A toolkit to help managers and clinicians work more effectively together to meet clinical governance requirements has been launched at a conference by the Institute of Health Services Management. It will be published in December after feedback from the launch and will cost 25 to non-members and 20 to members.

The Department of Health has been urged to provide adequate resources to meet the needs of the 18,000 people in Britain with sickle cell conditions in a King's Fund backed report which found that the health service offers them a raw deal.

Living with Sickle Pain. Available from Sickle Cell Society. 0181-961 7795. 5.

The new 6.3m children's service at the Royal London Hospital was officially opened by the Queen yesterday. The service comprises five wards and will provide specialist services for children from across east London.

It brings together services previously split between Bart's, Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children and the Royal London.

Healthcare in rural areas will be boosted by the combined effects of extra money for the NHS, new technology, health service reforms and better public transport, health secretary Frank Dobson told a forum organised by the Institute of Rural Health this week. Institute director John Wynn- Jones said delivery of healthcare in rural areas was significantly more expensive because of the distances involved and the scattered distribution of health facilities.

The Medical Defence Union paid out 16.9m in damages and legal costs to settle 409 claims against GPs over two years, nearly half of them caused by delays in diagnosis. The figure is shown by a new study Problems in General Practice - Delay in Diagnosis aimed at helping GPs to avoid possible risks. The study is only available to MDU members.