Category Archives: DOH

Would the integration of health and social care promote independent living?

November 8, 2012   Carers, disability, DOH, Independent living

Medical intervention is appropriate for people who are sick, but not normally for people who are well – whether they are disabled or not

 

Independent living depends on the availability of funds and other resources, including peer support from disabled people’s organisations, to enable disabled people to participate in society as equal.

Norman Lamb has been the care services minister at the Department of Health for just a few weeks, and it seems that the integration of health and social care services is one of his key interests and policy aims.

But there appears to be scant consideration, by Norman Lamb, Dan Poulter or indeed the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of whether such integration would actually deliver independent living for working age disabled adults – or, for that matter, for older disabled adults.

The pioneers of independent living, back in the 1970s and 80s, did not consider independent living support to have much in common with health services.

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Care bills will soak up most of our savings

November 3, 2012   Carers, disability, DOH, Older care

A rising number of elderly people face losing “almost all of their wealth” to pay for social care, after the Government admitted it was “unable to commit” to reforming the system.

By , Political Correspondent

In a stark assessment of the growing crisis in elderly care, a government report warns that the country may not be able to afford to fund a cap on care costs for a rapidly expanding ageing population.

The report, released this week, depicts a bleak picture of the future, with a growing number of pensioners slipping into poverty as they use up their savings to fund care and rely on friends and family for help. It lays bare the scale of the task facing ministers and will increase the pressure on David Cameron to address the issue.

An official review of the social care system published last year recommended that the Coalition should introduce a cap of £35,000 on the maximum amount that people have to pay towards a nursing home.

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£300m pot for independent living opens

October 29, 2012   Cancer, Carers, disability, DOH, Older care

29 October 2012 | By Rhiannon Bury

Bidding has opened for a £300 million pot aimed to help older people and adults with disabilities find affordable homes.

The care and support specialised housing fund, launched today by minister for care Norman Lamb, marks the first time that the Homes and Communities Agency has run such a programme on behalf of the Department of Health.

The HCA will administer £240 million of the fund. A further £60 million will be administered by the Greater London Authority.

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