Monthly Archives: July 2014

Council-run care ‘unsustainable’, survey finds

July 2, 2014   Carers, Featured Article, Social care

The council-run care system for the elderly and adults with disabilities is becoming “unsustainable”, social services chiefs are warning.

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

2 July 2014 Last updated at 03:36

A survey of 144 social care departments in England found savings of more than a quarter had had to be made since 2010.

Funding cuts and rising demands are key problems, says the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.

They predicted the situation would get worse, despite attempts to channel extra NHS money into the system.

The survey found the total budget put aside for means-tested social care by councils in 2014-15 stands at £13.68bn.

That represents a drop in cash terms of £266m from last year and a real terms cut of 12% since 2010 once inflation is taken into account.

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The scandal of common mental illnesses left untreated

July 1, 2014   Carers, disability, Featured Article, mental health, special needs, stigma

Would we tolerate a situation in which the majority of those suffering from diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis were left to fend for themselves, or asked to make do with inferior therapies?

Imagine you are the campaigns manager of a political party. You are aware of a public health crisis that, at any one time, affects a third of the population, reduces life expectancy as drastically as smoking, is more disabling than angina, asthma, or diabetes, and reduces GDP by around 4% each year. You know this crisis can be substantially – and cheaply – alleviated. Wouldn’t you make the issue a central theme in your election campaign?

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