TRAINING: Epilepsy/Seizure Training - Monday 18th March - Corn Exchange Devizes - 10:30am - 1pm

For:          Parents and carers of children & young people with SEN/Disabilities

What:       FREE  training which will be delivered by  Young Epilepsy

The training will comprise:

• the process of diagnosis
• treatment planning; the aims and options
• managing a seizure

Spaces are limited to 30. 

For more information and to book a place online, follow this link

http://wiltshireparentcarercouncil.co.uk/en/Eplilepsy_-_Devizes_-_2013/03/18_-_1?form=1

or telephone us on 01672 569 300

Disabled exempted from 'bedroom tax'

Parents with severely disabled children who are unable to share a room with their siblings are to be exempt from the Government’s under-occupation penalty, or so-called bedroom tax.


Ministers will publish guidance to local authorities today which will allow them to exclude families with disabled children from the reduction in benefits for having a spare room, which is due to come into effect next month.

The cost of the allowance will be paid for centrally and not from the discretionary fund which is available to local authorities.

Full Article on Daily Express

Health and care system 'struggling with dementia'

The health and care system in England is "struggling" to look after people with dementia, according to the regulator. 

The Care Quality Commission said both hospitals and care homes were failing in key areas as the number with the condition rose as people lived longer.

It found dementia patients in hospital were more likely to face longer stays, be readmitted and die there.
Meanwhile, care homes were not doing enough to keep patients well, it added.

Full Article on BBC News

Many feel cheated by new welfare reform

If you’re young, old, sick, disabled or unemployed, the State benefits you receive will soon be changing.

But despite the UK Government's claims that these changes will result in a fairer system which will get more people back to work, new research suggests the cost to claimants in Wales could eventually reach a billion pounds a year.

Full Article on ITV News

Carer crisis: Councils cutting vital grants for those looking after sick and disabled relatives

A cruel new wave of council cuts is axing vital grants to people who care for their disabled relatives.

Respite payments, which let full-time carers take an occasional break, are a lifeline for thousands of people who look after vulnerable loved ones.

Some use the money to pay for home visits from professional carers or to take their family members to respite centres near their homes.

Others rely on them to fund short breaks which give them some relief from the 24-hour job of caring.

Full Article on Mirror

More than 2 million people give up work to care for relatives

More than 2 million people in the UK have given up work to care for disabled, sick or elderly relatives and loved ones, according to a survey.

More than one in five of the adult population, or 22%, have seen their work affected by caring responsibilities, with an estimated 2.3 million leaving jobs to care for a loved one, an online poll for the charity Carers UK has revealed.

Almost 3 million people have reduced their working hours to cope with caring responsibilities, the survey of 2,073 adults, conducted last month, showed.

Full Article on Guardian Society

Viewpoint: CCGS key as people with dementia need more services in their own homes

As a report this week from Alzheimer’s Society sets out starkly, there are 800,000 people with dementia – a figure that will pass one million in the next decade. Of these, over 300,000 – more than the population of Cardiff – live in a care home. Their experience of life ‘in care’ varies too widely, with only one in four family members believing quality of life in care is good, and many reports of dementia patients living ‘unstimulating’ lives. The report also highlights that far too often patients actually deteriorate when they enter care, so it is unsurprising that 70% of people fear going into residential care in the future.

Full Viewpoint on GP Online