Category Archives: Social care

Home care fees rise by up to 160pc as rationing takes hold

September 19, 2013   Carers, Older care, Social care, ukcuts

Elderly and disabled people who need care in their own homes have been hit with rises of up to 160 per cent in their bills in just five years, new research shows.

By , Social Affairs Editor

7:00AM BST 19 Sep 2013

New care measure 'sets bar too high' for elderly and disabled, say charities Home care fees rise by up to 160pc as rationing takes hold Photo: IAN JONES

The number of areas in which the state support for care is available to anyone other than the most frail has also halved in the same period, it discloses.

A study by Which?, the consumer rights group, exposes the full extent to which councils are rationing care as they attempt to absorb major cuts to their budgets.

Based on information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, it discloses that there are now only 12 local authorities in England and Wales still offering care to people whose needs are officially assessed as “moderate”. Five years ago it was able to identify 26 areas where this was still available.

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‘Good neighbours’ are not the answer to our care problems

September 13, 2013   Carers, Older care, Social care, ukcuts

‘Good neighbours’ are not the answer to our care problems

Professional care is expensive. Professional care is expensive.

Thursday, September 12, 2013
12:00 PM

So Suffolk County Council’s cabinet has decided to have a review of the way home care is delivered in the county . . . and is talking about community services, improving services etc etc.

I would love to think that the county council could find the Holy Grail that will allow more and more people to be cared for in a better way in the community while spending less money.

Sadly, in the real world these aspirations are wholly unrealistic. The changing demographics of the 21st Century mean many of the “community solutions” are not viable.

There seems to be an idea that being a “good neighbour” in communities across Suffolk will ease the burden of home care. That is just not the case. There is the world of difference in Mrs Smith’s neighbour knocking on the door and seeing if she wants anything from the village shop and the kind of professional care that is increasingly being needed.

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Becoming a carer shouldn't mean the end of your career

September 11, 2013   Carers, health, internet, Social care

Jackie Ashley’s reflections on caring for her husband Andrew Marr have highlighted a critical social issue

 

 

Jackie Ashley wrote about the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr.

Jackie Ashley’s honest reflections on the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr, and the reaction of so many to her very powerful personal account have cast a welcome spotlight on a rising and critical social issue.

Whether through serious illness, disability or growing older, rising numbers of people need help with daily living. Most often it is family and friends who give the everyday care and support they need and, as Jackie so rightly observes, we need society to grasp the impact not simply on individual lives, but on business, workforce, personal, health and social services and all aspects of our lives.

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