Tag Archives: social care

‘Good neighbours’ are not the answer to our care problems

September 13, 2013   Carers, Older care, Social care, ukcuts

‘Good neighbours’ are not the answer to our care problems

Professional care is expensive. Professional care is expensive.

Thursday, September 12, 2013
12:00 PM

So Suffolk County Council’s cabinet has decided to have a review of the way home care is delivered in the county . . . and is talking about community services, improving services etc etc.

I would love to think that the county council could find the Holy Grail that will allow more and more people to be cared for in a better way in the community while spending less money.

Sadly, in the real world these aspirations are wholly unrealistic. The changing demographics of the 21st Century mean many of the “community solutions” are not viable.

There seems to be an idea that being a “good neighbour” in communities across Suffolk will ease the burden of home care. That is just not the case. There is the world of difference in Mrs Smith’s neighbour knocking on the door and seeing if she wants anything from the village shop and the kind of professional care that is increasingly being needed.

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Becoming a carer shouldn't mean the end of your career

September 11, 2013   Carers, health, internet, Social care

Jackie Ashley’s reflections on caring for her husband Andrew Marr have highlighted a critical social issue

 

 

Jackie Ashley wrote about the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr.

Jackie Ashley’s honest reflections on the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr, and the reaction of so many to her very powerful personal account have cast a welcome spotlight on a rising and critical social issue.

Whether through serious illness, disability or growing older, rising numbers of people need help with daily living. Most often it is family and friends who give the everyday care and support they need and, as Jackie so rightly observes, we need society to grasp the impact not simply on individual lives, but on business, workforce, personal, health and social services and all aspects of our lives.

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Hundreds of thousands of elderly people were abused last year

September 8, 2013   Carers, health, mental health, Older care

Elderly people are being routinely ill-treated by carers or relatives, says Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow

 

Elderly people across the country are being routinely ill-treated according to Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow.

As many as 370,000 older people have been abused in their own homes by a carer, relative or friend in the last year, according to figures, exposing what has been described as a “hidden national scandal”.

The number aged over 65 who are physically, psychologically or financially persecuted at home every year is likely to reach almost half a million by the end of the decade.

Elderly men and women across the country, from all walks of life, are routinely ill-treated, yet former health minister Paul Burstow warns that their plight is often ignored or dismissed.

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