Monthly Archives: April 2013

School nurses will help young carers

Carer aid of nurses at school

Pupils

Heartening … pupils to get extra care from school nurses

SCHOOL nurses are to act as “champions” for young carers who arrive for classes exhausted from helping relatives.

All 1,200 will be trained to pinpoint kids suffering from long hours looking after a disabled or ill relative. They may also be asked to advise desperate pupils after school.

As many as 700,000 pupils look after a sick family member.

‘Aware’ … Edward Timpson

Many end up playing truant or face bullying because their school work suffers.   The Carers Trust said it was “heartened” by the plan as nurses are “ideally positioned” to help young carers.   Children’s minister Edward Timpson said schools would be more “carer aware”.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4886016/Carer-aid-of-nurses-at-school.html

New PIP report form for GPs

GPs to be paid £33 per patient to assess eligibility for new disability benefit

GPs will be paid £33 to fill out a new form determining whether patients are eligible for the Government’s new personal independence payment (PIP), a scheme the GPC has warned may ‘harass’ patients with a health condition or disability.

The PIP replaced the disability living allowance this week and GPs will be required to give details of the diagnosis, history, variability, treatment and the impact of the condition on the patients’ life, for which they will be paid £33.50 per form.

But the GPC has voiced concern that patients with long term conditions might be periodically ‘harrassed’ under the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under the new PIP assessment.

Today’s adults ‘unhealthier than their parents were’

How do you keep healthy?

Today’s adults are so unhealthy they are 15 years ‘older’ than their parents and grandparents at the same age,” reports The Daily Telegraph. This gloomy message is based on a study that found that despite a continuing trend of increasing life expectancy, overall, the adult population is less healthy than it used to be in the past.

Researchers drew these conclusions after comparing the prevalence of risk factors for stroke, heart disease and diabetes within different generations.