Category Archives: Carers

Proposed council cuts to adult social care and cultural services in Norfolk

January 8, 2014   Carers, Norfolk, ukcuts

Proposed cuts to adult social care and cultural services discussed by Norfolk county councillors

Councillor Richard Bearman(front), members of Norwich Green Party and supporters with the petition of more than 500 signatures they presented to Norfolk County Council opposing proposed cuts by the authority to personal budgets and care packages. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY Councillor Richard Bearman(front), members of Norwich Green Party and supporters with the petition of more than 500 signatures they presented to Norfolk County Council opposing proposed cuts by the authority to personal budgets and care packages. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY

Emma Knights emma.knights@archant.co.uk
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
6:33 PM

Proposed council cuts to adult social care and cultural services in Norfolk were the subject of debate at County Hall.

Norfolk County Council has proposed £140m worth of cuts and savings over the next three years, and today the council’s Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel looked specifically at those relating to adult social care and cultural services.

Read More

Amid growing poverty, councils have failed to save fund for those in need

January 7, 2014   Carers, family, poverty

From April 2015, a £180m a year hardship fund will be abolished. Councils have simply not made a strong enough argument for it

 

“Poverty can never be tackled simply through central government schemes. There is a growing need for more innovative approaches.”

Iain Duncan Smith‘s axe has struck again. This time its local authority welfare assistance schemes on the block. But we’re not talking reform or even cuts. The scheme had already been significantly cut last year. From April 2015 a £180m a year hardship fund will be abolished completely. That’s right. Scrapped. A vital safety net will no longer be there.

For years I’ve seen the value of crisis loans, which used to operate under the social fund until the government devolved funding last year, allowing councils to set up their own discretionary crisis funds. They’re a critical part of the welfare system to help people in desperate need.

Read More

Depression 'over-diagnosed' with drugs

January 6, 2014   Carers, Depression, mental health

Dished out to patients who are simply sad or unable to sleep, warns expert

  • Chris Dowrick claims half of patients labelled depressed were misdiagnosed
  • Liverpool University professor calls on diagnosis guidelines to be tightened
  • Patients ‘becoming reliant on drugs they don’t need’
  • Mental health charities reject research – and say more people are being diagnosed due to pressure from debt and unemployment

By Lucy Crossley

PUBLISHED: 04:42, 6 January 2014 | UPDATED: 09:10, 6 January 2014

 

Millions of patients are being wrongly diagnosed with depression when they are simply sad, according to a new report

Million of patients are being wrongly diagnosed with depression when they are simply sad, according to a new report.

Anti-depressants are being dished out to people grieving loved ones, suffering sexual problems or even unable to sleep, claims a newly-published scientific paper published by academics at Liverpool Unversity.

The number of people diagnosed with mental illnesses like depression has doubled since 2002. It is believed more than five million people are now labelled depressed or suffering anxiety in the UK.

Liverpool University’s Professor of Primary Medical Care, Chris Dowrick, claims in a new report that up to half of these patients have been misdiagnosed.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the academic, who also works as a GP, said: ‘Over-diagnosis is now more common than under diagnosis.’

Read More