Author Archives: wendy
Carers forced to give up work will get extra help
Services for the elderly and disabled are under “enormous strain”
Thursday 27 September 2012
Services for the elderly and disabled are under “enormous strain”, the Care Minister, Norman Lamb, acknowledged yesterday as he promised extra help for family members who give up work to look after relatives.
Mr Lamb’s pledge follows the disclosure in The Independent that the crisis in social care is costing the British economy more than £5bn a year in carers’ lost wages and tax contributions as well as benefit payments.
Four-star treatment for patients on the NHS
26 September 2012
The Cotton Rooms is the first of its kind in the NHS and has been built and funded by University College London Hospital’s charity.
The 35-bed hotel near Tottenham Court Road offers all the comforts of a good hotel — including fluffy towels, slippers and internet access — without charge.
Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy on a daily basis will benefit as well as others who are undergoing tests at UCLH.
In the past, many patients have either endured long journeys home every night or stayed on a noisy ward or in nearby hotels alongside ordinary paying guests.
Now patients can receive hospital treatment during the day then check into the Cotton Rooms afterwards.
The idea is that people can live normal lives but with medical help on standby when needed.
Crisis in social care costs Britain over £5bn a year
Crisis will get worse, charities warn
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Britain’s fragile economy is losing more than £5bn a year as a result of a growing crisis in social care funding aggravated by the Government’s austerity measures.
People are giving up an estimated £4bn in pay – cash that would have been channelled back into the economy – because they are being forced to leave work to care for elderly or disabled relatives. The Treasury is also missing out on £1bn of taxes they would otherwise have paid, while carers are claiming some £300m in benefits to help cover their living costs.
The “missing” £5.3bn is equivalent to more than 0.3 per cent of Britain’s gross domestic product, charities warned last night. More than 300,000 people quit work in 2010-11 to look after relatives – and the number is increasing because of continuing cuts to care budgets, they said.
The extent of the losses to the economy was disclosed in a report from Age UK and Carers UK, building on work by the London School of Economics. They said the problem would worsen unless ministers reversed cuts to town hall budgets that were affecting services, and finally acted to settle the long-term funding of social care.
