By Eleanor Bradford BBC Scotland Health Correspondent

Jeanette Maitland said the turnover in carers was an affront to her husband’s dignity

A woman has claimed her husband, who had dementia, was given 106 different carers in a single year.

Jeanette Maitland said the constant stream of different faces sent by agencies working for Aberdeen’s social work department contravened her husband Ken’s basic human right to dignity.

Mr Maitland died from a dementia-related illness last week.

Aberdeen City Council has pledged to look into the concerns his wife has raised.

Mrs Maitland told BBC Scotland she initially wrote down the names of her husband’s carers so that she could get to know them.

She added: “I just started taking note of the names so I could remember properly and put a face to the name.

“Then each time a new face came so I kept writing, writing, writing, until we’re here where we are today with 106 carers.”

Until Mr Maitland’s recent admission to hospital he was allocated two carers four times a day to help his wife look after him at home.

Intensely private

She was given the impression that care would be provided by a core group of about 10 staff. Instead, she faced a constant stream of new people which her husband found extremely unsettling.

Mrs Maitland added: “Anyone who knows anything at all about dementia will know that they live in fear 87% of the time. Obviously the more regular the voice, the more regular the regime, the constancy of it all helps them to relax and be calm.”

Although she has no complaints about the overall standard of care, Mrs Maitland said her husband was an intensely private man who would have been horrified at the number of people who were involved in his bathing and personal care.

She asked: “Where is respect for his dignity? I feel I should have sold tickets.”

Prof June Andrews, director of Stirling University’s Dementia Centre, said what happened to Mr Maitland was simply “bad care”.

She told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “It is absolutely not acceptable because of the kind of disruption that is caused to people with dementia if they are faced with too many people.

“This is something that not only happens at home in people’s houses, but also in hospitals.

“Familiarity helps reduce the symptoms of dementia, and if you are supposed to be looking after someone with dementia then presenting them with a lot of different faces if just bad care.”

Aberdeen City Council chief executive Valerie Watts said: “I would like to extend my sincere condolences to Mrs Maitland and her family following the sad loss of her husband Kenneth.

“I recently had a very positive meeting with Mrs Maitland where we spoke at length about the care package her husband received from Aberdeen City Council.

“I gave Mrs Maitland a personal assurance I would look into the concerns she raised and respond at the earliest opportunity.”

She added that council staff worked hard to deliver the best possible care package at all times.

Armed Forces families must be better supported to deal with the emotional and psychological impact of deployment, according to a report released today by Centre for Mental Health.

The report, Unsung Heroes, also calls for urgent research into alcohol misuse, domestic violence and the impact of mental health problems on the partners and children of Service personnel and veterans.

The report, which is supported by The Royal British Legion and the veteran’s mental health charity Combat Stress, argues that while progress is being made to address the psychological needs of Service personnel and veterans themselves, the practical and emotional impact on their partners and children must also be taken into consideration.

Unsung Heroes examines the services already in place for families and identifies areas where more evidence, about both the need for services to support families and the effectiveness of these services is needed.

Sean Duggan, chief executive at Centre for Mental Health said today: “Our most pressing concern is the paucity of UK research into the emotional needs of armed forces families on the ‘home front’; which may mean that the needs of many families are going unmet.

“There is a very substantial body of research that highlights concern about the levels of alcohol use within the UK Armed Forces, yet little evidence about the impact of alcohol misuse on their families. It’s vital that this kind of research is undertaken as soon as possible and that we evaluate the existing support to ensure that Service families get the help they need.”

Sue Freeth, Director of Health and Welfare at the Royal British Legion said: “The Royal British Legion welcomes this latest research which is vital in being able to meet the needs of in-service and ex-serving personnel, but also their families. These findings are supported by our own case work experience. Ensuring families receive joined up information, advice care, and support so they do not experience any disadvantage is vital.”

Peter Poole, Director of Strategy, Policy & Performance at Combat Stress said: “Combat Stress specialises in working with Veterans with mental health problems – providing crucial treatment, supporting the Veteran in his or her recovery and helping them return to normal life. The report recognises the vital role that families can play in aiding their loved one’s treatment and recovery from mental ill-health and in providing a stable home environment for Serving personnel between deployments.”

Advice and support

If you need advice and support call Legion line, the telephone helpline from the Royal British Legion, open to everyone, 9am – 4pm, Monday to Friday, except public holidays.

Call 08457 725 725 (local rate)

http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/news/2012_unsung_heroes.aspx

Memory Bank

It is part of a new project called Memory Bank developed by the Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA) along with healthcare professionals and carers.

Old home movies are being used to help trigger the forgotten past of people with dementia and other memory loss.

It is part of a new project called Memory Bank developed by the Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA) along with healthcare professionals and carers.

Old films have been carefully selected to help participants remember the past.

YFA director Sue Howard said one user had said: “It’s like peeling back the years – the memories are still there, its just needs a trigger.”

The majority of the films being used are home movies shot in and around Yorkshire from the 1940s to 70s, all of which are housed at YFA which is based at York St John University.

The six-minute clips feature familiar subjects such as holidays, sports, school days, shopping and working life.

The YFA said they focus on everyday activities that participants will have experienced at one time or another in their youth.

Fashion mistakes

The films come in a resource pack, complete with notes and tips on what to discuss at various points.

Memory Bank follows an 18-month research project.

Organisers of the study said the films prompted conversations with the participants on everything from knitted bathing costumes, free school milk and 1960s fashion mistakes and clocking on at work.

Ms Howard said: “Memory Bank is about opening up our collections to a huge range of old people, many of whom face a number of age-related challenges, and who often have very few opportunities to see and enjoy films such as these.

“Reminiscence therapy and memory work play an invaluable role in improving a sense of personal identity and well being, and stimulating communication and sociability.

“Memory Bank is a unique proposition – it uses films taken largely from our home movie collections, which are a fantastic visual record of everyday life over the decades.

“It is these films that trigger our collective memories.”

Social gerontologist Professor Dianne Willcocks, emeritus professor at York St John University, said: “Memory Bank offers older people a compelling and fun tool to reclaim their lived past and to share it with family, friends and carers.

“It works both for those living with dementia and for those simply living with rich memories.”

The project has been supported by the Screen Heritage UK programme, which is a partnership between the British Film Institute, Screen Yorkshire and English Regional Film Archives, to safeguard the future of the UK’s national and regional film collections funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18095124

Leslie and Joanne Wolfendale, both aged 89, talk about their experience of Willicombe Park Retirement Village in Tunbridge Wells

Leslie Wolfendale is quite clear. The 89-year-old describes the move to Willicombe Park Retirement Village in Kent three years ago as the “best move we have ever made.”

“We have lived all over – Berkshire, Cheshire and south Wales. But we have never regretted moving here.”

Leslie and his wife, Joanne, moved to the village, which boasts 67 one- and two-bedroom properties, a gym, swimming pool and restaurant, from south Wales where he had worked as a managing director of a manufacturing company.

“I didn’t think we would ever move to a retirement village, but when you look at the facilities and the way it promotes independent living, we started to think differently,” Leslie says.

Friends

The couple, who have three children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, have tried a host of different activities during their time at the village.

Between them, they have done Tai Chi, exercise classes, aqua aerobics and yoga.

They have also got involved in the social events, which have included themed nights in the restaurant, crossword groups and quizzes.

“You do meet people and become friends. That is very nice. It is important to remain active as you get older,” says Joanne, who is also 89.

But she also says it is the support that they get which makes a big difference.

“The bins are collected from outside our apartment, we can have meals delivered to us, anything we want really.”

The village also has an in-house care team, which helps residents with activities such as washing, dressing and eating if needed.

The Wolfendales do not need such support yet, but Joanne says it is a great comfort to know it can be easily arranged if they need it.

“It is a reassurance.”

Promoting health

Others at the village, run by the Audley group, share their views. Michael Mercier, who is 86, moved to the village 12 years ago after his wife died.

He still works one morning a week doing the accounts for a local business.

“Independence is really promoted here. I swim every day, except Wednesday when I work.”

He too has not needed to call on the day-to-day care services available, although he has had some modifications made to his home, including having rails installed after he had a fall.

And it is having this sort of support on hand that helps to keep the elderly independent at such villages.

Research by York University has shown that retirement villages have a beneficial impact on maintaining and promoting health.

In particular, the study highlighted reductions in falls, greater well-being because of less social isolation and the ability of villages to provide residents with better access to services such as blood pressure checking, flu jabs and exercise classes.

The attraction of retirement villages is also bound up with the fact that they offer the home-owning elderly a way of staying on the property ladder while getting all the care they need.

Apartments at Willicombe are currently fetching somewhere between £200,000 to £350,000. People buy them and own the property as any leaseholder would.

Maintenance charges – for things such as bin collections, gardening and window cleaning – are high at £600 per month. However, other villages away from the south-east tend to have much lower fees.

Growing sector?

But despite the success of complexes like Willicombe, retirement villages are still few and far between.

Overall there are fewer than 20,000 retirement village properties in the UK. To put that into context, Australia, which has a third of the population, has 160,000 units.

However, there are signs that could be about to change.

Anchor, a not-for-profit care provider which has traditionally operated at the lower end of the market, providing home care and running care homes, has started moving into the retirement village sector.

It has recently opened a complex called Denham Garden Village, set in 30 acres of Buckinghamshire countryside.

Anchor has another three in development and sees them as a growth area.

Nigel Hackett, Anchor’s head of building development, says: “I think with the ageing population and the way things are moving, there is going to be growing demand.”

Nick Sanderson, who is chairman of the Association of Retirement Villages and chief executive of Audley, agrees.

“Retirement villages have not taken off here as they have elsewhere. Getting planning permission can be difficult and I think Brits have an attachment to their homes than is not always seen in other countries.

“But I really believe things are about to change. There is a new generation of older people coming through who were born after the war.

“They have money and will demand more. They won’t put up with the status quo.”

But that does not mean there are not challenges for such villages.

Richard Humphries, a social care expert at the King’s Fund health think tank, agrees they have “great potential” to become an important part of elderly care provision.

But he adds: “I think they need to make sure they get better at providing support when care needs increase in the last few years of life.

“They have not always been so good at dealing with that and if people end up in a care home, it defeats the whole purpose of them.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17923976

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

The number of elderly people in England getting council-funded care has fallen by 11% in the last two years, figures obtained by Labour suggest.

Freedom of Information responses from 121 councils showed they provided free care to 59,056 over 65s in 2011-12, down from 66,342 in 2009-10.

The drop comes despite the rise in over-65s due to the ageing population.

Campaigners said it proved the system needed urgent reform – something ministers say they are looking to do.

Labour asked all 153 councils that have responsibility for providing free care at home and in care homes a series of FOI questions.

Responses were received from around 80% (121) of local authorities.

Not all councils could provide data for the current 2012-13 year, but the figures from those that did suggested the rate of decrease was accelerating.

Cost of care rising

It is already well-known that councils have been struggling to provide enough care because of the ageing population and the squeeze on their budgets.

Many have responded by tightening their eligibility criteria, so that only those with the most severe needs qualify for care in the first place.

The fall in the numbers getting council-funded support shows what impact the changes to eligibility have had.

Labour also asked how much councils charged people who paid for their own care; only those with assets of below £14,250 get all their help paid for.

The data showed that average fees were rising and now stood at £13.61 an hour for home care, and that the number of councils capping the amount a person has to pay has reduced in recent years.

Liz Kendall, shadow minister for care and older people, said: “These services are a lifeline for older people and crucial to help them stay living independently in their own homes.

“The government is out of touch with the growing care crisis.”

Richard Humphries, an expert in social care at health think-tank the Kings Fund, told the BBC the figures came as no surprise to him.

“We have known for some time that although we face a burgeoning rise in numbers of older and younger people with disabilities that need care, the amount of resources that this government and the previous one have put in, has not kept pace with that.

“The result is that [some] councils are responding… by putting up charges, and most actually rationing care much more tightly.

“Fewer people are actually getting the care they that they need, and those that are and having to pay more for it,” he added.

He believes all eyes are on the government, to see whether it enacts the recommendations of the Dilnot commission, which last year said people should pay no more than £35,000 in their lifetime, towards their care costs.

Councillor David Rogers, of the Local Government Association, agrees that “urgent reform of how care is provided to our rapidly ageing population” is essential, otherwise the situation is “going to get much worse”.

“An average of 40 percent of council budgets is being spent on this issue, and in some cases it is 60 percent.

“That’s actually on a very small proportion of the population and has a big impact on the other services we can provide,” he added.

Care Services minister Paul Burstow said a White Paper would be published soon on how the government planned to reform social care.

He added: “We are working hard to secure cross-party agreement to find a sustainable long-term solution on social care funding.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18026534

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling is calling for better support for the UK’s six million unpaid carers

Ms Hilling has teamed up with TV presenter and former carer Fiona Phillips to launch this year’s Carers Week (June 18 to 24).

The theme for Carers Week 2012 is ‘In sickness and in health’ recognising the strain families are under as they see services cut back. It calls for better financial and practical support for the diverse range of people who have caring responsibilities.

The Atherton-based MP said: “I am taking part in Carers Week to show my respect and appreciation for our carers. I want to let them know that there are services out there to help them. It’s important that carers know that they don’t have to struggle on alone.”

Ms Phillips said: “From personal experience, I know caring can demand a lot of your time and attention, which in some cases can put pressure on other areas in your life.

“I hope that Carers Week can again make a real difference to the lives of carers in this country.”

Carers Week is organised by a partnership of Age UK, Carers Trust, Carers UK, Independent Age, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, MS Society, and Parkinson’s UK. For more information visit www.carersweek.org.

http://www.leighreporter.co.uk/

9:13am UK, Wednesday May 16, 2012

A 20% “fat tax” on unhealthy food and drink could help cut the number of people suffering from obesity and heart disease.

Such a move should be combined with subsidies on healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables, academics from bmj.com said.

The group released their findings ahead of the 65th World Health Assembly in Geneva where prevention and control of non-communicable diseases will be key issues for discussion.

Dr Oliver Mytton and colleagues at the University of Oxford said evidence suggests taxing a wide range of unhealthy foods is likely to result in greater health benefits than “narrow taxes” – although the strongest evidence related to taxing sugary drinks.

They said one American study found a 35% tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in a canteen led to a 26% decline in sales.

Studies extending VAT on unhealthy foods in the UK could cut up to 2,700 heart disease deaths a year, the researchers said.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16228836

By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

Parents are to be given more financial control over support for children with special educational needs, in a major shake-up of the system in England.

The government says it wants to push ahead with proposals announced last year that parents should have a “personal budget” for their children.

The changes could also see fewer children in the special needs category.

Children’s minister Sarah Teather said the current system was “outdated and not fit for purpose”.

The government is setting out its response to last year’s green paper on special educational needs – which warned that too many parents felt frustrated with having to “battle” against the system.

Personalised help

It also said that too many children were being labelled as having special needs – with more than one in five pupils currently in this category.

It called for parents to be given more control over spending the budgets available to help their children.

Ministers now want to press ahead with this proposal, so that by 2014 parents would have the right to buy in services, rather than relying on the options decided by local authorities and support agencies.

This is intended to help parents ensure a more personalised package of support for their child.

But parents would still be able to leave such decisions to the local authority if they preferred.

There will also be a push for more co-ordinated commissioning of support between education, health and other services, to reduce the risk of delays or bureaucracy.

The intention is to remove the sense of a struggle between families and support agencies over assessments and the support available.

A major change will be the scrapping of the current system of statements setting out the extra help that has to be provided for children with severe or multiple learning needs or disabilities.

Rising numbers

A simpler system is promised with the introduction of a single assessment process, for all levels of special need, which would result in an integrated Education, Health and Care Plan.

But children who have statements are only a small proportion of children classified as having special needs.

And the green paper suggested that “too many children are being over-identified” as having a special need, with this label being applied to a very wide variety of problems.

A report from Ofsted in 2010 claimed that the special needs category was being used too widely.

Teachers’ unions have strongly rejected the claim and warned of cuts to support services for special needs.

Within the school population, 2.7% of children have statements – representing those with the greatest physical or mental health needs.

But almost 18% of children are categorised in two lower levels of special need – School Action and School Action Plus – representing about 1.4 million pupils.

This includes difficulties such as persistent emotional, social and behavioural problems, communication difficulties or a sustained inability to make progress.

‘Unacceptable’

The proportion of children identified as having special needs, outside of those with statements, has risen sharply – up by 80% since the mid-1990s.

The green paper identified the rise in some specific areas – behavioural and emotional difficulties rising by almost a quarter in five years.

Speech and communication problems had risen as a special needs problem by 58% over the same period between 2005 and 2010.

The children’s minister said the changes would help remove the delays and confusions facing families who need help for their children.

“Thousands of families have had to battle for months, even years, with different agencies to get the specialist care their children need,” said Ms Teather.

“It is unacceptable they are forced to go from pillar to post, facing agonising delays and bureaucracy to get support, therapy and equipment.”

She told BBC Radio 4: “We also have a situation where a lot of children are not being identified early enough, and actually they may turn up later in the criminal justice system if we do not support children properly, particularly those with speech and language problems.

“We often find they fall out of education and create all sorts of problems later for themselves and for others.”

‘Not about numbers’

She denied the government are bringing in the reforms purely to reduce the number of children recorded as having special educational needs.

“For me this is not about numbers, it is about getting the right children identified and getting the support in place. We do not have a target.”

But the NASUWT teachers’ union said it was not clear that the proposed changes to the system would address parents’ concerns.

The NASUWT said personal budgets amounted to vouchers which were about opening up a market in the provision of SEN care, rather than ensuring children were properly catered for.

General secretary Chris Keates said: “The key message is that the coalition government is seeking to redefine what constitutes SEN, in the context of an economic austerity programme.

“This can only mean that fewer children will qualify for additional support and teachers and parents will be left to pick up the pieces.”

The proposals will be included in a Children and Families Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18061348

Mr Dilnot said that without a cap no-one would even be able to plan financially for their old age.

The “Care in Crisis” petition, organised by Age UK, calls for a new system which allows everyone to plan for their care ensure that no-one is forced to sell their home or sacrifice all their savings to pay for it.

Signatures were collected through Age UK’s website and in its charity shops.

Although it was not an official Downing Street petition, which would trigger a debate in parliament once more than 100,000 signatures are collected, Age UK hopes to use supportive MPs to secure a debate.

Tom Wright, chief executive of Age UK said: “Now that we have news of a draft bill, the Government must now show its commitment to legislate as soon as possible. Older people have waited long enough for reform – any further delays will only condemn millions of vulnerable people to uncertainty, worry and financial insecurity, just at a time when they need to be looked after.

“Alongside the publication of the forthcoming care and support white paper, we must also see a robust funding report which is crucial for the success of any reform measures.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/