Author Archives: Maureen
Elderly fall through gaps in broken care system
Elderly people are being let down by a lack of co-operation between the NHS and council-run social care, MPs are set to warn this week.
A report by the all-party health select committee is expected to recommend the two budgets should be pooled, to prevent wrangling over who pays for care.
Dr Dan Poulter, a Conservative MP on the committee, said the elderly were “falling through the gaps” between the services.
He said the decision to allow GPs to abandon responsibility for out of hours care had been “the single biggest disaster in medical care” in a decade, causing more elderly people to attend hospital casualty departments because they had nowhere else to turn.
Carer husband in Haverhill tells of fury at backdated bill
A husband who is a full-time carer for his wife has hit out after he was sent a backdated bill by Suffolk County Council.
A husband who is a full-time carer for his wife has hit out after he was sent a backdated bill by Suffolk County Council.
Andrew Challis gave up work at Dalehead Foods 10 years ago to look after his wife Cher, 45, who has multiple sclerosis.
The couple, who live in Haverhill, go out once a week to the town’s Hawk Club – but after 10 years has the council which funds her place, has reassessed them, and sent them a backdated bill for £81.36.
Care crisis facing the elderly: MPs
MPs warned that funding cuts were becoming ‘more urgent day by day’ and said that the Government needed to overhaul the social care system and increase funding
Millions of elderly people are facing a “care crisis” as official figures show two thirds of councils have cut funding for residential homes.
A survey by the Commons Health Select Committee found that councils are cutting social care budgets by an average of 6% while raising charges for services such as home help.
MPs warned that funding cuts were becoming “more urgent day by day” and said that the Government needed to overhaul the social care system and increase funding.
The wide-ranging report also warned that the government’s reforms of the NHS were proving a “distraction” and putting attempts to save £20billion by 2014 in jeopardy.
