Tag Archives: mental health

Poor hit hardest by UK govt. policies

May 13, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care, poverty
Carers feel forgotten by society 
The poorest households have been most affected by the soaring cost of living in Britain as they spend a higher proportion of their incomes to meet the problem of food and energy bills, warns a new research.

According to a study by Trades Union Congress (TUC), Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for the poorest 10 percent of households in February was 4.1 percent, compared with 3.6 percent for middle-income families and 3.3 per cent for the richest 10 percent.

“People have been getting poorer every month for the last two years as high inflation, tax rises and the dire state of the economy take their toll on family budgets,” said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

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Norfolk NHS conference sees vision of improved mental health care

May 12, 2012   Carers, mental health, Norfolk

A vision of improved nursing training and care to prevent a repeat of recent scandals involving dementia and mental health patients was delivered at an NHS conference in Norfolk yesterday

By dominic bareham
Saturday, May 12, 2012
12:02 PM

The NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust wants to revitalise the traditional caring and supportive role of nurses following recent reports over a failure in the most basic care given to dementia and mental health patients.

In October, a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed inspectors made 100 unannounced visits to hospitals across the country to assess dignity and nutrition standards and found 55 cases where the care received by elderly patients was “alarming.”

Particular areas of concern were a lack of support for those who needed help eating, poor hygiene and curtains not being closed properly.

Locally, the CQC has given the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston three warnings about the standard of patient care.

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What service users want from social workers

May 3, 2012   Carers, Depression, disability, mental health, social workers
Good social workers are essential
Peter Beresford
Friday 27 April 2012 15:43

What do service users want from social workers? Social work academic and mental health service user Peter Beresford says that research points to four crucial qualities. He will be speaking about the future of adult social work at Community Care Live on 16 May.

 

The crucial importance of the social work relationship

Above all else the evidence highlights that service users value the relationship that they have with social workers. It is seen as the crucial starting point for getting help and support on equal terms; for working with rather than on people. Service users talk of relationships based on warmth, empathy reliability and respect. It is the antithesis of form-filling approaches to assessment, which reduce the contact between service users and practitioners to a formulaic and bureaucratic contact.

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