Author Archives: Maureen
‘Give patients smartphones’ call
App designer Geoff Wilcock told BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors programme it would give people access to software that could be created for the NHS.
Mr Wilcox said apps could aid in consultations and cut waiting times.
The Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare said patients expected greater use of technology.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) held a workshop on mobile phone applications last month.
The agency said that by 2014 it was expected that some 77 billion apps will have been downloaded from the Android and Apple phone markets.
Mr Wilcock, who took part in the workshop, said the NHS could provide patients with low-cost smartphones.
State must pay family carers to look after elderly, say MPs
Families should be given state funding to care for their elderly relatives at home, a group of Conservative MPs has said.
By Tim Ross, Political Correspondent
7:00AM BST 02 May 2012
The current system means it is cheaper for families to put relations in the hands of local council-run care services, according to a report from the Free Enterprise Group.
The organisation said the Government could save an estimated £1.14 billion a year by funding families directly. Chris Skidmore, the MP for Kingswood, who wrote the report, said: “Where a local authority might otherwise be paying several hundred pounds a week for residential care, they could instead be offering a fraction of that to a relative to provide care themselves.”
Fears redesign for Norfolk’s services for carers leaves future of small grants scheme in doubt
Kim Briscoe Tuesday, May 1, 2012
5.50 PM
Grassroots carers’ groups across Norfolk fear the future of a small grants scheme which is a lifeline for them and the people they look after has been thrown into doubt.
The small grants, of £300 for existing carers’ groups or £500 for new groups, are normally dished out as part of a £30,000 annual pot given by Norfolk County Council to the Norfolk and District Carers’ Forum.
