People with conditions such as back pain and arthritis need to stay in work as much as possible, a report says. The Work Foundation says the evidence suggests that being able to work helps sufferers of musculoskeletal disorders recover more quickly. Yet many GPs and employers wrongly believe a sufferer must be "100% well" before any return to work, it says.
Depression is a more disabling condition than angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes, World Health Organization research shows. And those with depression plus a chronic illness, such as diabetes, fare particularly badly, the study of more than 245,000 people suggests.
A new online service which makes it easier for disabled people to get specialist equipment has been launched.
A charity called for more custodial sentences for carers who steal Almost a quarter of care agencies fail to protect disabled and elderly people from thefts in their own homes by carers, the BBC has discovered.
Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain has faced angry protests at the TUC conference over proposed closures of factories employing disabled people. Mr Hain was handed dozens of redundancy notices sent out to staff at Remploy - a government-funded organisation which has proposed 43 plants should close.
Workers at Bridgend's Remploy factory, which was one of five in Wales under threat of closure, have been told the site will remain open. It was one of 43 across the UK which the disabled employment service had earmarked for closure in May, with mergers for another two.
