Government plans for care bill cap 'misleading'

Elderly people will have to spend nearly twice as much on care bills as previously thought before qualifying for state help, a study suggests.

The Coalition’s pledge to overhaul care by introducing a £72,000 cap on care costs is misleading because it excludes tens of thousands of pounds in accommodation fees, it was claimed.

The research found that the cost of care itself amounted to only 49 per cent of an average overall annual bill of £28,367.

Full Article on Telegraph

EVENT: The Elderly Care system and funding options available seminar

Do you need to know more about this country's elderly care system and the funding options available?

Are you thinking of selling your house or other assets to pay for long term care?

abdcare (a specialist managed and branded division of Awdry Bailey and Douglas Solicitors with particular expertise in elderly care) invite you to attend a seminar which addresses the issues surrounding this country’s Care System and how you or your loved ones may be affected should long term care be needed.

           ~ Please arrive 20 minutes beforehand ~ light refreshments will be available ~

It is advisable to book early. Spaces may be limited!

Wednesday 27 November 2013   ~   10.00am - 12.30pm.

Burbage Village Hall, 60 Eastcourt Road, Burbage, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 3AJ

Understanding the system and who should be paying for my long term care needs?

What strategies should be deployed to minimise the impact of care fees?

If I do have to pay the costs myself, what financial options are available to me?

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND AND RESERVE FREE SEATING YOU MUST GO ONLINE TO;  www.abdcare.co.uk (seminars) OR telephone 01380 722311.

Care system now 'unsustainable' after £3bn cuts, social services chiefs warn

A total of £2.7 billion less is being spent on care for vulnerable elderly and disabled people across England than before the current round of austerity cuts began – a drop of a fifth in just three years.

The cut in care budgets comes despite hundreds of millions of pounds being diverted from the NHS to prop up the struggling system.

Care chiefs warned they now expect to see many nursing homes and home-care agencies being driven to the brink of bankruptcy because councils can no longer afford to increase what they pay them, even in line with inflation.

Full Article on Telegraph

Why the elderly care crisis is here to stay

The report from the Care Quality Commission that a quarter of home care services are not meeting all the quality and safety standards makes depressing reading.

Evidence of rushed appointments, botched assessment and revolving door of carers suggests the system is on its knees.

The temptation is to think that will all change with the introduction of the cap on costs that the government announced on Monday.

Full Article on BBC News

Social care: Jeremy Hunt hails 'fully-funded solution'

The government is due to announce its "fully-funded solution" to the problem of elderly people in England who cannot afford social care.

It is expected to include a £75,000 cap on the costs people pay for care and a rise in the threshold for means-tested support from £23,250 to £123,000.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the "scandal" of many people selling homes to pay care bills must be tackled.

Full Article on BBC News

Co-operative launches new charity of the year

The Co-operative hit the right note with unpaid young adult carers today (24 January) as it launched a 'record' breaking year of fundraising for its new charity of the year, Carers Trust.

Helping to get fundraising activities 'rock 'n' rolling', The Co-operative were joined for the launch by singer, songwriter and actress, Jade Ewen, a young adult carer herself who gave up her birthday to attend the launch and support other young carers.

The charity – which formed last year when The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care came together – will benefit from The Co-operative's 100,000 staff aiming to raise £5m to tackle feelings of isolation and provide desperately needed breaks, information, advice and support for 14-25 year-olds facing the challenge of caring.

Full Article on Guardian 

Adult social care suffering under cuts, survey suggests

Care for vulnerable older people has been suffering - both in quality and quantity - because of funding cuts, a survey of 200 social workers suggests.

In the survey by Age UK and the College of Social Work, more than 85% of respondents said they had seen the impact of cuts in the past year.

Of those, 95% said the cuts in England presented "a risk to the dignity of their older clients".

Full Article on BBC News

People with learning disabilities worry about care funding and benefits

People with learning disabilities are worried about the levels of funding for care, what is going to happen to their benefits and how their support will be affected as a result, a new report has revealed.

Free care for disabled people, as well as better access to support for those with mild and moderate needs and those with multiple disabilities were also identified as crucial in the findings of Our Future, produced by disability charity United Response.

Our Future looks at Government plans published in the recent White Paper and Draft Care and Support Bill from the perspective of United Response’s Campaigns Panel, a group of service users with learning disabilities and their relatives, surveyed and interviewed by the charity.

Full Article on LD Today

Carers Trust is the Co-operative Charity of the Year!

An announcement from the Carers Trust (a national organistion we are a network member of):


We are thrilled to tell you that we have won the Co-operative Charity of the Year.

This has been announced in the press today, with several of us attending a reveal event at the global international year of the co-operatives conference in Manchester. We have been desperate to tell you since we were told a two weeks ago but it was embargoed until today!

Thank you to everyone who voted for us and encouraged others to do so too. Across all the Co-operative businesses, we achieved 60% of the vote. More votes were cast by the Co-operative staff and members than ever before, and the Co-operative was overwhelmed by the number of people who fed back that they were carers themselves, had been a carer or knew a carer, which just goes to show what a universal issue caring is. It is real feedback on the strength of the issue and the appeal of the new charity across the country.

Mencap and Enable Scotland were the last charity of the year and, through a lot of hard work across their network working with the Co-operative staff, they raised an amazing £7.2m which has helped them to provide new services for an additional 26,000 people. It is now up to us to ensure we make the most of this incredible opportunity.

Cameron announces £140m funding boost for the NHS to help cut red tape for nursing and midwives

David Cameron announced today the government would invest £140 million in funding to ease the burden of red tape on nurses and midwives, enabling them to spend more time with patients.

The prime minister declared he wanted to build on the 'real successes in the NHS' - but admitted they still needed to work on hospital food.

As Conservative activists begin gathering in Birmingham for the party's annual conference, the Prime Minister also pledged additional cash to ensure cancer patients have access to advanced radiotherapy treatment.

Full Article on Daily Mail

Co-op grant to provide free counselling and complementary therapies for carers

People caring for family members and friends in Warminster, Westbury and Mere will now be able to access free counselling and complementary therapy services in their area thanks to a grant awarded by The Co-operative Membership Community Fund.

The grant of £2,000 was given to Carer Support Wiltshire, a registered charity that offers support, information, advice and break opportunities to unpaid carers living in Wiltshire, at their Britannia Salisbury branch.

Carer Support Wiltshire applied for the grant in order to be able to extend their services to towns in the West of Wiltshire.

Alison Crangle, Corporate Development Manager at Carer Support Wiltshire, said: “We are pleased that companies like The Co-operative are making grants available to charities like ours in order to help us reach more family carers in Wiltshire.

“Carers who have accessed counselling and complementary therapies through us in the past have told us how valuable they find the opportunity to talk about their circumstances with a counsellor or have a relaxing therapy such as a massage or reflexology.”

It is hoped that sessions will be set-up in Mere, Warminster and Westbury for half a day every month.

Any family carers local to these areas who are interested in accessing these free services can find out more by calling Carer Support Wiltshire on 0800 181 4118 or by visiting their website at www.carersinwiltshire.co.uk.

Wiltshire Council funding breaks for young people with special educational needs and disabilities

More than 1,000 young people with with special educational needs and disabilities, as well as their carers, are expected to benefit from short breaks and activities in Wiltshire this year.

The council has committed £1 million to maintain the service after a three year government funded package came to an end, and a range of activities are available over the summer.

The activities and breaks for young people aged from toddler to 25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities include cycling, holiday clubs, pony riding, swimming, fishing and drama.

Full Article on Gazette & Herald

Social care funding clarity urged

The government is setting out its White Paper on social care later, amid calls for greater clarity on how it plans to fund the system in England.

The government has said it agrees in principle with the idea of capping how much people have to pay but it will not explain how or when this will happen.

Instead it will focus on promising more equal access to council care for elderly and disabled people.

But charities and council leaders say greater clarity is urgently needed.

Full Article on BBC News

Charity of the Year 2012: Sainsbury's, Melksham

We're thrilled to announce that Sainsbury's in Melksham have selected Carer Support Wiltshire to be their Charity of the Year!

A huge thank you to anyone who nominated us in-store. We're very much looking forward to working with them over the coming months to raise as much awareness and funds for the charity as possible.

£1.8 million for fairer funding for end of life care

More people should be able to spend their final days in a place of their choice and new Government funding will help to make this happen, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced today.

The current system of end of life care does not work well enough. Some patients and their families receive excellent care and excellent support while others miss out.  NHS funding for palliative care services is often poorly distributed and varies greatly around the country.

A new fairer funding system is needed but essential information needed to develop a system doesn’t exist. Eight pilots sites – with a share of £1.8 million will collect this vital information and help the Government meet its aim of having a new per-patient funding system for both adult and children’s palliative care services.

Seven new adult pilot sites will each receive an extra £200,000 and a children and young persons pilot will receive £400,000.

Full Press Release on Department of Health

Wiltshire Council scheme offers elderly care funding advice

A scheme has been launched in Wiltshire to help people plan their finances for care they may need later in life.

Wiltshire Council, in partnership with the Society of Later Life Advisors (SOLLA), aims to offer advice to older people about post-retirement options.

Around 65% of older people in Wiltshire fund their own care.

The council's James Cawley said he wants to help people make "informed choices" about funding care.
He said: "People tend to leave it to the last minute to have the conversation with loved ones about how to fund appropriate care in later life, and we want to encourage people to think a bit earlier and plan for that issue which will occur for everyone."

In association with SOLLA, the council will help elderly people and their families speak to accredited financial advisers who specialise in the financial needs of older people.

People will be advised on subjects such as equity release, long term and respite care options, annuities and investments and savings.

Mr Cawley said: "We want to work with people to say, here is a regulated, informed group who can give you advice."

Article taken from BBC News

Council investing millions to help older people

Wiltshire Council is bucking the national trend by investing more money than ever into supporting the county’s older people.

A report published last week by Age UK said cuts to council grants were having a devastating impact on services for older people across the country.

However, here in Wiltshire the council is actually investing more in these services and is helping even more people thanks to excellent working partnerships with the voluntary and community sector, particularly Age UK Wiltshire.

Cabinet member for adult social services, John Thomson, said: “Despite the pressures on our budget we are actually proposing to invest £71 million to improve services for older people.

Full Article on Wiltshire Council

£20m backing to tackle mental health

The Department of Health and Comic Relief unite efforts to fund £20 million to the Time to Change campaign to fight the stigma against mental health.

Mental health charities Mind and Rethink who run the Time to Change campaign, will receive funding for the next three and a half years to run a new programme set to continue raising awareness and supporting people with mental health conditions.

Full Article on Backchat - The Afiya Trust