Tag Archives: Older care

Elderly cancer patients denied financial advice because nurses assume they are well-off

August 17, 2012   benefits, Cancer, Carers, Older care

Elderly cancer patients are routinely denied information about the financial help they could receive because hospital staff believe pensioners do not need the support, a government report finds today.

The study suggested that about 47 per cent of over-75s received information from the NHS about how to get financial help, just over half the proportion of 16-25 year-olds who were told how to claim benefits.By

7:00AM BST 17 Aug 2012

The over-75s are among the least satisfied groups of cancer patients with the standards of care and support from doctors and nurses, according to the Department of Health study.

Fewer than half of the age group reported being given information on their eligibility to benefits for the disabled and other types of financial assistance.

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Elderly care: Government to ‘set out cost limit’

August 16, 2012   Carers, Older care
Ministers are set to include plans to limit how much people have to pay towards the cost of care in old age in the government’s next spending review.
16 August 2012 Last updated at 15:37
By Ben Wright Political correspondent, BBC News
Elderly man's hands Social care is currently means-tested

A spokesman said the prime minister was serious about resolving the issue, after a review suggested there should be a cap on social care of £35,000.

The man who recommended the cap said there was a growing consensus behind the move among political leaders.

However, there has been no agreement on a final package of proposals.

Last month Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said ministers supported the principle of a cap but there was no commitment to finding the money to pay for it.

But the government is keen to scotch the impression that reform of social care in England is dead in the water and a Whitehall source said on Thursday there is a will to include it in the next Comprehensive Spending Review, expected to begin next year.

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Poor care at homes leads to thousand of elderly being admitted to hospital

August 9, 2012   Carers, Older care

Hundreds of thousands of elderly people are admitted to hospital as emergencies because of poor care in the community, a study has found.

Rural primary care trusts and those with large elderly populations had low emergency bed use

By , Medical Editor

7:00AM BST 09 Aug 2012

The failure of GPs, community health services and social care services to work together means large numbers of over 65s are admitted to hospitals, the King’s Fund think tank has found.

Researchers found that 2.3m overnight stays in hospital could be prevented if all areas of the country performed as well as the top 25 per cent.

This is the equivalent of 7,000 hospital beds, or several medium sized hospitals full of elderly emergency cases every night of the year.

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