The government is giving more than £145 million to NHS trusts across the country ahead of winter to improve emergency care.

The funding from the Department of Health and Social Care’s existing budget will be spent on 81 new schemes.

It will be spent on:

• upgrading wards
• redeveloping A&E departments
• improving same-day emergency care
• improving systems for managing the number of beds in use
• an extra 900 beds

The University Hospital of North Midlands is set to receive £8.82 million, which will go towards 2 additional wards on the Royal Stoke site.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust will receive £6.42 million to increase emergency care capacity at the William Harvey Hospital and at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital.

At Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the money will assist emergency day care, managing the flow of patients through the hospital and improving the way ambulances hand over patients.

Earlier this year the government provided £36.3 million to ambulances trusts to prepare for winter. The money will pay for 256 new ambulances as well as ‘make ready’ hubs at ambulance trust headquarters to allow better restocking and maintenance of vehicles.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Staff put in a huge amount of work preparing our health service for the challenge of treating more patients over winter and it’s right that we make sure they have the resources they need so people receive the care they deserve.

That’s why I will be providing an additional £145 million now to upgrade wards, redevelop A&Es and further improve emergency care in time for winter.

And through the long-term plan for the NHS we will go further, providing an extra £394 million a week by 2023/24 to transform care for patients and guarantee the future of our health service.

The Charity Commission has today announced the appointment of an interim manager to Hope House School Limited due to continued concerns about the governance, management and administration of the charity.

Interim managers are appointed to take over the running of a charity where the Commission has identified misconduct or mismanagement, or there is a need to protect the charity’s property.

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Hope House School Limited on 9 October 2017 to examine regulatory concerns about the governance of the charity, whether the trustees had exercised sufficient oversight and control of the charity, the adequacy of financial controls and whether funds had been properly spent on the objects of the charity, whether potential conflicts of interest and connected party transactions have been properly managed and whether there has been unauthorised trustee benefit.

The Commission made an order under Section 76 (3)(g) of the Charities Act 2011 on 20 August 2018 to appoint Guy Hollander of Mazars as interim manager to the exclusion of the trustees. One of the trustees is the principal of the school but the order does not exclude this trustee from that employee role.

The interim manager has taken on full control of the day-to-day management and administration of the charity from the current trustees until the Commission makes a further order. The school term commenced on 6 September 2018 and it is the interim manager’s intention that the charity will continue to provide education and services to the school’s pupils who are all faced with a wide spectrum of autism.

Harvey Grenville, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission said:

We were not satisfied that the current governance and administration arrangements were adequately meeting the needs of this charity. This appointment is an important protective measure for the charity and those it was set up to help.

Part of the interim manager’s duties will be to establish the viability of the charity and determine the most appropriate option regarding its future. He is tasked with ensuring that the charity continues its service provision while he completes his appointment.

The Commission’s investigation continues.

Ends

1. This appointment is a temporary and protective power that will be reviewed at regular intervals. It will continue until the Commission makes a further Order for its variation or discharge.
2. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.
3. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. For more information see the about us page on GOV.UK.
4. Search for charities on our online register.

On Thursday 26 July 2018, at Southwark Crown Court, Ms. Harvinder Kaur Thethi, aged 46 years, of Old Hall Gardens, Solihull, West Midlands, was found guilty of six counts of fraud by false representation. Ms. Thethi was remanded in custody pending a sentencing hearing.

The offences took place between 1 June 2013 and 8 September 2014 in Hounslow, West London. Ms.Thethi, an unqualified person, falsely claimed to be a barrister, solicitor and a Home Office official with the ability to progress immigration applications. She obtained £68,000 from vulnerable people in payment for immigration related services which were promised but not delivered. Ms. Thethi ingratiated herself to the victims and was treated as a daughter or sister.

This prosecution was the result of an OISC led investigation in partnership with Immigration Enforcement and the Metropolitan Police Service.

On Thursday 6 September 2018 Ms. Thethi appeared before His Honour Judge Loraine-Smith at Southwark Crown Court for sentencing.

Ms. Thethi was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently In sentencing HHJ Loraine-Smith stated:

“You decided to embark on a fantasy life, when you claimed to be a successful lawyer earning a large income. You were nothing of the sort. The large amounts of money you obtained came entirely from money you had stolen from people you had befriended and cheated. People whose immigration status is precarious are very, very vulnerable. It is not surprising that if they found somebody they thought was a family friend, they could be convinced to part with large sums of money they could ill afford. You preyed on their vulnerability again and again…the investigation was thorough, fair, and – it is clear from the Victim Personal Statements – kind. I commend both officers in this case.”

Speaking about the decision, Deputy Immigration Services Commissioner, Dr Ian Leigh, stated:

“Securing the conviction of Ms Thethi is an excellent example of collaborative working by agencies operating within the immigration environment. The OISC is here to ensure that people seeking immigration advice are treated fairly by qualified people they can trust. Ms Thethi was operating outside of the law, preying upon vulnerable victims without regard for their protection or the consequences of her criminal behaviour. I am delighted with the outcome of this case, and I hope it sends a clear deterrent message to anyone considering acting similarly.”