Society daily: 05.07.10

Public services cuts - latest news and comment Women to shoulder three-quarters of cuts Police recruits "should work for free" Gove freezes rebuilding of schools in £3.5bn savings Nick Watt: 40% cuts – is Osborne softening us up? Julian Glover: the coalition must stay calm Jackie Ashley: the pain will be felt by 'us', not just 'them' Tony Travers: volunteers could fill the void created by closures Cutswatch: tell us about cuts happening in your area Today's top Society news and comment £330m wasted on "unnecessary" hospital treatments, say Nuffield Trust War veterans should be helped to adjust to civilian life, say MPs Growth in new rough sleepers attributed to economic tailspin Simon Woolley: Racism has shades of grey All today's Society Guardian stories Other news… Andrew Lansley's plans for a radical NHS revamp could face delay after they were rejected by a coalition committee, according to the Financial Times Philip Hammond has suggested well-off OAPs help cut the budget deficit by leaving their free bus passes at home and paying fares, reports the Daily Telegraph A private school in south London has threatened to report a family to social services because their young children ride bikes to school alone, reports the Daily Mail Social media and care of older people The belief in the benign power of digital technology to solve the central and accelerating problem afflicting all public services (soaring demand and costs, dramatically shrinking resources) is pretty much an article of faith in fashionable policy circles. Social media has transformed the way we work, shop, travel, communicate; therefore it must revolutionise the economy of care and welfare. So it was interesting to witness the modesty of the claims for social media at a Patient Opinion/Nesta conference held last week to discuss how it might change and improve the care of elderly people. For a subject that can generate gush in Google-sized proportions the general tone was, perhaps unexpectedly, pretty hype-free: yes the internet enables the creation of important and useful applications to the business of care; no it cannot on its own arrest the momentum of – let alone "solve" - the growing demographic crisis. Not that the ideas and innovations showcased at the conference were not ingenious or inspiring - read about Sidekick Studio's Buddy, for example, on Geraldine Bedell's Agebomb blog here, or the online Tyze "networks of belonging" developed in Canada here. It was more a tacit acknowledgement that social care isn't just shopping: an iPhone app isn't going to be written anytime soon that will lift, feed and bathe a person, cut their toenails or drop them at the day centre. The conference was reminded constantly - by David Sinclair of ILCUK for example - of the the daunting scale of the demographic timebomb: tens of millions of people of living longer, with more complex care needs (such as dementia), requiring more care hours; fewer people to pay for and deliver their care. A current cohort of older people resistant to the internet or excluded from it. A financially struggling care industry hampered by skills and staffing shortages and reluctant to embrace technology (like Telecare). A £1.8bn shortfall in the state social care budget. This, in case we were in danger of forgetting, feels like a profound industrial and economic problem, not simply a shortage of connectivity. Dominic Campbell of FutureGov pointed out that social media innovation can't manage the "heavy lifting", in public services, literally and metaphorically. Adil Abrar of Sidekick Studios spoke with panache about the potential of digital, but he was emphatic we should not overstate its transformatory claims in the area of elderly care. Kate Ebbutt of Patient Opinion warned us not to get "hung up" about technology and to remember the "humanity behind the technology." So where can social media make a difference? Essentially, where it makes a difference in any other walk of life. As Paul Hodgkin of Patient Opinion explained, it has the potential to enrich the quality of people's relationships with carers, friends and family. It can improve the efficiency and responsiveness of aspects of their care. And it can help marshal networks of care and support around previously isolated or lonely individuals. Technology doesn't replace the basics of care, any more than "big society" can easily replace essential public services. But for many it can refine, improve and customise the care they receive, and in some small but important ways make the experience of being cared for more fulfilling or less traumatic. It can connect untapped reserves of humanity to sometimes distant, impersonal services. That sounds like a start. On my radar... • Harvard research that suggests acts of moral goodness - such as charitable activity - make your stronger and more resilient (but caution: so do acts of great nefariousness). Thanks to Tris Lumley for the tip... "Participants were given $1, and were told either to keep it or to donate it to charity. They were then asked to hold up a 5-lb. weight for as long as they could. Those who donated to charity could hold the weight up for almost 10 seconds longer, on average." • Flip chart Rick on why public sector bosses' pay will keep rising ... • Lord Nat Wei signs off from the Big Society Network ... In case you missed them, the weekend's stories Interview: the coalition's poverty tsar Labour MP Frank Field Nick Cohen: Empty our prisons but pay for the consequences Typical public sector pension loses £20,000 because of budget All Saturday's Society Guardian stories All Sunday's Society Guardian stories Guardian awards Guardian Public Services awards 2010 Guardian charity awards 2010 Society Guardian social enterprise summit We are starting to plan this year's Society Guardian Social Enterprise Summit. Last year's summit was a great success - you can read about it here . Once again we are looking to showcase inspiration, innovation and practical ideas on how social enterprises can deliver public services. Whether you are from the public sector or from a social business, we want you to tell us who you'd like to see and what you would like to see discussed. Email to [email protected] . You can Follow Guardian Social Enterprise on Twitter Society Guardian blogs Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog Society Daily blog Society Daily blog editor: Patrick Butler Email the editor: [email protected] Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Sign up to Society Daily email briefing Society Guardian Links SocietyGuardian.co.uk Follow Society Guardian on Twitter Enter the Guardian Public Services Awards Public - the Guardian's website for senior public sector executives The Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs Society Guardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]