Category Archives: ukcuts

Most multiple sclerosis patients in UK 'receiving inadequate care

April 29, 2013   Carers, Multiple Sclerosis, ukcuts

60% of sufferers not getting ‘disease-modifying treatments’, which may lower intensity and frequency of attacks

Multiple sclerosis – musicians in Birmingham attempt to smash the record for the most drummers to play the same beat at the same time to raise awareness of the disease. Photograph: David Jones/AP

Thousands of people with multiple sclerosis are not getting drugs or the care and support they need, according to a campaign launched today by a support charity.

Six out of 10 people with MS are not receiving what are called “disease-modifying treatments”, which are not cures but may reduce the frequency and intensity of attacks and slow progression of disability.

The MS Society is launching a campaign for better care and support of the estimated 100,000 people who have the neurological condition, which is usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

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Care homes on the brink as bailiffs move in

April 28, 2013   Carers, dementia, ukcuts

Care homes on the brink as bailiffs move in

Sunday 28 April 2013

Thousands of Britain’s most vulnerable elderly people face rising bills and the prospect of forced relocation from struggling care homes, because record numbers of providers are slipping into administration.

The total of private care home operators going bust grew by 12 per cent in the past 12 months. The annual rate of failures among private providers has more than doubled since the economic crisis began, with 250 residential care operators shutting.

Councils, a vital source of income for private-care providers, are slashing referrals and now seeking to shut their own facilities to meet savings targets. Andy Burnham, the shadow Health Secretary, called the wave of closures a “crisis”.

Providers are said to be caught in a perfect storm of diminishing income while struggling with fixed costs and debts left behind from their rapid expansion during the economic boom. Campaigners claim it will be elderly people – many dementia sufferers – who suffer.

Mr Burnham warned that the closures were part of a wider collapse in social care driven by spending cuts imposed on town halls. One authoritative study places the amount cut from Britain’s adult social services at up to £2bn.

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NHS ‘ring fence’ threatened by plan to help social care

April 26, 2013   Carers, DOH, hospital, Social care, ukcuts

More than £1bn likely to be transferred from health budget to local authorities

Oliver Wright Author Biography

Friday 26 April 2013

Ministers are to effectively abandon their pledge to ring-fence NHS spending by diverting more than £1bn to cover the spiralling cost of social care, The Independent can disclose.

The Government has decided to act amid fears that hospitals are admitting elderly patients who could be better cared for at home.

The plans – being drawn up as part of the Government’s spending review – are likely to see at least £1bn transferred from the Department of Health to local authorities to keep people out of hospital.

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