to be a maturational process. So what we could expect to see later is happening a little bit earlier," said Dr. Gaya Dowling, an NIH doctor working on the project when interviewed by CBS News.Dowling said it is still early to tell whether the change was caused by the screen time, and whether or not it is a bad thing. "It won't … [Read more...] about Smartphones, tablets could change children’s brain structures
Where the streets have no change: buskers surviving in cashless times
It is a crisp, blustery, autumn afternoon on the South Bank in London. Charlotte Campbell stands with her back to the river playing an acoustic guitar and singing Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah, a buskers’ favourite. “Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord, That David played, and it pleased the Lord, But you don’t really care for music, do you?” People stop, watch a while, film Campbell on their phones, or mouth along. “It goes like this: The fourth, the fifth, The minor fall and the major lift, The baffled king composing Hallelujah …” Some drop coins into her guitar case, or send their kids to do so. Pound coins, silver ones, or just a few coppers. Campbell is definitely a busker for the 21st century. She has cards, with information on how to find her on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And as well as the guitar case for coins, she also has something that might make you look twice – a contactless card reader. … [Read more...] about Where the streets have no change: buskers surviving in cashless times