Category Archives: ukcuts

Older cancer patients ‘should not be written off’

January 24, 2014   Cancer, Carers, Older care, ukcuts

24 January 2014 Last updated at 10:34

Older cancer patients should not be “written off” as too old for treatment, a charity has warned.

Macmillan Cancer Support said decisions on care should be made based on a patient’s fitness, not their age.

It cited data which suggests 130,000 people over 65 diagnosed with cancer between 1991-2010 survived for more than 10 years.

NHS England acknowledged that it needed to deliver better services to people in the over-65 age group.

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Woman told to find work is in a COMA

January 22, 2014   benefits, Carers, disability, mental health, ukcuts

Sheila Holt was sectioned after being taken off Income Support, days later she had a heart attack and fell into the coma – and is still being sent letters by assessors

 
Atos: Sheila Holt

A mentally ill woman forced on to the Coalition’s Work Programme is in a coma – but is still being sent letters by benefits assessors.

Bipolar patient Sheila Holt, 47, was sectioned in December after being taken off Income Support. Days later she had a heart attack and fell into the coma.

This weekend, Miss Holt, of Rochdale, Gtr Manchester, was sent a letter by Atos to ask why she was not working.

Local Labour MP Simon Danczuk said: “I am in favour of welfare reform but trying to bulldoze through changes in a reckless and insensitive way is not the right way to go about it.

“This Government is causing a huge amount of damage and I have no doubt that Sheila’s story is being repeated in towns and cities up and down the country.

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Dying patients should be exempt from social care charges

January 15, 2014   Cancer, Carers, dementia, Social care, ukcuts
We need to talk about end-of-life care so fewer people face a lonely death in hospital. Free social care would be a start

theguardian.com,

 

A massage therapist works on the feet of a terminally ill hospice resident.

This week the care bill committee is debating who should be eligible for social care. MPs will also consider whether to add a clause that would enable exemption from social care charges for those at the end of their lives.

The amendment would also establish the need for better forward planning about where we would like to die. Most of us would prefer to be at home surrounded by the people we love, yet fewer than one in three are currently able to do so.

Why is it that 89% of those who die in hospital do so following an unplanned admission? In many cases it is because of the sheer exhaustion that comes with providing around-the-clock care. At the end of life there may be a period of days, but sometimes far longer, of complete dependency. Families go to enormous lengths to cope but, especially where there is only one person in a position to provide care, the elastic can only stretch so far.

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