LIVERPOOL'S GIT AWARD ANNOUNCES 2014 JUDGING PANEL

THE judging panel for Liverpool's GIT (Getintothis) Award 2014 has been revealed, with national music industry and media powerhouses joining some of Merseyside's key cultural figureheads. Joining the judging panel for the 2014 prize are former Creation Records founder Alan McGee who signed the likes of Oasis, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine, editor of respected industry bible Music Week's Tim Ingham plus journalist and author Peter Robinson, creator of award-winning webzine Popjustice. 2 music journalists who between them have several decades' worth of experience writing for a host of national titles, Jude Rogers and Simon Price, are also new for 2014 and radio is well represented too; Mike Walsh who is deputy programme director and head of music at iconic brand Xfm and Camilla Pia who is on the music team at BBC Radio 6 Music will also join the panel.  Music Week editor, Tim Ingham said:- "From The Coral to The Bunnymen, The Boo Radleys to The La's and Shack, Liverpool has never stopped spawning thrilling bands that have gone on to charm a nation – some of them, the world. The likes of Circa Waves show that torch still burns brightly, and I'm delighted to play even a weeny role in helping give a lift to the next crop."

Liverpool's premier new music prize The GIT Award returns for its third successive year with a special showcase ceremony at The Kazimier on Friday 11 April 2014. Dubbed the 'Scouse Mercury Prize,' the GIT Award is the first regional award of its kind championing new emerging talent within Merseyside's eclectic arts and music community, pushing innovative musicians right across the world, and the nominations process to find 12 shortlisted artists is already open.  Other new judges for the GIT Award 2014 are Radio City's co-breakfast host Claire Simonsen and Mike Deane, the Founder and Director of Liverpool Music Week.

Mike Deane said:- "In my 12 years as industry professional in the City, I've not known a more exciting time for Liverpool, and it's great to be part of the GIT Award panel this year. The art & music community here is buzzing right now with hugely ambitious and exceptionally talented hard-working, risk-taking individuals & collectives gaining national and international recognition for themselves and the City as a whole.  Speaking to people regularly across the European music industry, Liverpool is a place that people are seriously talking about right now and we all should feel proud to be a part of these exciting times and continue our excellent efforts to maintain this very promising upward curve"

Returning to judge The GIT Award are Matt Wilkinson, NME's new music editor, Craig G Pennington, editor of Liverpool music magazine Bido Lito! and John Doran, editor of the music webzine The Quietus.  GIT Award organiser and Liverpool Echo journalist Peter Guy also takes a place on the 2014 judging panel, alongside Liverpool music promoter, Steve Miller, the man behind club night EVOL. Completing the judging line up is Yaw Owusu, music manager and curator of Liverpool International Music Festival. The 15 judges will decide the 12 shortlisted nominees and the eventual winner for this pioneering award. The GIT Award 2014 winner will be crowned on Friday 11 April 2014 at the Kazimier scooping £1,000 prize money.  A special Inspiration Award, recognising significant outstanding achievement in Merseyside's music industry will also be presented. The recipients of the 2013 Inspiration Award was won by the Hillsborough Justice Collective while in 2012 the team behind Liverpool's Kazimier club picked up the honour.

GIT Award organiser Peter Guy said:- "At the very heart of the GIT Award is pushing great new Merseyside music to a wider audience and helping Merseyside artists receive new audiences. It's through the involvement of key industry figures that we can help achieve this goal. This year's panel once again includes a diverse collection of some of Merseyside's key music industry players, however, we have increased those involved on a national scale to help push things even further.  I'm delighted to once again include judges from music cornerstones as the NME, The Quietus and 6Music while look forward to discussing the wealth of great new Merseyside music with a number of celebrated journalists and influential pop gurus."

Liverpool has long been considered a hotbed of musical talent and The GIT Award is committed to putting the City's most innovative new bands and artists on the national and international stage. Musicians, bands and creative types who would like to enter for this year's prize are asked to send 4 tracks via email.

POLICE CHRISTMAS RETAIL INITIATIVE TO FOCUS ON SHOPLIFTERS

MERSEYSIDE Police have joined forces with retail stores across the county in a crackdown on shoplifters. The crackdown is part of a retail crime initiative, launched on 28 November 2013, which is being carried out in the run-up to Christmas and each of the 6 force areas (Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, Liverpool North, Liverpool South and St Helens) and is designed to provide an increased presence in the City, town centres and shopping parades throughout Merseyside. Officers will be working with retailers and many shops have signed up to the scheme, which will see security officers at shops and stores providing a high visibility presence and they will be supported by uniform and plain clothes officers. Detectives will also be visiting second hand dealers and officers will be talking to licensees in pubs, as sometimes those who steal goods from stores will try and offload their stolen goods to customers in pubs around the county. Officers will also be visiting persistent offenders with the probation service to reinforce the message that if they commit retail crime they will be brought to justice. Officers will also be monitoring the rail and road networks to identify known criminals, who target retail premises, and disrupt their use of the transport network. During the initiative officers will also be handing out handbag bells to shoppers to help keep their purses and other property safe. Chief Inspector Jenny Sims, said:- "Unfortunately, in the run up to Christmas some people see our retail premises as an easy target and think it's acceptable to walk in and take goods without paying. They forget that retailers provide a vital service to our communities and by stealing goods they could have a huge impact on the retailers' ability to continue to trade, so preventing these crimes is in everyone's interest. Just last week a man was arrested after a shop assistant spotted a man taking goods from a shop without paying. The shop assistant followed the man and saw him go in to an address. She then called the Police who attended and arrested a man after recovering a large amount of property that had been stolen from local businesses. In the run up to Christmas we will be providing a highly visible Ppolicing presence at shopping parades and town centres. Our officers will also be visiting pubs and second hand dealers across the county. Sometimes the offenders may try to sell stolen items to other shops or even members of the public. Remember, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you buy something that is stolen you are as culpable as the person who stole the goods and could be arrested for handling stolen goods. We are keen to catch the criminals who try to sell stolen goods. Anyone with information about people involved in shoplifting or handling stolen goods should contact the Police on:- 101 or Crimestoppers on:- 0800 555 111."

Liverpool health professionals leading the way with patient safety initiative

THE Royal Liverpool University Hospital is piloting a new education package developed by Liverpool Health Partners (LHP), to ensure the views of staff are listened to and improvements are made to provide safer care. The new initiative comes as a response to the findings of the Francis Report into poor care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. 'Improving Quality in Healthcare: Learning from the Francis Report' has been developed by Dr Tom Kennedy, consultant physician at the Royal and co-director of education for LHP.   Dr Kennedy developed the education package after identifying a need to support front-line staff to address the issues raised by the Francis report and to encourage greater openness and transparency; an area the Secretary of State for Health has said needs to be improved if the NHS is to become more patient focused.  Dr Kennedy said:- "This initiative being piloted at the Royal is a huge step towards achieving a more patient-focused health service and addressing the issues and themes highlighted by the Francis report. It aims to give all NHS staff an opportunity to openly and honestly discuss the delivery of patient care, in a structured and constructive way."

From this week, the Royal are piloting the use of the education package, which provides staff with a comprehensive and structured range of feedback formats. The initiative starts with staff taking part in facilitator led group discussions using case studies developed by staff, based on real patient experiences relevant to their departments, in order to examine the delivery of care on their ward or unit. Following these discussions, staff complete an anonymous online assessment and survey reflecting on the care they provide. LHP will collect the responses and produce a report to the Trust, to help them identify where improvements can be made.  This initiative is believed to be the first education programme designed to address the issues highlighted by the Francis Report, by focusing on and involving front line staff; often the place where there is greater understanding of the causes of any issues.  The education has been well received by members of staff at the Royal who previewed it during a testing phase last month.  Jan Lacey, matron in the Acute Medical Assessment Unit said:- "It's a very useful exercise. It provides a good way to encourage staff to discuss very difficult issues. The facilitators encouraged people to be very honest about how they felt. At the Royal, we are extremely passionate about helping patients and providing them with the best care possible and this is another way to do that."

Liverpool Health Partners, who developed and are delivering the programme anticipate significant interest in the package. LHP will make the package available to as many trusts as possible, beginning with the hospital trusts within the partnership and then rolling out to other NHS organisations the North West and nationally.  Dr Kennedy, who is also co-director of education for LHP said:- "We hope to maximise the benefit this package can have for patients throughout the NHS. The open and transparent culture, that this package supports, is crucial in helping us to understand why sometimes things go wrong in the NHS and more importantly, how we can put them right to stop them from happening in the future."

For more information about Improving Quality in Healthcare; Learning from the Francis Report contact Liverpool Health Partners directly on:- 0151 795 0179.