Tag Archives: disability
Specially-trained dogs can now help out their disabled owners with the laundry
TOP dog Duffy has learned a new trick or two… thanks to a revolutionary washing machine.
A trained pooch presses the paw-designed button to start the washing machine [ROSS PARRY]
He’s one of a breed of specially-trained dogs who can strip beds, fill laundry baskets as well as load and empty washing machines.
Now they are being taught to do all the laundry for their disabled owners with the new Woof to Wash machine.
They unlock it with the push of a paw on a bespoke pad, yank on a rope to open the door, load, close with their nose, then start the cycle simply by barking.
Councils may have to outsource ‘low-level’ assessments to free up social workers, say sector leaders
Large hike in assessments on back of Care Bill reforms is likely to lead to two-tier system with some cases outsourced to charities or providers
Councils may have to outsource low-level assessments to free up social workers for more complex cases and deal with a big hike in demand arising from care funding reforms.
That was the message from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), the Local Government Association (LGA) and council chief executives’ body Solace, in their response to the government’s consultation on the reforms, under the Care Bill.
Councils are expected to assess an additional 180,000 to 230,000 people and carry out an additional 440,000 to 530,000 reviews in 2016-17, because the reforms will incentivise many more self-funders to approach their council.
Only by having their needs assessed and regularly reviewed will self-funders be able to take advantage of the £72,000 cap on their eligible care costs that is the centrepiece of the government’s funding reforms. This would provide them with an “independent personal budget”, setting out what their council would spend on their care if it were meeting it, which would accumulate in a “care account” until they reached the cap.
Food bank Britain: Thousands need charity handouts because of welfare system failings
THOUSANDS of people are relying on food banks to survive because of failings in the welfare system.
A Sunday Express investigation has uncovered scores of cases in which people need charity handouts after being denied benefits because of administration errors and punitive sanctions.
As many as 580,000 cuts to benefit payments were made between October 2012 and June 2013, a six per cent rise on the same period a year earlier, before rules were toughened.
Employment Minister Esther McVey said the sanctions, or cuts to benefits are used only against those who were “wilfully rejecting support for no good reason”.
