Society daily: 29.03.10

Today's Society Guardian news and comment Routine operations being withheld by NHS trusts to cut costs, say surgeons Loss of confidence in WHO over swine flu could endanger lives MPs warn against cuts to Sure Start programme Mephedrone reclassifaction faces delays as another advisor quits drugs committee Tories hope Boris Johnson's 'brand image' will help in local elections All todays Society Guardian stories Other news Whitehall is cutting funding of the Flexible New Deal scheme because of lower long-term unemployment forecasts, according to the Financial Times Council tenants who sub-let their homes could face jail , reports the Times What's in a name? A social worker who blogs under the pseudonym Winston Smith has been longlisted for the George Orwell prize for political writing . Working with the Underclass charts his experiences as a support worker with teenagers in care and young adults in supported housing and contains sardonic, battle-weary reflections on his hapless and abusive clients, inane and cynical bureaucrats, and spineless colleagues in "Scallysville, Chavshire." You know that feeling you get when you turn on the news or open a paper and think to yourself, is it just me or is the country gone mad? Well, I get that feeling all the time at work but I mostly bite my lip as to speak too freely wouldn't be conducive to receiving my paycheck at the end of the month. Hence, the writing of this blog. Your views: does the benefits system classify the seriously ill as 'fit for work'? Thousands of Society Guardian online users read Amelia Gentleman 's story last week on a Citizens Advice Bureau report on apparent flaws in the benefits system which mean seriously ill people are being registered as fit to work. Amelia blogs today on the responses to her story, and is keen to hear directly from people who have experience of the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) testing system, and from medical professionals who administer it. Email: [email protected] . Society Guardian blogs Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog Society Guardian events National Commissioning conference 10. Beyond efficiencies, doing things differently, 15-16 June, Lowry Centre, Manchester. Speakers include: Solace chief executive David Clark , former Department of Health lead on social care personalisation John Bolton, new Kings Fund chief executive Chris Ham , and Social Care Institute for Excellence chief executive Julie Jones . The Public Procurement show . The UK's leading event for public sector procurement, 15-16 June, ExceL, London 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 think needs to be discussed. Email [email protected] . You can follow Guardian Social Enterprise on Twitter here Society Guardian links Sign up to Society daily email briefing Society on Twitter SocietyGuardian.co.uk 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 Email the Society Daily editor: [email protected] Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]