Category Archives: disability

Carers free from tax credit cuts

March 20, 2012   Carers, charities, disability

Plans to change tax credit entitlement that would have cost couples with disabled children up to £3,870 a year have been altered.

 Couples with disabled children are entitled to financial help through the tax credits system

Plans to change tax credit entitlement that would have cost couples with disabled children up to £3,870 a year have been altered.

Millions of working low-income families can claim tax credits, in addition to some benefits.

Changes in April mean couples with children will have to work for 24 hours a week between them, not 16, in order to qualify for working tax credit.

However, the government has now made carers exempt from this change.

Read More

Childline founder Rantzen plans Silver service for the elderly

March 16, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care
Esther Rantzen is launching a new telephone counselling service for vulnerable elderly people.

Esther Rantzen

Esther Rantzen is launching a new telephone counselling service for vulnerable elderly people.

Writing about her plans in the Daily Mail, the television presenter and one-time parliamentary candidate explained that she wanted the new charity to combat loneliness and the feeling “that if you ceased to exist no one would miss you”.

She said the new telephone befriending service would be called “The Silver Line” and would be a point for older people to gain information, friendship and help with serious problems, as well as advice about organisations to contact as the next step.

It comes a quarter of a century after she established Childline, launched in the wake of a BBC programme about child abuse.

Ms Rantzen, 71, said: “Loneliness particularly strikes older people who are used to having a purpose in life, to being needed.

“Gradually, the community they used to belong to has shrunk away to nothing; children have moved out, bereavement or divorce means their partners have gone ” .

Read More

Home care for elderly branded ‘shocking and disgraceful’

March 16, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care

Ministers have already promised they will be revamping social care in England

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

The standards of care provided for older people in their homes in the UK has been labelled “shocking and disgraceful” by a consumer group.

Which? found cases of missed visits, food left out of reach, medication not given and people being left in soiled beds during its investigation.

It concluded too many faced a “constant battle” to just get the basic help.

The UK Home Care Association said it was never acceptable for people to experience rushed or inadequate care.

Which? said the findings – based on a survey and diaries kept by the elderly – showed the system needed reform.

More than 500,000 people rely on help at home with activities such as washing and dressing.

Read More