Society briefing: Poll exposes Tories’ NHS weakness Nearly 50% say Labour has best approach to health, according to research by former Conservative chair  Clare Horton theguardian.com, Wednesday 14 January 2015 07.44 EST A nurse with a patient. Only 15% of those polled think the NHS has improved in the last five years. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters Sign up to Society briefing email Today’s top SocietyGuardian stories • Poll reveals scale of Tories’ NHS problem • Downgrading of emergency 999 calls requires full investigation, says Labour • Paramedics in crisis: ‘When there’s nobody else to turn to, we get the call’ • Sarah Boseley: The NHS needs more money – but that’s not all • More than half unemployed young people anxious about life – report • Tory spending plans will lead to Dickensian future - Danny Alexander • Female detainees at Yarl’s Wood routinely humiliated, claims report • Jim Murphy joins calls for Scotland to abandon women’s super-prison • A short history of mental illness in art • Five things the next government should pledge for older people All today’s SocietyGuardian stories In today’s SocietyGuardian section • Can credit unions provide a viable alternative to payday lenders? • Faisel Rahman: We need innovative lending services to replace the Wongas • Anne Perkins: Mentally ill people need more support to work • Zara Aziz: Hospital crisis drags GPs into referral dilemma • Kerry-anne Mendoza: Trying to run a public service like a business will never work • Affordable rural housing under threat • Peter Lewis: Let’s up the ante on disability hate crime • Nursing union head: ‘sticking plaster solutions’ will not heal the NHS • Bidisha: I want to give asylum seekers in Britain the chance to tell their own story Jobs of the week • Chief executive, RSPCA • Director, the Henry Moore Foundation • Chief executive, Kids’ City • Temporary transformation programme director (fixed-term appointment for two years), Nottinghamshire county council The Guardian’s public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs On the Society Professional Networks • A paramedic writes: most patients we take into A&E don’t need to be there  • Government proposals to open up child protection and other children’s social services to the marketplace have moved ahead unopposed, writes Ray Jones • Rent caps and protests: the housing issues to watch out for in 2015 • Domestic abuse: how Northamptonshire is trying to fix its broken system • Charity commission and the voluntary sector: what has gone wrong? Pick of the blogs • Nicole Westmarland and Liz Kelly, the Conversation: Leopards can’t change their spots but domestic violence programmes do change lives • Gareth Young, We Love Local Government: Yours, angry of Spelthorne… • Andy Cowper, Health Policy Insight: Circling the plughole ends, as the Hinchingbrooke contract goes down the drain • Tom Gash, Institute for Government: Going full Circle - Hinchingbooke collapse raises outsourcing questions • Helen Crump, Nuffield Trust: The Cancer Drugs Fund: a question of value(s) • Jules Birch, Inside Housing: Overpaid and overclaimed • Michael Donmall, Manchester Policy Blogs: Drug policy - Time for change? • Jenny Morris: There is only one thing worse than the denial of disabled people’s human rights and that is that no-one notices Other news • BBC: Poor diabetes care ‘costing lives’ • CivilSociety.co.uk: End of BIG-funded programme sees Groundwork income drop and staff made redundant • Community Care: Care applications to Cafcass rose 13% year-on-year in December • Independent: Majority of British Jews feel they have no future in UK, says new study • Inside Housing: Social landlords among most ‘gay-friendly’ employers • LocalGov.co.uk: Councils spend £5bn ‘re-hiring staff’ • Public Finance: MPs criticise ‘weak’ efforts to tackle Housing Benefit fraud • Telegraph: Council pays BBC presenter £2,500 to host two meetings on spending cuts • Third Sector: Online donations in Christmas run-up increase by 15% in four years SocietyGuardian blogs Patrick Butler’s cuts blog Sarah Boseley’s global health blog SocietyGuardian on social media Follow SocietyGuardian on Twitter Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Follow Clare Horton on Twitter Follow Alison Benjamin on Twitter SocietyGuardian’s Facebook page SocietyGuardian links SocietyGuardian The Guardian’s public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs SocietyGuardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: society@theguardian.com