Category Archives: disability

Health and social care will need half of Government spending unless changes made: King's Fund

January 31, 2013   Carers, disability, DOH, health

Health and social care could consume half of government spending in 50 years’ time if current trends continue, a think tank has predicted.

 

Currently nine per cent of the UK’s income is spent on health and social care, and this is predicted to more than double to 20 per cent by 2061

By , Medical Editor

7:30AM GMT 31 Jan 2013

By 2060, half of all Government spending could go on health and social care unless major changes are made, the King’s Fund has reported.

The new report states that population changes, increases in wealth and medical advances will increase pressure to spend more on health and social care in the future.

Currently nine per cent of the UK’s income is spent on health and social care, and this is predicted to more than double to 20 per cent by 2061. Taking into account economic growth, current levels of taxation and Government expenditure this would mean one in every £2 spent by the Government went on care.

Prof John Appleby, author of the paper, said that increases on this scale were not inevitable.

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Does no one care asks disabled man left in the cold?

January 30, 2013   Carers, disability, fuel poverty

Disabled man left to freeze

Chris Eaborn, keeping warm next to an old gas fire, lent to him by a neighbourChris Eaborn, keeping warm next to an old gas fire, lent to him by a neighbour

Published on Wednesday 30 January 2013 12:34

A DISABLED man trapped in his freezing Wigan home has made a public cry for help after having his power cut off for more than three days.

Chris Eaborn was so desperate for help after his electricity was cut off that he put notices in his window crying “HELP! We have had no electricity or heating for 72 hours. Does anyone care at all?”

Another reads: “We cannot cook any food, we cannot shower, basic human rights denied,”

The 56-year-old had been hoping for a quick fix after cable fault hit his home in Woodhouse Lane, Beech Hill, last Saturday night.

With no phoneline, he was forced to seek the help of a neighbour, whose power had also been shut off, to call Electricity North West.

But due to high volumes of calls following the bad weather, Mr Eaborn was unable to get through until Monday morning,

So he put up an SOS message in his window, hoping someone would take pity and help him and the two other houses in the row of terraced homes affected.

The resident, who has an ulcerated leg, said; “I have no power, no heat and I am freezing – there is no damp proofing and I have had two freezing nights.

“I can’t even boil a kettle, have a shower, or cook hot food – I can’t do anything because everything is powered by electricity. I need the heat because of my leg.

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Social care is bearing the brunt of council cuts

January 29, 2013   Carers, disability, ukcuts

Statistical manipulation disguises the fact that disabled people are being hit the hardest by cuts to benefits and services

 

Sally Bercow (centre) and Jane Asher (left) join protesters on the Hardest Hit march against cuts to disability benefits and services.

One of the extraordinary features of the cuts programme has been the fate of social care. At the same time as announcing the deepest cuts in public expenditure since the creation of the welfare state, there have been several pronouncements about extra funding for social care and how any failure to safeguard services for disabled children, adults or older people would be because of failings in local government.

For instance, the 2010 comprehensive spending review declared that there would be “£2bn a year of additional funding by 2014-15 to support social care”. However, a closer examination of these figures shows it was merely a statistical manipulation, achieved by closing one small funding stream, restarting it and then publishing the cumulative figure for a five-year period. The truth is very different.

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