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* Strategic health authorities in the North East may be quaking in their boots over the fate of their proposals to slash primary care trusts, given the identity of one of their opponents. Former health secretary and Darlington MP Alan Milburn has been out campaigning to retain a single PCT for the town, coterminous with the local authority. Milburn managed to rouse 400 constituents to respond to the public consultation on the issue and, with the Department of Health due to have the final say, may use all his links there to swing opinion.

* The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has issued a press release urging the Department of Health to honour its section 64 funding commitments. But it was a rather different story last month when Community Care contacted the NCVO press office about the same issue only to be told that section 64 really wasn't the kind of issue it was interested in commenting on.

* While the General Social Care Council recently brought a social worker before a conduct hearing for allegedly advertising as an escort, the Germans take a different view of professionals' private lives. The government of North Rhine-Westphalia is ploughing 1m euro into retraining sex workers as carers to work in nursing homes. More than 30 women have so far joined the scheme, which involves two years' training and on-the-job experience. Rita Kühn, who helps run the programme, says: "Nursing home bosses will have to be discreet, so that elderly men don't try to get more than they are paying for."

* We don't know who to believe about all this NHS business. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt says this has been the best year in the NHS's history. Unison's Dave Prentis retorts that trusts are closing hospitals and making huge job cuts, while privatisation is endangering the service. The King's Fund weighs in with something about services improving although the government is pursuing reform too quickly. If anyone knows the truth, could you let us know?

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PHOTO (COLOR): Milburn: SHA foe

PHOTO (COLOR): What actually will German men be paying for in nursing homes?