No practical support for 1 in 3 full time carers

Carers UK warns welfare and care cuts risk turning the clock back on carer support
 
A third of those caring full-time for older, disabled or seriously ill loved ones receive no practical support, new research from Carers UK reveals.

The results of a survey of over 3,000 carers across the UK show that many are struggling alone without advice or support and are seeing caring taking a toll on their health, family finances and careers as a result.

Full Article on Mature Times

Call to end postcode lottery for MS sufferers

PEOPLE with multiple sclerosis in Wiltshire have among the poorest access in England to physiotherapy needed to help manage their condition, an MS Society report has revealed.

Forty-two per cent of people with MS surveyed by the MS Society across the county who said they needed to access the support of a specialist physiotherapist have been unable to see one.

The MS Society surveyed 101 people from Wiltshire as part of a nationwide poll of more than 10,000 adults living with MS.

Full Article on This is Wiltshire

Government launches new care comparison website

Information to help people choose, compare and comment on residential care homes and home care services is now available on NHS Choices.

The new care profiles provide the most comprehensive source of information on care services. Launched today by Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, they help people to search and compare residential care homes and home care services and make confident choices about registered care for themselves or family members.

Full News Release on Gov.uk

More dementia advisors to start work in Wiltshire

Four new dementia experts will be on hand to support those with the condition across Wiltshire from May 1.

The service from charity Alzheimer’s Support will see advisors split their time between doctors surgeries in Market Lavington, Marlborough, Upavon, Trowbridge, Bradford on Avon, Warminster and Westbury.

They will also be making home visits and be available to be phoned to provide advice.

Full Article on Gazette & Herald

Turning Point for Wiltshire drug and alcohol service

Turning Point, a leading health and social care provider, has been commissioned by Wiltshire Council to provide Wiltshire Substance Misuse Service, a countywide integrated drug and alcohol service.

Lord Victor Adebowale, chief executive of Turning Point, visited Wiltshire last week and spoke about his vision for improving services for people with substance misuse and ensuring people have the best chance of achieving their goals for recovery.

Full Article on Gazette & Herald

EVENT: Understanding the UK health care system and financial planning for long-term care

Thursday 25th April 2013, 10am - 12.30pm  Hayswood Room, Cumberwell Park Golf Club,Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 2PQ (map)

Agenda;- Understanding the system, including NHS and Local Authority obligations and who pays.

            - Strategies available to minimise the impact of care fees, including property, assets, wills and powers or attorney.

            - Financial planning including equity release, investment bonds, pensions, immediate care annuities and inheritance tax.

             - Questions and answers.

Light refreshments available.

 To book your place call 0800 072 86 36 or register online

New autism service launched

A NEW service has been launched in Wiltshire to help raise awareness of autism.

The Wiltshire Autism Diagnostic Service (WADS), launched by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, aims to work with organisations and the public to help people recognise the signs of autism. Only about 15 per cent of people with autism currently have a job, which means they can miss out on a lot of the usual things that people get by going to work.

Full Article on Salisbury Journal

EVENT: Wiltshire Voices Carers DVD Launch - 22nd May 2013 @ Market Lavington Village Hall

We are planning to make a film exploring the issues facing Carers in Wiltshire which we hope will enable Carers to identify what is important to them in respect of help and support needed for them and the people they care for, as well as identifying clear measures for support in respect of accessing and developing appropriate services and life opportunities.

Please come along to the DVD launch event for...

• Information on the aims of the project
• A chance to ask questions
• View clips of previous Wiltshire Voices films
• Take part in discussions with other carers and service providers
• Identify key issues which could be addressed by the film

The event takes place on Wednesday 22nd May from 10:30am-12:30pm and will include a buffet lunch.

This meeting will be followed by 3 focus group meetings across the County in late June/early July to take the issues further. It is hoped that the film will be ready for launch towards the end of the year.

Places need to be booked by 3rd May. Please call 0800 181 4118 or email SueC@carersinwiltshire.co.uk

INFO: Papworth Trust – free respite holidays

Papworth Trust is offering free respite holidays to disabled people and their families at Kerry Farm in Wales, thanks to a £2 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

Typical respite is where the disabled person goes away while their family stays at home. The Trust’s respite holidays are unique because they offer a chance for the whole family to together have a supported break, without the pressures of everyday life.

For more details, please visit the Papworth Trust website here.

Atos apologises to long-term sick wrongly assessed as fit for work

The executive in charge of running medical assessments for benefits claims at Atos Healthcare has offered an apology to those long-term sick it has incorrectly assessed as being "fit for work".

In her first public interview, Lisa Coleman, the manager who oversees the firm's contract with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was asked by BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme if she would like to apologise. She replied: "If we get something wrong then I'm very happy to say sorry."

Although work capability tests were introduced by the Labour government in 2008, the coalition has rapidly expanded their use. However, Atos – which last year processed almost 20,000 incapacity benefit claimants a week – has faced criticism after it emerged that a third (37%) of decisions appealed were successfully overturned.

Full Article on Guardian Society

EVENT: Understand Autism - Have Your Say!

Do you have an autism spectrum condition?

 Would you like the opportunity to give your views to Wiltshire Council?

Join others who wish to share their views on how policy makers can help those on the autism spectrum.

Friday 26 April 2013

11.30am – 2pm

Trowbridge Fire Station,
Hilperton Road,
Trowbridge
Wiltshire, BA14 7JB

(Please note, this is a meeting for people with an autism spectrum condition only, and will be aimed at adults)

Book to reserve a place, please contact:

National Autistic Society (South West) Tel: 07767 678984 Email: jo.clay@nas.org.uk

Poor support for family carers unacceptable says minister

A government minister has dubbed "unacceptable" the lack of support for carers who look after the children of other family members. 

Edward Timpson, minister for children and families, says so-called kinship carers "often struggle on alone without the support they desperately need".

Many families using informal kinship care arrangements live in severe poverty, suggests a report.

Full Article on BBC News

Welfare reforms 'will take £19bn a year out of economy and hit poorest hardest'

Northern England will be hit hardest, with residents in Blackpool set to lose out more than anywhere else in Britain when the changes to the benefits system kick in, academics at Sheffield Hallam University said.

Former industrial areas including Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Glasgow will also be disproportionately affected.

However, wealthier areas, predominantly in the South, such as Cambridge, Surrey and the Cotswolds, will see the smallest financial losses.

Full Article on Daily Express

Advice day for Wiltshire people affected by sight loss

A free event being run by the UK's leading sight loss charity on Thursday 18 April and aims to bring together Wiltshire's people affected by sight loss and to promote independence.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has worked closely with the local society, Wiltshire Blind Association, to bring together a Low Vision Day. 

It will offer advice to people who have lost their sight, as well as to their families and friends, including details of support and clubs available in the local area. 

Full Article on This is Wiltshire

10% Late Availabiity Discount on Carers Holidays

Carers Support Centre Bristol and South Gloucestershire currently have availability in their 2 and 3 bedroomed caravans at Torbay between Friday 12th April and Saturday 27th April. They’ve got short breaks available for 3 or 4 nights for just £199 or a 7 night breaks for only £266.

Carers must quote reference CT0113 to get this special discount.

This discount is only for the forthcoming two weeks so you need to act quickly so you don’t miss out!

Disability Living Allowance replaced by PIP scheme

Major changes to disability benefits for new claimants are being introduced in some parts of the UK ahead of a national roll-out of the new measures.

It is the start of the replacement of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) by Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the current "ridiculous" system where people were given benefit with no further checks must end.

But charity Scope says the changes have been designed just to save money.

Full Article on BBC News

BBC One - DIY SOS: THE BIG BUILD are looking for applications

For the past 3 years DIY SOS: The Big Build has helped ordinary people whose lives have been dramatically changed by an unforeseen issue e.g. an accident leading to a disability, the onset of a  life altering illness or a condition, the sudden death of a parent and so forth.  

The show helps these people by radically transforming their homes, in the past we have put in downstairs wet rooms for people who can no longer get up to the bathroom. We have totally reworked entire houses so that they are wheel chair friendly. We have put up single and double story extensions to increase the living space for a family and have thus created healthy safe environments for young children and those with learning difficulties.  We have added internal lifts, wheelchair ramps, specialist bathrooms and bedrooms to people homes.

DIY SOS: The Big Build is a very positive series which genuinely helps people and really makes a difference to their lives.  As well as bringing great benefits to the chosen families the series will raise public awareness of the conditions that affect them. 

 

Download the flyer for more information and a link to apply

Disability payment changes begin

Reforms to disability benefits will end the 'ridiculous' system that gives people lifetime awards, Iain Duncan Smith has said as the disability living allowance is replaced by the new personal independence payment (PLA).

The work and pensions secretary said claims in disability benefit had more than doubled in some parts of the country ahead of the changes.

His comments came as nearly half a million people call on the Tory cabinet minister to live off £53 a week for a year in a petition being delivered to his office on Monday.

Full Article on Guardian Society

440,000 families 'will lost £16.90 a week' in benefits double-whammy

Almost 440,000 families will see their income cut by £16.90 a week as they are hit by both the "bedroom tax" and the changes to council tax benefit, according to research by the New Policy Institute.

The cumulative impact of the welfare changes prompted a former Lib Dem minister, Sarah Teather, to urge the coalition to review its reforms. She said: "My concern is that some families are being targeted over and over again."

The MP for Brent Central added: "Hitting the same people repeatedly means it adds up to a very significant cut in income. I am not sure how they are supposed to manage, where they are supposed to live, or whether the government has looked at the cumulative impact."

Full Article on Guardian Society

Welfare reforms could leave system more vulnerable to fraud, say MPs

MPs have raised fears that the government's huge welfare shakeup will leave the benefits system more vulnerable to fraud.

A report by the communities and local government committee highlighted concerns about universal credit, which will be implemented nationally from October and replaces a string of benefits such as housing benefit and child tax credits.

The committee highlighted concerns raised during an inquiry into the changes that the IT system under universal credit will have trouble distinguishing between genuine and fraudulent claims.

Full Article on Guardian Politics