Author Archives: wendy
New members welcome to join Mole Valley ex-carers’ group
A SOCIAL club for former carers who have lost their loved ones is open to new members.
The Mole Valley Ex-Carers Social Group was started by former members of Carers Support Mole Valley who found they had more free time after losing the person they looked after.
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SOCIAL SCENE: Group members at Woodbury Cottage in Reigate RELM20120905B-001_C Photo by Liam McAvoy
Anne Broughton, who acted as carer for her husband for 12 years before his death, said: “It is hard to maintain your social life when you are caring all the time, so when you experience a loss it can be difficult to know what to do with yourself.
“The networks that are in place for carers are a brilliant help in that respect when you are an official carer, but due to lack of funding they can only support you for a year after you lose the person you are caring for.”
The social group has organised a series of outings, including a trip to Woodbury Cottage in Reigate on September 5, and Mrs Broughton hopes members will become firm friends.
She said: “The ex-carer network has been started because it is nice for people to have that social contact with people who have been through the same thing.
More hospices needed ‘to care for people dying gradually’
More hospices and care homes are needed to cope with increasing numbers of people dying “gradual” deaths, say doctors.
By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent
7:30AM BST 18 Sep 2012
The country faces a growing crisis in its ability to care for people suffering cancer, dementia and other long-term ailments, according to specialists who say that supply is not keeping pace with demand.
Better health care, and to some extent a fitter older population, means fewer people are experiencing “sudden” deaths, for example from heart attacks.
While increased longevity is to be welcomed, doctors say not enough resources are being devoted to making the last days of the elderly as comfortable as possible. Doctors writing in the British Medical Journal Supportive and Palliative Care say gradual deaths from cancer and other chronic diseases are already “a considerable burden” for European countries.
Princess Royal opens new outreach centre in Trowbridge
The Princess Royal has opened a new centre to support people with terminal illnesses in Wiltshire.
The new centre offers one-to-one and group rooms, a creative studio, treatment rooms and a cafeThe Dorothy House outreach facility in Trowbridge was launched in August and provides a drop-in service for carers and their families as well as patients.
It is the first of two centres planned this year, with another due to open in Somerset at the end of 2012.
Wayne De Leeuw, the centre manager, said it was hoped the centre would “provide more care to more people.”
