Category Archives: health

GPs to be paid to take more notice of carers’ needs

January 8, 2013   Carers, health

Will this be a step forward for the family carer?

Family doctors are to be assessed on how much they know about patients in their practice who care for someone with dementia, if new guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are agreed.

The proposals form part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), which sets performance standards for GPs and also rewards them financially for meeting those standards.

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Carers face New Year struggle after cuts

January 2, 2013   autism, Carers, health
By Jamie Deasy
Cuts to the respite grant is unfair

• Carolyn Akintola and her mum Elsie pictured with Cathy White, CEO of the Clondalkin Carers’ Association, at the Maldron Hotel in Tallaght where Carolyn was presented with a Dublin Carer of the Year Award in 2010.

SOUTHSIDE carers have spoken of how they are facing an increasingly difficult struggle to look after their loved ones in the New Year as the cuts announced in the budget hit home.

In the budget on December 6, the Government announced that it was cutting the carers’ respite grant, which is intended to help carers take a break or holiday, from €1,700 a year to €1,375.

Many carers will also be affected by cuts to gas and electricity allowances that have been reduced from the current €41 to €35 per month and from €22.60 to €9.50 for the telephone payment.

Medical card holders who previously paid 50c per prescription will now pay €1.50, while the monthly threshold for purchasing prescription drugs has increased from €132 a month to €144.

Des Coffey (48), from Tymonville Park in Tallaght, cares for his 19-year-old daughter Danielle who has Down’s Syndrome, has severe learning difficulties, is severely autistic and has kidney problems.

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Carer Services Prescription in Cambridgeshire

December 20, 2012   Carers, health

Are you a Carer and need a Break?

Are you caring for someone and feel emotionally or physically overwhelmed? Would a break make a difference to your well being?

You can visit your GP and explain your situation.  It is important that your GP acknowledges you are a carer and that your details are logged on their Carers Register which will try to improve the ongoing support available to you.

If you and your GP agree that more support is required, you will be issued with a free Prescription.  Your details will be passed to Crossroads Care Cambridgeshire with your consent, so that you can be supported with information and the opportunity of a carers assessment.  We will visit you to discuss the most appropriate form of support, which could include a free short break.  We can point you in the right direction to where you can find out more about caring, your rights, free services or benefits you may be entitled to.

You may choose to have a short break for some “me” time away from it all to support your own health or to keep an appointment.

http://www.crossroadscarecambridgeshire.org.uk

 

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