Bedroom tax legal challenge dismissed by high court

Ten families dealing with disability have lost their attempt to overturn the government's "bedroom tax" on the basis that it was highly discriminatory and contrary to article 14 of the European convention on human rights.

Two high court judges ruled that courts should not "micro-manage" policy decisions and that £30m in discretionary housing payments granted local authorities enough flexibility to deal with shortfalls.

Following the judgment on Tuesday, the government has announced an extra £35m in payments to deal with housing benefit shortfalls for those with disabilities.

Full Article on Guardian Society

UK Census: the toll of being an unpaid carer

Approximately 9% of men and 12% of women in England and Wales do it, but it's easy for their work to become invisible to policymakers and statisticians: unpaid care.

A new release from the ONS on Thursday has sought to take a closer look at this work, its growth and most of all, the impact on those who provide it.

The report finds young carers face a disproportionate impact on their health.

Full Article on Guardian Datablog

Wiltshire's three main hospitals fare well in Friends and Families test

All three acute hospitals serving Wiltshire performed well in the new Friends and Family Test.

The initiative, introduced by NHS England three months ago, asks patients who have attended Accident and Emergency units or who stay at least one night on an inpatient ward how likely they are to recommend the hospital to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment.

Patients can choose from one of six answers, ranging from ‘extremely likely’ to ‘extremely unlikely.’

Full Article on Wiltshire Times

Viewpoint: 10 jargon phrases used for my autistic son

My son Steven is 23. He has autism and other learning difficulties. And the language of the social care system seems to make his life sound even less "normal" than it is.

The adult social care world is about many things, but one thing that I feel it's not about is care. The language seems to mislead you right from the start. Processes seem to come before people in a system of impenetrable management where money is the biggest consideration.

Full blogpost on BBC News

Action vowed over dementia in Wiltshire

NHS bosses in Wiltshire say they are making improvements to diagnosing dementia after finding patients waited up to 12 months.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that patients should wait no longer than six weeks for a formal diagnosis.

GP Magazine found that in 37 out of 97 Clinical Commiss-ioning Groups (CCGs), patients waited more than six weeks for a formal diagnosis. In Wiltshire, patients waited up to 12 months in 2012/13 because of a backlog in cases and delays to CT scans.

Full Article on Wiltshire Times

Benefit cap rolled out in Wiltshire

The Government’s Benefit Cap, which limits the amount of benefits people can claim to £500 a week, is now being rolled out in Wiltshire.

Locally this means that around 100 claimants could have their benefits restricted to the earnings of an average household.

Since April of last year Jobcentre Plus advisors have been in touch with all claimants who might be affected by this important change.

Full Article on Wiltshire Times

New requirement to involve service users and carers in social work education

All social work education providers in England will have to involve service users and carers in their approved programmes from 2015, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has confirmed.

Nine out of 10 respondents to the HCPC’s consultation on whether to include the requirement in its standards of education and training said yes. 

There were 297 responses in total from across the 16 professions the HCPC regulates, roughly half from individuals and half from organisations, including education providers and service user groups.

Full Article on Community Care

62% of GP surgeries in Wiltshire are committed to supporting carers

Over half of GP practices in Wiltshire have achieved an Investors in Carers award which gives recognition to surgeries supporting unpaid carers in the local community. 

The awards were presented by Dr Steve Rowlands, Chair of Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) at a ceremony that took place during Carers Week 2013.

The ceremony celebrated the success of the first year of the GP Accreditation Scheme which is delivered by Carer Support Wiltshire, a charity supporting carers across the County.

One way to achieve an award is hosting a carers’ clinic which offers a health check with a nurse and an opportunity to chat with a support worker about your caring role.

Liz Vine, a carer who has attended a clinic, said: “When I was first asked if I would like to attend a carers’ clinic at my surgery my first thought was ‘what for?’ but you have no idea what useful information you might gain from the meeting.

“I spoke to two ladies from Carer Support Wiltshire who were both lovely and made me realise just how volatile I was. For me it was both informative and therapeutic.”

It is hoped that the scheme, joint funded by Wiltshire Council and NHS Wiltshire CCG, will encourage the 22 surgeries not yet achieving an award to offer better services for carers in the coming year.

A Carers Lead from a surgery already at gold level said: “This scheme encouraged us to rethink how we can deliver better services for our carers and if possible support other carers in the community.

“We hope that by continuing our work with Carer Support Wiltshire we can make more agencies that we come into contact with aware of their services, increase the numbers of carers on our register and improve the level of support that is offered to them.”

For further information about the GP Accreditation Scheme, please contact Carer Support Wiltshire on 0800 181 4118 or visit www.carersinwiltshire.co.uk

CONSULTATION: Changes to the way the CQC inspect, regulate and monitor care services

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) want your feedback on the plans they have developed to help ensure that people receive high-quality care.

About this consultation

Their strategy for 2013 to 2016 sets out a clear purpose for us - to make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and to encourage care services to make improvements.

This consultation is an important step towards making the changes needed to deliver their purpose.

Please visit their website to download the full consultation and to provide your feedback.

SURVEY: Are you aged 24 or under and caring for a relative with dementia?

Are you a young carer caring/providing support for a family member with dementia?

Would you like to take part in a Student Nurse’s research project?

IF YES

Please find questionnaire on

www.survey.bris.ac.uk/nottingham/youngcarers

(takes 5-10 minutes to complete!)

It does not matter what kind of care/support you provide or how often,

 I am interested in your caring role and experiences!

For more information contact:

Emma Thompson

ntyet@nottingham.ac.uk

Elderly care cap in England to benefit 'one in eight'

The £72,000 cap on elderly care costs in England, due to be introduced in 2016, will benefit one in eight people, the government has said. 

The revelation came as the government set out details about how it will work.

It confirmed there would be a deferred payment scheme under which the local council would pay care fees and claim them back from the estate after death.

Full Article on BBC News

NHS care watchdog CQC to overhaul hospital inspection system

The NHS care watchdog is abandoning its discredited way of inspecting hospitals and instead plans to use much larger teams of inspectors, including patients, to do in-depth investigations "lasting more than a week".

The first chief inspector of hospitals for the NHS, Sir Mike Richards, who is based at the Care Quality Commission and is a cancer specialist, said the new system of scrutinising standards of care would be robust and transparent and help restore public confidence in hospitals after care scandals such as Mid Staffordshire and Morecambe Bay.

Under the scheme, inspection teams are to be larger, with between 20 and 30 people, including five or six doctors and the same number of nurses, managers, allied health professionals and patients (classed as "experts by experience").

Full Article on Guardian Society

CONSULTATION: 16-25 Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) Support

The Children & Young People’s Trust has drafted a 16-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Support Commissioning Strategy for consultation.  The document is attached to this email as well as being available on Wiltshire Pathways (http://www.wiltshirepathways.org/GenPage.asp?ID=55). 

This strategy sets out how Wiltshire intends to plan for and prepare young people with SEND for positive outcomes in adulthood within Wiltshire. A key feature is to put more choice and control in the hands of parents/carers and young people themselves. This strategy explains Wiltshire’s vision, the national and local context, a comprehensive needs analysis, views of stakeholders, examples of best practice, a review of existing services and learning provision, financial expenditure, commissioning priorities, and how the strategy will be taken forward and implemented.

To send feedback on the draft strategy please email your response to Pathways@wiltshire.gov.uk by Friday 23 August 2013.  Enquiries or requests for further information can also be emailed to this address.