Category Archives: Older care

Family’s fury as 60 different carers visit in 30 months

March 18, 2014   Carers, Older care, Social care, stroke
An 84-year-old left disabled by a stroke had 60 different home carers in less than three years, her family have revealed.
18th March 2014  08.26

'DIABOLICAL': Stroke patient 84-year-old Audrey Arundel from Ossett. PIC: Jonathan Gawthorpe‘DIABOLICAL’: Stroke patient 84-year-old Audrey Arundel from Ossett. PIC: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Audrey Arundel’s daughter and son-in-law eventually demanded a new firm provide her care because of the string of different staff, which they 
branded “diabolical”, and other issues.

A search is now under way for another suitable company after the family had a disagreement with Wakefield Council over her care package.

Mrs Arundel’s son-in-law Malcolm Oates said: “From one company we have 60-odd different carers in two-and-a-half years. It’s diabolical.”

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Delight for campaigners after former Norwich day centre saved for community

March 14, 2014   Carers, Older care, ukcuts

Campaigners celebrate winning their campaign to turn the Silver Rooms into a community centre.

Picture: Denise Bradley

Friday, March 14, 2014
6:53 AM

Campaigners celebrate winning their campaign to turn the Silver Rooms into a community centre. Picture: Denise Bradley Campaigners have won their fight to turn a former Norwich day centre into a community centre, after a long-running battle stretching back for years.

And they have a simple message for the community – now the Silver Rooms have been saved, it is up to the community to make a success of it.

The building, off Silver Road in the north of the city, has been empty since Norfolk County Council decided to stop providing day services for elderly people there as part of a shake-up in social care.

A group of older people used to meet in the centre and an initial fight, backed by a Norwich Evening News campaign, focused on saving it for that purpose.

When it became clear the older people would be moved to other venues in the city, in March 2011, the campaigners switched to trying to safeguard the building for use by the local community.

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Watchdog warns over social care cuts

March 13, 2014   Carers, Older care, Social care, ukcuts
Central and local government are unaware how long adult social care systems can cope under mounting pressure, a report has suggested.
Thomas Bridge 13 March 2014
Watchdog warns over social care cuts

Government departments do not know how close the adult care system is to reaching capacity, while major health reforms set to be introduced by the Care Bill will cause further ‘significant challenges’ for councils – according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

Town hall spending on adult social care fell by 8% between 2010/11 and 2012/13, with 87% of adults now living in regions that arrange services only for individuals with substantial or critical needs.

While the Department for Communities and Local Government expects service transformation, local efficiency initiatives and the Better Care Fund will ease financial pressures, the NAO said there was ‘weak evidence’ for which way of commissioning services was most effective.

Auditors added that efforts by DCLG and the Department of Health to understand the impact of changes or reduced spending on care, welfare and local services were not being matched by other government departments.

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