Tag Archives: family
Help for pensioners and carers who live in London
A winter warmer for pensioners and their carers
Victoria Borwick, Deputy Mayor and London Assembly member on our new campaign to make sure older Londoners get the benefits they’re entitled to.
It is sad to think in these difficult times that many pensioners in London may be missing out on an extra £35 a week, or £1,800 a year in pension credits. That’s why we’re running a new campaign to raise awareness and remind older people that they are able to claim.
Fighting in High court for Care
Disabled pensioner set for High Court battle with council over One Barnet scheme
Campaigner Maria Nash outside Barnet House in Whetstone. Picture: Polly Hancock.
by Tim Lamden Monday, March 18, 2013
7:00 AM
A disabled pensioner is preparing for a High Court battle with Barnet Council this week in a bid to topple its controversial £320million outsourcing plans.
Lawyers instructed by New Barnet resident Maria Nash, 68, will go head-to-head with the council’s legal team in the Royal Courts of Justice tomorrow for a three-day hearing challenging the legality of the One Barnet outsourcing scheme.
Ms Nash, who has received government aid to fund the legal bid, called for the judicial review, citing a lack of consultation about the plans to outsource a swathe of council services to two private companies.
She also insists the council has failed to meet equality obligations in relation to the plans, which attracted a petition with 8,000 signatures in January calling for a referendum on One Barnet.
In a cabinet meeting last month it was revealed that should the High Court rule in favour of Ms Nash, it would cost the council £15million annually to deal with the collapse of One Barnet and would force a re-think on plans to freeze council tax over the next two years.
“This is a warning to everybody else that there is a better way of doing things,” said Ms Nash. “If a council consults with residents they can give more insight on how better to spend money and how better to cater for the needs of the citizens – much better than a private company which only caters for profit.”
Ms Nash is confined to a wheelchair due to severe arthritis and requires a full-time carer to help her with daily life. She also suffers from osteoporosis and diabetes.
The mother-of-one, whose husband died in 2001 after contracting a hospital bug and who lost her 13-year-old daughter to meningitis in 1992, has an autistic son she also helps to care for.
A chance to make a real difference for patients and carers!
Putting patients first
A major change to the way GPs in England commission local health services will take place in April – and it offers board members of clinical groups the chance to make a real difference for their communities
While debate was raging at Westminster about the government’s NHS reforms, groups of GPs across England were quietly going about the job of setting up the boards tasked with steering through major changes to the service. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which take over from primary care trusts in April, are designed to put GPs in the driving seat when it comes to commissioning services in their area.
The new boards have a big job ahead. Not only are there significant pressures on budgets, but the fallout from the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust inquiry means, more than ever, the spotlight is on standards of care.
Dr Charles Alessi, chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners, the body set up to represent the new boards, says there are real opportunities for board members to make a difference. “It is a very difficult time for the NHS and perhaps the balance between a robust management style and the clinical dimension needs to be rebalanced,” he says, “with the duty of care to the population taking on a far more important role than it seemed to in the past. For all of us, it’s a new world – it’s very difficult, but very exciting.”
