Sue Moorcroft wins prize for best romantic read

The prize, in the inaugural Romance Reader Awards, was for Sue's fourth novel, Love & Freedom, which was published by Choc Lit in June

'Against such hot competition, I honestly didn't expect the win and when the envelope was opened and my name read out, I turned to jelly. Someone had to tell me to go forward and collect the award - which is gorgeous, by the way,' she said.

The other titles shortlisted for the Best Romantic Read were: Persuade Me, Juliet Archer (Choc Lit); Swept Off Her Stilettos, Fiona Harper (Mills and Boon Riva); Wrapped Up In You, Carole Matthews (Sphere); The Hating Game, Talli Roland (Prospera Publishing).

The Reader Award for Best Historical Read was won by Perhaps Tomorrow by Jean Fullerton (Orion). The shortlisted books were: The Apothecary's Daughter, Charlotte Betts (Piatkus); Captain Corcoran's Hoyden Bride, Annie Burrows (Mills and Boon Historical Regency); The Scarlet Kimono, Christina Courtenay (Choc Lit); The Kydd Inheritance, Jan Jones (Robert Hale).

The New Talent Award for an unpublished writer was won by Henriette Gyland. The runners-up were Rosemary Dun, Sarah Callejo and Debbie White.

Carole Matthews was awarded a Hall of Fame Award for an outstanding contribution in the field of romantic fiction.

Use Words Worth Reading Ltd's editorial and writing services to create your own award winner!

Tickets for the Hay Festival's Winter Weekend now available

Booking is now open for the Hay Festival's twelfth Winter Festival.

The full programme reaches over 30 events, and a few highlights include: Johnny Ball throwing around puzzlers and problems from his Ball of Confusion slot on Radio 2. Carol Birch in conversation with Peter Florence on the book that led to her Man Booker Prize-nomination. Adam Hart-Davis on how philosophers, scientists and religions have tried to explain time. Francine Stock, presenter of Radio 4’s The Film Show, on how film both reflects and makes our world.

Family events... From winter wish boats & snow queens to baking spicy gingerbread & inky letter writing – the family programme is overflowing with special moments to share. Don't miss the Christmas Fayre, bursting with carols, games and treats, on Saturday from 10am in the Buttermarket, courtesy of Hay Primary School. Plus a very seasonal guest will be dropping into Richard Booth's Bookshop... (Ho! Ho! Ho!)

Into the evening... Shake your tail-feathers to the electrifying energy of five-piece Balkan swing band Gypsy Hill; book early for the screening of feature film Resistance, the adaptation of Owen Sheers’ remarkable novel, starring Michael Sheen and Andrea Riseborough; laugh your Christmas stockings off at the John Finnemore Sketch Show , as featured on Radio 4.

Download the full programme or book a place at hayfestival.com

Further CQC investigations into BHRUT highlight ongoing concerns

As reported by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) this morning...

CQC's investigation into Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRT) has revealed major concerns throughout the entire trust.

About the investigation

The CQC inspectors began the investigation into BHRT on 4 July 2011.

The investigation focused on maternity, elective and emergency care services provided at King George Hospital and Queen’s Hospital, and looked at the governance and management systems in place at the trust.

During the investigation investigators spoke to patients about their experiences of the services and interviewed more than 200 members of staff. They also conducted interviews and received written submissions from over 100 people who had previously used the trust's services.

Key findings

Despite some signs of improvement in recent months, patients still remain at risk of poor care, particularly those receiving maternity services.

Problems found in maternity services include:

• poor clinical care.
• abusive and unprofessional behaviour from staff.
• a lack of learning from maternal deaths and incidents.
• lack of leadership from senior management.

Other areas of concern can be found below.

• A&E services at Queen’s Hospital struggled to meet the target for admissions.
• Staff vacancies were filled by agency, locum or bank staff which had an impact on the quality of care.
• Lines of communication within the new structure were unclear.
• Trust governance systems and corporate governance were weak.
• Response to complaints was poor.

The Care Quality Commission has now made 16 key recommendations to the trust, which they will monitor through unannounced inspections.

They will then review evidence in March 2012 to determine whether it is delivering improvements or not.

Free employment website

The world’s first completely free-to-use employment website has just been launched in the UK.

Staffbay.com delivers more relevant and rounded candidate information to potential employers than a traditional CV ever could, and also reduces recruitment costs to zero. Staffbay.com is an interactive fusion of online recruitment and social media. And with the innovative service being completely free-of-charge for both employers and candidates, creators Tony Wilmot and Elliot Kidd expect their latest venture to change the face of the job market.

Unlike the traditional method of posting a CV directly to employers or via a recruitment consultant, candidates on Staffbay.com build themselves a multi-media profile that is constantly searchable and viewable by potential employers.

The enhanced profiles can include audio-visual components as well as links to social media channels, offering organisations far more insight into whether a person will be a good cultural, as well as professional, fit for a vacant post. Co-founder Tony Wilmot believes that because a wider breadth of useful information is being made accessible without cost, the Staffbay.com concept will lead to a sea change in how recruitment is done.

Working practices to revolutionise

www.futureworkbook.com has reported that a revolution in work that will see many employees decide when, where and how they do their jobs could be as little as a decade away.

Successful businesses will measure and reward people by results, rather than hours, and offices will shift from being nine-to-five workplaces to meeting places.

These ideas are put forward by two visiting fellows at Cass Business School, which is part of City University London, and Henley Business School in a new book, Future Work: How Businesses Can Adapt and Thrive in the New World of Work (Palgrave Macmillan), published this month.

The book, which draws on a survey of international managers and examples of companies already making the transition, argues that a radical change in working practices will help businesses boost output, cut costs, speed access to new markets, and afford employees greater freedom.

'In the 21st century, we still cling to a rigid model of fixed working time and place better suited to the industrial age,' says Maitland, a Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School. 'Long hours are often required and rewarded without any measure of the productivity involved.' 'However, there is overwhelming evidence that employees are more productive if they have greater autonomy over where, when and how they work. Trusting people to manage their own work lives, individually or in teams, pays off.'

The concept could see the traditional nine to five working day disappear and be replaced with a model that rewards people by performance and results, rather than hours worked and presence in the office. Organisations that have switched to this model benefit from higher productivity, more motivated workers, better customer service and lower costs, say the authors. The key to implementing ‘future work’ is measuring output, they say. By agreeing what needs to be achieved, managers can set their employees free from the constraints of presenteeism – the belief that they must be present in the workplace, often for long hours, regardless of whether there is work to do – and allow them to work more productively.

The dangers associated with reading on the toilet!

A 2009 survey by Ron Shaoul, a doctor specialising in paediatric gastroenterology, investigates the health risks of reading on the loo

Our attention has been drawn to Shaoul's survey by a blog on The Guardian's website, which is illustrated by a toilet-reader armed with a copy of the broadsheet.

The survey, based on 499 questionnaires, began when Shaoul noticed the lack of scientific writing on the subject. The conclusion was that the risks to lav-readers were low. The Guardian blog, though, includes the results of a survey carried out by Val Curtis of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. That says that although microbes can't survive for long on absorbent surfaces (such as paper), they can last for hours on shiny plastic surfaces like those of Kindles, smartphones and iPads.

As writers-online.co.uk states, there's definitely a need for "an app that does virtual handwashing".

Dylan Thomas Prize - shortlist announced

The biennial prize, in honour of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, is for the year's best piece of writing published by an author under the age of 30.

This year's shortlist is: The Meeting Point, Lucy Caldwell (Faber); The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale (Atlantic); Folk, Jacob Arthur Mooney (McClelland & Stewart); The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht (Orion), and My Sister Lives Over the Mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher (Orion).

Three first-time novelists are included in the shortlist; Annabel Pitcher, Benjamin Hale and Tea Obreht, whose debut The Tiger's Wife has already won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Lucy Caldwell has previously been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Jacob Arthur Mooney is the only writer shortlisted for a poetry collection.

The winner will be announced on 9 November...so watch this space!
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