Tag Archives: carers
‘Dangerous and flawed’: sacked minister Paul Burstow’s verdict on hospital cuts
Former health minister Paul Burstow launched a withering attack today on “dangerous” plans to cut hospital services in London.
07 September 2012
Hours after losing his government job, he told the Standard that a plan to axe a casualty and maternity unit in south-west London put patient safety at risk. In a wide-ranging interview the Liberal Democrat MP urged new Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to “bin” the proposals, and warned they were likely to lead to “more mothers giving birth in the back of their car”.
He also proposed changes to stop rail fares from spiralling.
Mr Burstow, 50, was born at St Helier hospital, which serves his Sutton and Cheam constituency but is now set to lose its A&E and maternity units under plans drawn up by health chiefs.
He dismissed the strategy as fundamentally flawed and warned it would also damage health services in Kingston and Croydon, as their hospitals would have to cope with more patients.
Daughter angry about closure of Norfolk dementia care unit
A concerned daughter has blasted Norfolk County Council’s plans to close a dementia unit in Blofield which she says has made a huge difference to her mother’s life.
David Freezer Wednesday, September 5, 2012
9:20 AM
A concerned daughter has blasted Norfolk County Council’s plans to close a dementia unit in Blofield which she says has made a huge difference to her mother’s life.
Allison Little, from Neatishead, is unhappy with the county council’s reasoning for closing the Stocks Lane Day Centre in Blofield – which, as reported in Saturday’s Norwich Evening News, is due to happen this autumn.
Ms Little’s 82-year-old mother, also from Neatishead, attends the day centre five days a week as she has Alzheimer’s disease.
Mencap welcomes Government SEN proposals
Learning disability charity Mencap has welcomed the Government’s publication of draft provisions to improve the support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).
by Dan Parton (Editor) on September 5, 2012 in News
The new publication follows on from the Government’s proposals to reform provision for children and young people with SEN in the green paper Support and Aspiration, published in March 2011, and the subsequent Next Steps document published in May 2012.
These new draft provisions provide for:
- A new duty for joint commissioning which will require local authorities and health bodies to take joint responsibility for providing services
- A requirement on local authorities to publish a local offer of services for disabled children and young people and those with SEN
- New protections for young people aged 16-25 in further education and a stronger focus on preparing them for adulthood
- Parents and young people, for the first time, to be entitled to have a personal budget
- Further education colleges, for the first time, and all academies, including free schools, to have the same duties as maintained schools to safeguard the education of children and young people with SEN.
