Lesbian Bond Girl – Just Needed ‘The Right Man’

Dr Gibson, a dedicated fan of 007 was in regular correspondence with the writer of the novels and in June of 1959 wrote to Ian Fleming complaining that he had changed Pussy Galore from “a criminal Lesbian into a clinging honey-bun (to be bottled by Bond) in the last chapter”.

Pussy Galore, an agent of Goldfinger, in Ian Fleming's 1959 007 novel, is a thoroughly modern, independent woman, equal, or superior, to most of the men around her.  She is the only woman in the USA known to be running an organised crime gang and is 'immune' to James Bond’s charms.  Bond describes her has as having black hair, pale skin, and the only violet eyes that he has ever seen. She is in her thirties, her voice is low and attractive and he is under her spell.

In the novel she tells Bond that she became a lesbian after she was sexually abused by her uncle at the age of 12.  But by the end of the novel Bond has helped Pussy Galore find her inner domestic goddess, as she turns her back on the world of crime and falls in love with a man.  Bond looks deep into her eyes and says, ‘They told me you only liked women’. He then promises her “a course of TLC”, before she looks up at his “passionate, rather cruel mouth” and it comes “ruthlessly down on hers”.

In response Dr Gibson’s letter, James Bond’s writer, Ian Fleming, wrote that Pussy Galore, Goldfinger’s lesbian love interest, only needed ‘the right man to come along and cure her psycho-pathological malady”.


The letter from Ian Fleming to Dr Gibson will be auctioned on the 11th November, by Bonhams for an estimated price of between £3,000 and £4,000.

Birmingham University’s Student Union Taking on the Tampon-Tax

Daisy Lindlar, a Birmingham University student union officer, has taken action following the recent debate in the Houses of Parliament on the ‘tampon tax’.  Following the debate MPs voted to leave female sanitary products in the luxury category for VAT, unlike crocodile meat and edible cake decorations, which are just two of the items deemed necessary to day to day living, and so are exempt from the tax.

Daisy started a Facebook campaign to describe how periods add to living costs for women, and secured free sanitary products for her fellow students at Birmingham University.  In a blog post for The Huffington Post, she wrote: "I'm fortunate in that although the tampon tax angers me, I would never be actually priced out of a period. But there are many people who aren't so lucky. These people have to resort to unhealthy measures to manage their periods, creating unhygienic, home-made alternatives to traditional sanitary products.

"We should be talking about our bodies, and the associated cost of them, so that we can move towards a society where we do not have to pay an extra charge.

"If we can access contraception for free, why shouldn't the same apply to sanitary products?"

Birmingham university students can get their free supplies from the Student Union Office.

NHS England to Set Up £45m Transforming Care Partnerships Fund

40 Transforming Care Partnerships are to be set up across England, to oversee the implementation of the recently published ‘Building the Right Support Plan’, part of the wider government Transforming Care Programme. 

The plan was developed by NHS England, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.  It seeks to transform community services for those suffering from learning disabilities and/or autism, who are too often, and for too long, being treated in in-patient hospital settings. 

In England, around 24,000 people who have a learning disability and/or autism are classed as being at risk of hospital admission and three quarters of those admitted stay in in-patient facilities for more than a year. 

Under the plan sufferers will be supported to lead more independent lives, with new high quality community services reducing the need for in-patient care.  The plan predicts a reduction in inpatient beds of between 30 and 50 per cent.  Improving the quality of life for thousands of patients and freeing up hundreds of millions of pounds for investment in community-based support.

Transforming Care Partnerships will have until April 2016 to produce local action plans, and are expected to oversee a smooth transition to new service arrangements within 3 years.  £15m will be made available for capital expenditure over this period, with £30m available on a match-funding basis for local commissioners to ‘double-run’ services.

Bed closures will be staggered, only taking place when suitable alternatives are available. Providers such as hospital trusts will be supported by NHS England and others to adapt to the new model, shifting their own services to the community where possible.

Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England and Chair of the Transforming Care Delivery Board, said: “Society has failed this group of people for decades. Now is the time to put things right, and with this far-reaching plan I am confident that we can finally make quick, significant and lasting improvements to their lives.”

Dr Paul Lelliott, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (lead for mental health), said “As one of partner organisations of the transforming care programme board, we support the vision to create more appropriate models of care so that people with learning disabilities can live more independently and whenever in their best interests, receive the care and support they need outside of hospitals'

“Our inspections are structured around what matters to people who use services and how well they are served – this includes assessing the experiences people with learning disabilities and when they are being cared for as inpatients, what providers are doing to support their discharge. As well as this, we are continuing to look at how we register potential new ‘assessment and treatment’ providers so that inappropriate models of care do not continue. We will publish an update on our plans later this year.”

Budgets will be shared between the NHS and local councils to ensure the right care is provided in the right place and a set of national guidelines will be published, setting out the support service users and their families can expect, assisting commissioning bodies in planning appropriate services for their area. 

Local Authorities Struggling to Implement the 2014 Care Act 2014

A review of Care Act literature, carried out by the Independent Living Strategy Group and published by the charity In-Control, has concluded that those affected by the Care Act have ‘generally’ been left unable to exercise sufficient choice and control over their care, with inadequate information about care options and service user’s rights being made available by local councils.

The Care Act places a duty on councils to provide information and advice about types of care, support available, service user’s rights under the Care Act and the choice of care providers in the area. All eligible service users are entitled to a personal budget but In-Control’s review found that this entitlement was ‘rarely emphasised’ in the quick guides to the Care Act produced by some councils.

Researchers also found evidence of some local authorities inferring that people opting to have their personal budget managed by the council would have less control over how it was spent than those choosing to receive a direct payment. The Care Act guidance states that the way a person opts to manage a personal budget should put “no constraint” on how their needs are met as long as “this is reasonable”.

Researchers asked people in receipt of care and support about their experiences over the year prior to the Care Act coming into force.

Of the 399 people who responded to the survey, almost half felt their quality of life had reduced and almost a third (30%) said that they had experienced a reduction of choice and control. Some 29% reported restrictions being placed on their use of direct payments or personal budgets, with 14% limited to choosing their care from a shortlist of providers. The study authors said these limited lists are at odds with the “vision of personalised care” underpinning the Care Act.

Disability researcher Jenny Morris said there was a “yawning gap” between the principles of the act and how it was being implemented in practice.

“Personal budgets were supposed to enable everyone who needed social care support to have the kind of choice and control that was previously only open to those receiving direct payments. Instead, they have been rolled out in the context of a major financial crisis facing adult social care, and the result is not only a reduction in choice but also a decrease in the quality of people’s everyday lives,” she said.

“This is the government’s responsibility and they must act.”

In a bid to help local authorities meet their Care Act obligations, In-Control has produced a checklist of information for people receiving care and support.

Yellow Kite to Take a Candid Look at Young People’s Mental Health

Emily Reynold’s A Beginner’s Guide to Losing Your Mind will be published under the Yellow Kite brand (part of Hodder & Stoughton) in 2017. 

A warts and all exploration of living with mental illness in the 21^st century, the book will consider the experiences and needs of young sufferers and their carers through personal accounts, as well provide guidance to those learning to live with and understand complex mental health issues. 

Emily Reynolds, based in London, has written about mental health, feminism, sex, science and tech for the Observer, VICE, Wired UK, The Debrief and the Independent, and sits on the National Lottery’s Youth Leadership Panel.  Emily said: “There have been many times in my life when I wished I had a practical but empathetic guide to dealing with my mental illness - and that's what motivated me to write this book. I hope that people going through similar experiences will find it comforting to know they're not alone, that the advice in the book will be genuinely helpful to them, and that it will help their friends and family understand a little better too.”

Assistant Editor, Maddy Price said: “Emily’s honesty and compassion immediately struck a chord with me. Her book is a powerful personal story combined with enormously helpful and practical advice, and is the perfect tool for the hundreds of thousands of young people suffering from mental health issues today. I’m absolutely thrilled that Emily has found a publishing home at Hodder & Stoughton.”

UCL Students Win £100k in Housing Dispute

87 tenants who have been on rent strike since May, in protest against the state of their housing, have each been awarded a rebate equal to 1 term’s rent.

The tenants had been threatened with exclusion from their studies but the university complaints panel has now ordered UCL to pay the tenants £1.3k each, equal to a term’s rent.

Students reported that demolition work nearby had made sleeping and studying impossible and that the building had become infested with rats.

The panel found that university management demonstrated “a lack of empathy towards the students’ circumstances and no understanding or appreciation of what would be an acceptable student experience”.

“Overall the living conditions with which the residents of Campbell House West were faced with were unacceptable and their experiences were not in-keeping with that expected for students of UCL,” it said.

The panel also found managers were “disingenuous to the students concerned”.

CQC to Review NHS Data Security During Inspections

Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, has announced a Care Quality Commission review into the way NHS organisations handle confidential patient information. 

Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian, will contribute to this review by developing clear guidelines for the protection of personal data against which every NHS and care organisation will be held to account.

The CQC will consider how best to measure the implementation of these guidelines and will make recommendations with a view to incorporating checks into existing inspection processes.

This work will be completed in January 2016.

Welcoming the announcement, CQC's Chief Executive David Behan said:

"People need to have trust in the NHS and have confidence that their personal medical records will be secure and protected at all times. We welcome the Secretary of State's request for us to carry out a national review of security arrangements across the NHS for patient-confidential medical information. We will work with Dame Fiona and others on this important issue."