Editors: John Gastil and Peter LevineThe Handbook describes strategies for effective civic engagement in the twenty-first century and is a valuable resource for democratic practitioners and theorists alike. It combines rich case material from many cities and types of institutional settings with careful reflection on core principles. It generates hope for a renewed democracy, tempered with critical scholarship and political realism. Most important, this handbook opens a spacious window on the innovativeness of citizens around the world and shows how the varied practices of deliberative democracy are part of a larger civic renewal movement.

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The Department of Health is to look at ways to speed up the handling of diagnostic tests as part of a review of pathology services to make them more responsive to patients’ needs. The Health Minister, Lord Warner, has launched ‘Modernising Pathology: Building a Service Responsive to Patients’, a review to be chaired by Lord Carter of Coles.It will look at a range of issues, including the use of technology, bringing services closer to patients and the involvement of the independent sector. The review will investigate three key areas – access, convenience and choice.At the moment about 98 per cent of routine blood tests are turned round within 24 hours but the review will look at options for bringing more testing closer to the patient, such as in GP surgeries, to cut those times still further. It will also look into extending the availability of high street testing, which is already available for a number of conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. On choice, the review will consider ways of allowing patients to be tested and receive results in a variety of settings. Those might be at a local doctor’s surgery, a pharmacy or in a hospital ward or accident and emergency department.

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Government rhetoric on partnership has left a third of voluntary groups fearing their projects could close if a bid for funding fails according to a new survey. The study of voluntary and not-for-profit organisations was conducted by the Amicus union and found the organisations felt current funding regimes were too complex and bureaucratic.The Amicus report says present arrangements compromise services, cause job insecurity and stress for staff and affect the voluntary sector’s ability to plan ahead. Amicus says, too, that staff development opportunities within the sector either do not exist or are being reduced because of the lack of available funding. The report is warning that smaller organisations without the capability to bridge funding gaps are most vulnerable. Many of them are being put off accessing information or applying for funding because the process is too complex. Over 40% of those surveyed reported that they had to bid annually for core funding for projects and posts while a third said that their organisation was in danger of closing if an application was unsuccessful.

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