Carers of relatives in England to get legal rights

Ministers are planning to grant legal rights for the first time to people in England who spend hours caring for elderly or disabled relatives.

Under the proposals, local authorities would be legally obliged to offer support to such carers.

Some 1.25 million people spend 50 hours a week or more caring for family members who are unable to cope alone.

Proposals are due to be published "within the next few weeks" after recommendations by the Law Commission.

It has been suggested these could include carers' rights to respite breaks and to education and training.

Full Article on BBC News

Carers to be given respite holidays

The “sandwich generation”, who care for their elderly parents while supporting children, are expected to gain a new entitlement to services to help them look after their families. Under government plans, councils will be required to arrange support such as short “respite” holidays, assistance with transport or training in care techniques.

Ministers are concerned that people of all ages who have to care for frail or disabled family members are currently treated as “second-class citizens”. A White Paper on reforming care for the elderly and disabled adults is due to be published later this month and will detail the new arrangements.

Paul Burstow, the care services minister, told The Daily Telegraph that the current arrangements were leaving people to struggle on their own.

Full Article on Telegraph

Free online e-learning for Carers Week!

Embrace-learning will be showing their support for this year's Carers Week (18-24 June) by giving away 1000 free courses during Carers Week 2012!

To support this year's 'In Sickness and in Health' theme embrace-learning are offering these courses to try and aid carers in their self-less occupation.

Our courses cover a huge range of training around caring for and safeguarding others. With many carers unpaid or underpaid this is our way of trying to help out the people who ALWAYS help out!

The course titles available are:

• Acquired Brain Injury Awareness
• Caring for People with Dementia - The Fundamentals
• Compassion and Dignity in Care
• Epilepsy Awareness
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 - the Fundamentals
• Safer Handling of Medicines
• Supporting People with Aspergers Syndrome
• Supporting People with Autism
• Supporting People with Cerebral Palsy
• Supporting People with Down Syndrome
• Supporting People with Learning Disabilities and Mental Health Needs
• Understanding the Role of the Personal Assistant

 To find out more, or to register for a free course, visit their website.

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust gets military surgery funding

A Wiltshire NHS trust has been given more funding to carry out complex plastic surgery on injured servicemen at Salisbury District Hospital.

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust wrote to the Department of Health to ask for additional funding for the work, which it has carried out for some time.

NHS South of England has now agreed to cover the excess costs for 2012/13.

A spokesman said the trust would negotiate with the NHS Commissioning Board for funding the following year.
He did not say how much funding was granted.

An NHS South of England spokeswoman said the funding had been allocated "in recognition of this exceptional and very specialist work for those injured in serving their country".

Article from BBC News

GP surgeries to be ranked out of 10

Surgeries will be rated on four points: opening hours, ease of getting an appointment, length of time spent waiting in reception and whether or not doctors listen.

The scores will then be used to calculate an overall rating for each surgery which will be be published on the internet by the NHS.

Lord Howe, the Health Minister, said the government wanted “to make it easier for patients to find the best NHS care for them”.

It is part of a drive by ministers to give people more choice over their health care and enable them to register at GP surgeries wherever they want.

However, the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association both criticised the 10-point scale as a blunt tool that will do little to help patients make informed decisions.

Full Article on Telegraph

Good News! We have secured funding to support military families in Wiltshire...

Carer Support Wiltshire has been successful in accessing funding for a project working with carers in military families in Wiltshire through the Wiltshire Council and the Wiltshire Military Covenant. 

The funding is for one year and it will be a targetted piece of work identifying and supporting adult carers within the military – these may be parent carers of disabled children or carers of an adult with a physical, emotional, mental or learning disability. Many will be ‘younger’ adults (aged 18-30). 

Carer Support Wiltshire will be:

Working with ‘HIVE centres’, chaplains, Medical Centres, GP surgeries, and Welfare Officers and ongoing work with Tedworth House, Royal British Legion and SAFFA., we will also publicise through a range of media (local radio stations, newspapers, newsletters, targetted posters, flyers etc)

Offering Specialist free and confidential advice, information & support: 1:1, through home visits or in peer groups, accessing our more specialist Support Workers when appropriate (Mental Health, Parent Carers, Learning Disabilities), supporting access to other specialist services e.g. Headway (Acquired brain injury), Voluntary, Wiltshire Council and NHS services. We will work closely with Tedworth House and ensure that if families are relocated we will signpost to agencies local to their new location.

Undertaking Carer Assessments (on behalf of Wiltshire Council): this is a statutory entitlement for all carers identifying their needs and access to Carers Direct Payments, Carers Emergency Card etc.

Delivering Training: We have a programme of training courses planned to sustain carers in their caring role including a range aimed at improving carers health -Mental Health 1^st Aid, Nutrition, ‘When the caring role begins’ (including financial, health, looking after yourself) and preparing for when the caring role ends – this may be through breaking up of a relationship, when the cared-for goes in to a placement or moves away, or when there is a bereavement.

Facilitating Support groups: Initially offering specialist support groups (including younger adult carers aged 18-30) in 5 locations, we aim to encourage participants, in due course, to join our more specialist groups we facilitate countywide for Carers such as mental health, physical or learning disabilities or parent carers.

Giving carers the opportunity to take Time Out: Breaks from caring role (outings, craft groups, Carers Cafes, walking groups, book clubs etc) and opportunities for volunteering with CSW, further integrating military carers into the wider community including Befriending service, assisting at Time Out events.

To find out more about us, please visit our website.

People offer attitudes on Alzheimer's

CHARITIES in Wiltshire are joining forces in a major survey of people’s attitudes towards dementia.

Alzheimer’s Support is asking people how they might react to symptoms of memory loss in their own families and what they think can be done to improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

The survey, aimed at over-65s, is part of a Comic Relief-funded project to find out why so few people in the county with dementia have a diagnosis.

Currently, just 33 per cent of those with the condition are officially diagnosed.

Full Article on Wiltshire Times