Daily roundup 10 January: Health visitors, smacking, and children's wards

The threat to axe up to 60 health visitors in Nottinghamshire has receded, the union Unite has said. In November, Unite condemned plans to cut 38 whole-time equivalent health visitor posts - which translates into 60 members of staff. The union said that as a result of a meeting with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust just before Christmas, the threat "appears to have receded".


Smacking has no place in modern society, Wales' children's commissioner Sally Holland has said. The BBC reports that Holland reiterated her call for a smacking ban in the wake of plans for parental discipline to be devolved to the assembly. The move, if passed, would make it possible for members of the assembly to pass legislation to outlaw smacking in Wales.


Hospitals are running out of beds and are being forced to treat adult patients on children's wards in an effort to keep up with what NHS bosses have described as unprecedented demand for care. The Guardian reports that Croydon University Hospital in south London has begun looking after adult patients on a ward that is usually used for children who have had surgery. 


A 15-year-old girl has been arrested after the death of a seven-year-old girl in York, police have said. The BBC reports that the younger girl was found with life-threatening injuries near an address in the Woodthorpe area of the city. She was taken to hospital but died a short time later.


The owner of a children's centre in Kent has appealed for parents and carers to "use it or lose it". Kent Live reports that Sarah Allan, 30, runs the independent and not-for-profit More4Kidz centre at the sports pavilion in the Moor. But she is worried she may be forced to close it due to a lack of volunteers and low attendance.


A new website from Coram's Child Law Advice Service which helps children and young people to find out about their rights, has launched. The www.lawstuff.org.uk website provides information about children's rights in areas including online safety, police and law, children's services, and education.