Category Archives: Multiple Sclerosis
A carers experience of disabled wife’s hospital treatment
Having recently spent 2 very long waits for my wife to be treated in A & E I have formed an opinion of the service received by the disabled and seriously ill in our hospitals-and it’s not nice.
The whole system seems to be set up to get as many in and out as quickly as possible to meet or beat targets.
Even though my wife was unconcious -with no responses to anything, we were left unattended for hours while people with sore fingers, drunks with police escorts , druggies and such were treated quickly.
It took 7 hours for my wife to be admited and any treatment started-the attitude seemed to be-” she’s not going anywhere she can wait”
If I’d not been there her catheter would have by-passed twice as I twice had to ask for her bag to be emptied!
Arriving on a ward the attitude of the staff was so obviously ” Oh no, this looks like some work”.
And why is it that though youv’e seen your caree naked from all angles they insist you wait outside the curtain while they transfer the patient from trolley to bed.?? Well I’m a cynical old bugger, and I think it’s because they handle them roughly, so I refused to leave and stayed to watch them.
After one night on the ward and only showing slight improvement the doctor wanted to send her home and continue the antibiotics there. I refused that and told them I would tell them when she was back to normal and fit for a return home, to which the doctor replied ” she will never be normal”— a remark that warrented a bit of the violence they often complain about??
Now I have to take some bottles of my wife’s feed, and the giving sets, because they have nothing that will fit her peg to feed her! I am also spending most of the day there to make sure she is cared for and they don’t take revenge on her because I have refused their wishes.
To me the NHS shows a complete lack of care for anybody who has reached the stage of not being able to do anything for themselves. Even in naming things like ” walk in centre” is an insult to people who can’t walk.
Social care is no better, most councils are now only offering services to people with critical care needs. They have proved time and again that they are incapable of providing such care, only being able to provide the ” are you ok, do you want a cup of tea” type of care.
With all the Government and media Hype convincing the public that all benefit claiments are scroungers, there will be no pressure for improvement, much better for everybody normal if we, abnormals, just go away and die!
New blue badge parking crackdown
14 February 2011 Last updated at 12:18
New blue badge parking crackdown
A crackdown on abuse of the disabled “blue badge” parking scheme has been announced by ministers.
It is estimated that use of up to half of the existing 2.5 million badges could be fraudulent, costing the UK an estimated £46m a year.
More people are to face mobility tests to get the badges, which offer special parking rights, and councils will have greater powers of confiscation.
Use of blue badges has soared by more than a third in the last 10 years.
The badges allow access to special parking or the right to avoid parking restrictions.
They are issued to people who are registered blind, receive a war pensioner’s mobility supplement or higher rate disability living allowance, and to other people with mobility problems who undergo an assessment.
A Department for Transport statement said: “Increasing levels of badge fraud mean those who genuinely need to use these parking spaces often find themselves displaced by people who do not.”
The new measures, due to come into force from April, will include:
On-the-spot powers for local authorities to recover misused and cancelled badges
Wider use of independent mobility assessments to determine eligibility
Printed badges with anti-fraud holograms and bearer photographs to replace current handwritten badges
Transport minister Norman Baker said the scheme was “in real need of modernisation”, having undergone little change since it was introduced in the 70s.
“These improvements will mean that blue badge holders get a much better service for less than 1p per day,” he said.
Consistency
Helen Dolphin, who co-ordinates policy for the disabled motorists charity Mobilise, has said there is a need for much greater consistency with councils taking more care over who received the badges
And Ms Dolphin wants people to be educated about their proper use: “A lot of family members think they can use it even without the disabled person being in the car.
“There are many cases of carers thinking they can use it to park when they go shopping,” she said.
Paul Slowey, of Blue Badge Fraud Investigation Ltd, which investigates blue badge abuse on behalf of councils, says that in some city areas up to 50% of badges are being wrongly used.
He says the powers are there for local authorities to mount prosecutions for fraud when they detect misuse, but “historically enforcement has been dreadful”.
Mr Slowey points to the rail network, where ticket fraud fell after companies introduced strict measures aimed at fare-dodgers.
“If the use of blue badges is enforced properly then the scheme will function as it should,” he said
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12435529
MS Society funds second stage of myelin repair research
MS Society funds second stage of myelin repair research
07 Feb 2011
In December, we announced great news that scientists at the University of Cambridge had found a way of reversing damage to myelin using stem cells. The work was funded by the MS Society. Today we’re delighted to announce we’ve committed more than £2 million over the next five years to fund the second stage of this research. Professor Robin Franklin and his team at the MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair will work collaboratively with world leading experts in MS (like those based at the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research and the MRI unit at the Institute of Neurology) to carry out the next stage. In the first stage of the study researchers found a drug that could potentially repair myelin; in stage two they’ll: 1. test this treatment for how effective it is in people with MS, and at what dose 2. trial it for safety in people with MS 3. build on recent advances in myelin repair research, so it’s possible to identify more potential MS treatments in the future This next phase of the study will start in April 2011 and finish in 2016. If the work proves successful, further clinical trials in larger numbers of people will take place to reveal whether the potential treatment is safe and effective for people to use. Then it’ll then need to go through the necessary regulatory hurdles before it’s licensed and available. We’re still some way off a drug coming through, but these are positive steps. Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said: “We’ve been consistently impressed with the world class work of the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair and we’re delighted that the generosity of our supporters enables us to continue funding this outstanding research centre.”
chenrezig 
annie 
JaneJ 