Tag Archives: disability

Carers say funding cuts will end up costing council more in long term

December 17, 2012   Carers, disability, health, ukcuts

Cuts of £500,000 to carers services in Derby will cost the city council more in the long run.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Derby Telegraph

 

By PAUL WHYATT

CARERS in Derby say plans to slash funding for services they use by £500,000 will cost the city council far more in the long term.

Vita Snowden, of the campaign group Protect Derby Carers’ Services, said many of the city’s 5,000 carers would be unable to cope if their support services were forced to fold as a result of the cuts.

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    Councillor Fareed Hussain said carers would still be able to access services.

And that, she claimed, would leave the council having to take on responsibility for the care of thousands more vulnerable adults.

Ms Snowden said: “The council thinks it is saving money by cutting carers’ services but it will end up spending much more.

“It costs the council approximately £26,000 per year to pay for one person to live in a care home. The amount it is looking to cut over the next three is the same as the amount it would cost them to look after 20 adults.

“There are 5,000 carers looking after loved ones in Derby. If they cannot cope, thousands more adults will have to go into care homes. It will cost the council millions more.”

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Why bus drivers are being taught about dementia

December 17, 2012   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

By Jane Dreaper Health correspondent, BBC News

Thousands of bus drivers around Britain are being given special training so they can help passengers with dementia.

 

Drivers Chris Peter and Krystyna Ryan took part in the dementia awareness training

It’s part of an initiative by the Prime Minister which is trying to encourage everyone to be more aware of the needs of older people who have dementia, to help them in their daily lives.

 Can you remember what is on a 1p coin?

I watched a training session at a First Group depot in an industrial part of north-west London. It is home to more than 100 buses, and a work base for 300 drivers.

Upstairs, 11 members of staff gather for what proves to be a hard-hitting couple of hours. It begins with a simple memory test.

The trainer, Keith Sheard, promises the drivers an easy exercise. He asks them to draw a picture of both sides of a 1p coin, with as much detail as they can remember.

He jokes: “Dead easy this – you handle these coins every day!”

Over time, the dementia will come back and take everything from you.”

Keith Sheard Trainer

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Parents who look after grown-up disabled offspring face benefit cap

December 17, 2012   Carers, disability

Ministers confirm £500-a-week cap will apply to carers after children reach adulthood, forcing some into care

 

Jacqueline Smirl with her son, who is 20 and needs 24-hour care.

The government’s proposed benefit cap will apply to carers looking after their disabled offspring, forcing some parents to move out of their home or put their child into care, it has been confirmed.

Ministers have repeatedly said disabled people will be exempt from the £500-a-week benefit cap that is due to come into force in April.

But they have now accepted that if a parent is still looking after a disabled child after they reach adulthood, even if the child’s mental age is as low as eight, the parent and the child will be treated separately, and the parent will be subject to the benefits cap.

In the Commons last week the work and pensions minister Esther McVey said: “In practice most carers will be exempt [from the cap] because their partner or child is in receipt of disability living allowance.”

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