If you’re feeling stressed because of job insecurity, redundancy, debt or financial problems, don’t wait for things to get really bad before you seek help.

Call the NHS Stressline on 0300 123 2000 Daily between 8am and 10pm
Discuss the issues that are affecting you and your family and get expert advice on how to help yourself if you’re in a difficult situation.

Health advisors will listen, offer practical advice, guide you to useful online resources and put you in touch with other people who can help such as debt, housing, employment advisors, and counselling and talking therapy services

People often get distracted by the hustle and bustle of Christmas/New Year and are unaware of the potential fire hazards and toxic threats that can lurk in fairy lights,candles and flammable decorations.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are issuing a timely reminder to everyone following a house fire in Grimsby that could have brought one families Christmas to a tragic end.

One adult female required treatment from paramedics for smoke inhalation, and three children had precautionary check ups following the fire that involved Christmas decorations that had been placed around a gas fire.

Phil Leake from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said “The risk of fire in the home is an all year round issue – however people are particularly vulnerable at Christmas and New Year for many reasons ranging from unsafe electrical decorations, unattended candles through to cooking whilst drunk. People also vastly underestimate the deadly strength of toxic smoke and overestimate how long they have to escape should a fire break out.  The reality is that just two to three breaths of smoke in a fire can render a person unconscious.Christmas should be a time for celebration rather than tragedy and for this reason I’m urging people to be fire aware this New Year and stay fire safe

Here are the Humberside Fire and Rescue Services top tips to stay safe from fire this New Year:

1.      Ensure you have a working smoke alarm installed on all levels of your home. Test your smoke alarms weekly and never remove batteries to power presents!

2.      Never leave cooking unattended and avoid cooking whilst drunk.  The majority of fires start in the kitchen so this is a high risk area.  Always turn off kitchen appliances when you have finished cooking.

3.      Never leave candles unattended. Keep decorations, cards and wrapping paper away from candles, fires, lights and heaters.

4.      Ensure you switch off fairy lights and unplug them before you go to bed, or leave the house. Check your Christmas tree lights conform to the British Standard (BS EN 60598).

5.      Always use an RCD (residual current device) on outdoor electrical equipment (a safety device that can save lives by instantly switching off the power if there is a fault).

6.      Don’t overload sockets – ensure only one plug per socket.  Always turn off plugs when they are not in use, except those that are designed to be left on, like freezers.

7.      Make sure cigarettes are extinguished properly and never smoke in bed.  Put it out, right out.

8.      Check on older relatives and neighbours this Christmas, as they are at greater risk from fire.

9.      Ask the experts – Fire and Rescue Services in England offer free home fire risk checks to identify potential fire risks and advise what to do to reduce or prevent them. This may even include the free installation of a smoke alarm – the ideal gift for keeping your family safe

10.  And finally, in the event of fire: get out, stay out and call 999.
 be fire aware and stay fire safe.”

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service wants everyone to have a happy and safe New Year and is urging the public to take fire safety seriously – plan escape routes, install smoke alarms and test them weekly. 

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are warning people not to play around frozen lakes or ponds this winter – after they were called to a potentially dangerous incident during the current cold snap.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service control operators dealt with reports of children playing on the frozen pond in Hull’s East Park during the weekend.

Phil Leake from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Winter can be a dangerous time for water safety, with frozen waterways and towpaths a particular hazard to people of all ages”.

“The fire service is often called to rescue people from waterways at this time of year. We would urge people to heed the warnings and stay away from all frozen water and never allow children near frozen waterways”.

“It is vital that people do not step out on frozen waterways. People love to go walking at this time of year, but they should steer well clear of frozen ponds, canals, rivers and lakes. It is not safe even to put your toe on to the ice to test the thickness”

“One of the biggest problems is with dog owners whose pets run out on to frozen water. The pets usually survive, but their owners die when they go out to try to fetch them back. Dogs need to be kept on a lead if they are near frozen water.”

“The ice can look very inviting, particularly to children who want to try their hand at skating, but as soon as you take the first step on a frozen lake you are risking your life. There is no way of knowing how thick the ice is. Even strong swimmers will swiftly succumb to freezing water.”

“If you do spot someone who has fallen through ice, you may be able to help by reaching out to them from the bank or throwing something which can be used to haul them back to land – but stay out of the water yourself and be sure there is no chance of toppling in”.

“Alerting the emergency services as quickly as possible is the best thing that you can do.”

The Liberal Democrats have uncovered figures that show a dedicated fraud squad to detect those cheating the National Health Service; costs three times as much money as it recovered.

Over the last three years, the budget of the NHS Counter Fraud unit was £32.4 million, while the squad recovered £10.1 million and during 2008-09 the unit employed 195 staff. 

The figures, contained in a Parliamentary written answer from Ann Keen MP the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Health also show that fewer than 200 convictions were secured.

The Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said that the unit was failing to deliver value for money.

Norman Lamb added: “Tackling fraud and ensuring that every penny spent by the NHS can be accounted for is a vital task. There must be serious question marks over whether this unit is working effectively. 

“It is clear from these figures that the current approach isn’t working. 

The NHS needs to work more closely with the police to tackle fraud at a local level and ensure that every penny possible goes to frontline services. 

“These figures raise serious questions about whether a dedicated NHS Counter Fraud Unit is the best way to tackle this complex issue. We need an urgent review of how fraud is investigated.” 

Fraud is estimated to cost the NHS £115 million a year.

Today, it’s been widely reported that the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham has outlined proposals to phase out hospital parking charges for inpatients and some outpatients which he says have caused “great resentment”.

He pledged a “fairer” system for relatives and friends of people admitted to hospital in England. But, cynics have claimed that it is a general election ploy, and that he is also reneging on previous promises; when it appeared that he would go much further at the time of the Labour Party Conference.

The Health Secretary’s announcement comes on the same that it was disclosed that parking revenues for University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHB) were £1.93million for 2007-08 and increased to £1.95million the following year.

Cash made from parking fees was then pumped into paying off the new £545million ‘super-hospital’ in Edgbaston, Trust bosses admitted.

The information was obtained by the Birmingham Mail who requested it through a Freedom of Information request to UHB, which runs Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals, after bosses did not disclose parking profits in a national round-up of all hospitals by the Liberal Democrats earlier this year.

It is only second behind Heart of England Foundation Trust, which made £2.43million in 2007-08 from parking, but runs three large hospitals of Heartlands, Sutton Coldfield’s Good Hope and Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

“This is a staggering amount of money for UHB to be making from car parking charges.

“Many hospitals are still not offering real discounts to those with chronic illnesses and are effectively operating a tax on the sick.

“No one is denying the need for hospitals in Birmingham to cover their costs, but that doesn’t mean they can use hidden charges to help get out of financial black holes.

“The Government and ministers must ensure that guidelines are being followed.”

A UHB Trust spokesman said the figure included car parking revenue for visitors and staff and added:

“The income includes car parks managed by the Trust, some of which are shared with Birmingham Women’s Hospital and nearby Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust.

“Income from parking charges is collected and received by a private company as part of a Private Finance Initiative. The income collected reduces the Trust annual payments for the new hospital.

“It is also used to maintain safe and welcoming car parks, including 24 hour manned security and CCTV plus construction and staffing of current and new car parks.”

Believe it or not information revealed to the Liberal Democrats shows that thieves have been responsible for thousands of trains being delayed over the past three years.

Since 2006, passengers have been forced to endure one million minutes of delays caused by organised gangs stealing copper cabling from the rail network.

In recent years the price of scrap metal as ‘shot through the roof’, but in particular copper and this has now become a valuable commodity to thieves across the UK

Network Rail has reported more than 2,000 cases of cable theft, costing £25million in compensation payments to affected train operators.

The compensation from Network Rail to train operators means millions of pounds have to be diverted from investment in the railways – and could even lead to fare rises in the future.

Liberal Democrat Transport Secretary, Norman Baker who uncovered the figures, said: “This is a very serious issue for the railways which costs the public purse a lot of money as well as disrupting services for thousands of passengers.”

Copper cabling is vital to the rail network because it conducts the electricity on which trains run.

Network Rail is now tackling the problem by gradually replacing its copper cabling with aluminium, which is worth less.

Glyn Hellam, a spokesman for the British Transport Police, said: “We have a national operation to deal with cable and metal theft across the railway.”

According to figures revealed by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Tim Farron UK households throw out £12 billion of food waste per year. 

The research which was conducted by the Waste Resources and Action Programme, shows that each household produces £480 of avoidable food waste per year, rising to £680 per year for families with children. 

The majority of waste comes from people over-shopping, with tempting deals like ‘buy one get one free’. 

Tim Farron has called on supermarkets to drop their ‘buy one get one free’ deals on perishable items. 

“Instead of trying to tempt shoppers with cheap ‘credit crunch’ multi-deals, supermarkets should use the money they would save from scrapping these deals to cut prices across the board to help make the weekly shop cheaper,” he said.

In his New Year message, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

said: “As the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?

“People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

“If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.”

The full text of Nick Clegg’s message is below:

“I have a confession to make: 2009 tested my belief in politics to breaking point.

I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in Afghanistan, the bankers were still gorging themselves on bonuses, and the economy was in the middle of the worst recession in generations. And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the world outside didn’t exist.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped out political system. You are being taken for granted by the people in charge. Big money is hollowing out politics with some rich donors not even bothering to say whether they pay full British taxes or not. And to top it all the expenses scandals exposed some MPs as spivvy property speculators and tax evaders rather than public servants.

This whole set-up has to change. That’s what 2010 should be all about. Big, permanent change for the better.

People’s faith in politics may be dented, but I still believe in our ability to learn from the mistakes of the past, and set things on a new course.

2010 must be the year we press the political reset button, but that will only happen if we do things differently.  More of the same won’t produce anything new. Of course both Labour and the Conservatives have learned to parrot the language of change. But where’s the proof they mean it? Despite all the hot air about fixing politics they have both voted against giving people the right to sack MPs who’ve seriously broken the rules. Both have refused to clean up the rotten system of party political funding. Both refuse to give you your say by introducing fair votes to the House of Commons. And both refuse to shake up the City of London, so that bankers can never again play Russian roulette with your savings.

Some people say, what’s the point of voting when the same old parties always win? I say: vote for what you believe in. If you like what the Liberal Democrats stand for, vote for it. If you want real change, not phoney change, vote for it. If you think things should be different, vote for it.

At the end of the day, politics should be about what you believe. What kind of Britain do you want to live in? What kind of world do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in?

So as the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?

People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

I have one belief above all others: a belief in fairness. Under my leadership the have been working on new ideas to make Britain the fair country I believe most people want it to be. We want to raise standards in all of our schools by giving specific help to the children most in need, and by making class sizes smaller. Soon we will be publishing new ideas to turn our economy away from its over dependence on the City of London to a new, green economy where hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created as we rebuild our transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Above all, we are now the only party with a detailed plan to make taxes fair – removing all income tax on the first £10000 you earn, paid for by asking people at the top to pay a bit more.

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

I hope in the coming months even more people will get a chance to find out what I believe in, and the beliefs of the Liberal Democrats. If enough people share our convictions, our beliefs, then 2010 really can be the beginning of something new. “

Ministers have been accused of planning to seize control of £2billion in assets managed by hospital charities; they plan to change NHS accounting procedure, which critics say will make it easier to slash health budgets. And, in effect charitable donations to hospitals are to be “nationalised” under the procedure – they will be under the control of the state. 

Ministers are imposing new rules on NHS charities requiring all donations - including those to specialist children and cancer units, local fundraising campaigns, teaching hospitals and local community trusts - to be listed on a hospital’s balance sheet. 

The Charities Commission says that this is “wholly inappropriate” because combining the trust and charity accounts will jeopardise the charity’s autonomy and discourage donations. About £330 million was given to 300 NHS charities in the year to June 2008, and they control an estimated £2 billion of assets. A spokeswoman for the Commission said: “The Charity Commission does not agree with the interpretation of the accounting rules in the Department of Health letter to NHS bodies. We are currently engaging with the Department on this matter.” 

Charities also fear that the change, due to come into effect in April, will be used as a smokescreen to hide cuts in health spending, with ministers reducing funds for organisations such as children’s hospitals that have successful charitable arms. 

Up to 300 NHS charities could be affected by the new rules, with the threat likely to be greatest to hospitals such as Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, which received £60million in charitable donations in the year to April 2008.  

Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Secretary, Jenny Willott said:

“This could lead to hundreds of millions of pounds of charitable donations being effectively nationalised under the NHS. 

“The Government has no right to get its hands on any charitable NHS funds. People make donations on the understanding that it is up to charities to decide how to spend it, not ministers.” 

A source at a leading hospital said that the rule change appeared entirely unreasonable and risked creating unnecessary budgetary pressures and distorted disparities between hospitals with different levels of fundraising ability.

Ministers were banned from counting charitable donations towards the central NHS budget under the original legislation that created the NHS in 1948, but this looks set to be reversed after the Treasury agreed to implement International Accounting Standard (IAS) 27. Now all NHS Trusts whose trustees have the “power to control” their charitable arm look likely to be forced to consolidate both sets of accounts in one. Estimates of the number of NHS charities affected vary between 30 and 300 organisations. 

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The accounting rule does not change the fact that the deployment of all the monies donated remain the responsibility of the trustees.”

Shocking new information is beginning to emerge about the effects of alcohol and its impact on health and violence. However, the major concern is the dramatic rise in the number of young people drinking and it is also becoming clear that problem affects all walks of life.

New information out today, suggest the number of children committing drink-related crime in the Westcountry has doubled in four years, new figures show.

Almost 2,500 children in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset have been fined, cautioned or taken to court for abusing alcohol between 2003 and 2007.

The record figures come after the Chief Medical Officer warned earlier this month that parents who had a “laissez-faire” attitude to their children’s drinking were putting them at risk.

Sir Liam Donaldson said people who allowed their teenagers to drink alcohol with their friends could be storing up problems while middle-class families who diluted their children’s wine may also be misguided.

He said there was a need to challenge the stereotype of “the drunk as a hero” and pointed to self-confessed alcoholic footballers Paul Gascoigne and George Best.

Of all children aged from 10 to 17, there was a rise of almost two-thirds across the two forces. Cautions against drunk children rose by 50% in Devon and Cornwall. No on-the-spot fines were handed out in 2004 but by 2007, almost 100 were issued.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: “These figures paint a shocking picture of how many children are being dragged into the criminal justice system through alcohol abuse.

“The problem appears to be growing worse by leaps and bounds. Ministers talk a lot about the alcohol crisis in this country but have failed to tackle it.

“Unless we change our drinking culture, we will condemn many children and adolescents to serious long-term alcohol-related illnesses or a life of crime.

“We must put an end to alcohol being sold at pocket-money prices and start educating our children about the dangers of drink or these figures will continue to get worse.”

Offences included being drunk and disorderly, drink-driving and selling alcohol to other children.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are determined to reduce under-age drinking through effective education and tough enforcement.”

Nationally, more than 6,000 children aged 10 to 15 were handed police cautions or taken to court for abusing alcohol in the four-year period.

Sir Liam warned that parents should avoid exposing youngsters to “alcohol-fuelled environments” or family events where drinking was the central activity.

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “Drinking among young people is a major concern for parents, many of whom have previously had no clear guidance on how to approach what can be a sensitive issue.”