Up to 300 frontline staff at NHS Direct could lose their jobs as the service tries to cut costs, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
Tag Archives: Older care
Elderly fall through gaps in broken care system
Elderly people are being let down by a lack of co-operation between the NHS and council-run social care, MPs are set to warn this week.
A report by the all-party health select committee is expected to recommend the two budgets should be pooled, to prevent wrangling over who pays for care.
Dr Dan Poulter, a Conservative MP on the committee, said the elderly were “falling through the gaps” between the services.
He said the decision to allow GPs to abandon responsibility for out of hours care had been “the single biggest disaster in medical care” in a decade, causing more elderly people to attend hospital casualty departments because they had nowhere else to turn.
Up to 300 NHS Direct jobs ‘at risk’ and carers will be more isolated
Up to 300 NHS Direct jobs ‘at risk’
Royal College of Nursing warns of job loses as new 111 number for non-emergency services is phased in
The Royal College of Nursing said new shift arrangements could see up to 300 NHS Direct staff lose their jobs.
Care crisis facing the elderly: MPs
MPs warned that funding cuts were becoming ‘more urgent day by day’ and said that the Government needed to overhaul the social care system and increase funding
Millions of elderly people are facing a “care crisis” as official figures show two thirds of councils have cut funding for residential homes.
A survey by the Commons Health Select Committee found that councils are cutting social care budgets by an average of 6% while raising charges for services such as home help.
MPs warned that funding cuts were becoming “more urgent day by day” and said that the Government needed to overhaul the social care system and increase funding.
The wide-ranging report also warned that the government’s reforms of the NHS were proving a “distraction” and putting attempts to save £20billion by 2014 in jeopardy.
