Category Archives: Older care

Care for the elderly: warning over £135m cash that could be squandered on admin

March 10, 2014   Carers, disability, Older care

Money intended to improve care for elderly and disabled people could end up being spent on bureaucracy, an alliance of councils and charities warns

 

£135 million for elderly care could be spent on admin, council and charities warn

By , Social Affairs Editor

7:30AM GMT 10 Mar 2014

Care for elderly and disabled people will be jeopardised by a £135 million gap in funding for a long-awaited overhaul of the system, an alliance of council leaders, care chiefs and charities is warning.

Details in the fine print of the Coalition’s Care Bill, which is going through its final Parliamentary stages, suggest that cash transferred from the NHS to the care system will have to be used to make the reforms happen, they say.

It means that money set aside to improve social care would be diverted into bureaucracy, the councils and charities fear.

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LILY (Living Independently in Later Years) here to help all of West Norfolk’s old folks

March 8, 2014   Carers, internet, Norfolk, Older care
Older people living in West Norfolk will be able to ‘ask LILY’ for information about a host of services

West Norfolk council lily launch with Cllr Elizabeth Nockolds and Hazel Fredericks ANL-140403-132451001

Published on the 08 March 2014 11:48

West Norfolk council lily launch with Cllr Elizabeth Nockolds and Hazel Fredericks ANL-140403-132451001

The new directory which can be found at www.asklily.org.uk has been compiled by West Norfolk Council on behalf of the West Norfolk Partnership.

It contains over 900 entries covering social activities, health, transport, money matters and more, and is designed to be a one-stop-shop for anyone looking for information for the over 65s living in West Norfolk.

At the last Census, 23per cent of West Norfolk’s population was over 65, with 27per cent of these people living alone. Estimates suggest that these figures are set to rise.

Second home ownership, the rural nature of the borough and a trend for people to retire to West Norfolk from other areas, mean many older people can find themselves without vital community or family networks. LILY brings together a range of information, for older people and those who support them, in one place, making it easy for people to find the contacts and information they need.

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Left alone for 15 hours: Widespread outrage over plight of Leeds OAP

March 6, 2014   Carers, Older care, Social care
A pensioner’s experience has prompted readers, charities and politicians to demand more is done for our older people. Katie Baldwin reports.

Lily Latham. Published on the 06 March 2014 09:36

Lily Latham.

Widespread outrage has been sparked by the case of an 88-year-old disabled pensioner left stranded in bed for 15 hours.

Readers inundated the Yorkshire Evening Post with angry comments after we revealed yesterday how a home care service had insisted on putting Lily Latham to bed at 6.30pm.

Because Mrs Latham is totally immobile, she was forced to stay there without even being able to get up to go to the toilet until her morning visit at 10am.

One of the widow’s carers found her sobbing in bed and the grandma said afterwards: “I have no dignity left now”.

Now Leeds MP Greg Mulholland, co-chair for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Ageing and Older People, called the failures in care “disgraceful”.

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