Tag Archives: NHS

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt visits Norwich dementia unit

 

The reality of living with and caring for someone with dementia is extremely tough, and Thorpe St Andrew pensioner Maurice Bartle was among carers who told health secretary Jeremy Hunt more about the difficulties they face when he visited Norwich yesterday.

Kim Briscoe, Health correspondent Saturday, October 20, 2012
6:30 AM

Jeremy Hunt talking to dementia carer Maurice Bartle at Hammerton Court in Norwich. Photo: Bill Smith Jeremy Hunt talking to dementia carer

The 72-year-old lives in South Hill Road with his wife Shirley, also 72, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago.

Mr Bartle, a retired maintenance electrician, said: “At the moment we are going through a difficult patch. The wife has got a bit of a rejection of drugs and of me sometimes.”

The pair visit Hammerton Court’s day centre one day a week and Mr Bartle said he valued being able to meet other carers.

The £13m unit, in Bowthorpe Road, has 36 bedrooms and also houses the Norfolk Dementia Care Academy – which aims to be a centre of excellence in training staff and carers to look after people with the illness.

He said: “I have found it ideal, but it’s not for long enough and I wish we could come for longer.

“I have found it very informative and it’s given me a lot of extra information I wasn’t aware of until I came here.”

Social care cuts ‘could lead to higher NHS bills’

Dying people could end up in hospital sooner – and so cost taxpayers more – if cuts to social care services continue, a report warns today.

Better social care appears to reduce the need for hospital until the very latest stage among the dying, found the Nuffield Trust.

By , Medical Correspondent

6:45AM BST 16 Oct 2012

The Nuffield Trust, a think tank, has found that good social care tends to keep the terminally ill out of hospital until they really need it.

Their report looked at the usage that 73,000 people made of council social services and hospitals in the last months of their lives.

Dr Martin Bardsley, head of research at the Nuffield trust, said: “Our study suggests how social care might be effectively substituting for hospital care for this group of people.

Keeping Abreast’s Norwich awareness day at Chapelfield

Monday, October 15, 2012
11:27 AM

A Norfolk breast cancer charity will be offering shoppers advice and raising awareness about the work it does at a city shopping centre this week.

On Friday, October 19, staff and volunteers from Norfolk-based charity, Keeping Abreast, will be at Chapelfield Shopping Centre all day to help raise awareness of the work they do with women throughout the UK with breast cancer.

Visitors to their trademark bright pink stand will have the opportunity to meet with patients who have been through or are currently battling breast cancer, and have had or are about to undergo surgery, and talk to them about their experiences.