Minister backs learning disability eye health campaign

May 14, 2012 — Wendy

Care services minister Paul Burstow has backed a charity’s campaign to improve eye health services for people with learning disabilities.

by on May 11, 2012 in News

 

The Liberal Democrat MP gave his support to SeeAbility’s ‘eye 2 eye’ campaign on a recent visit to the Morden Eye Centre, where he saw teenager Roshni Kothari receiving an enhanced sight test for people with learning disabilities. This was Kothari’s first sight test in the community, having previously been treated at Sutton Eye Hospital.

Recent research commissioned by SeeAbility and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) highlighted that there are 1 million adults with a learning disability in the UK. People with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely to have serious sight problems than other people, with 6 in 10 people needing glasses. People with severe or profound learning disabilities are most likely to have sight problems. (more…)

Posted in Carers, learning difficulties, sight loss. Tags: , , . No Comments »

£3.7m scheme to help Bradford carers learn

May 14, 2012 — Wendy

Helping encourage carers to achieve their goals outside of their caring roles

Monday 14th May 2012 in

News By Tanya O’Rourke

A project to help carers access learning, training and employment is set to benefit from a slice of more than £3.7 million lottery cash.

The Carers’ Resource in Bradford has received a boost of £295,122 which will go towards helping encourage carers to achieve their goals outside of their caring roles.

It will provide courses, work experience, employment opportunities and help with interview preparation for people who care for others to get ahead in their own careers. (more…)

Posted in Carers. Tags: . 1 Comment »

Diabetes care in ‘state of crisis’

May 14, 2012 — Wendy

Second-rate diabetes care putting sufferers at increased risk of health complications and early death, charity warns

Woman injects herself with insulin

Inadequate diabetes care has helped trigger a rise in related complications such as kidney failure and stroke, according to the report.
Photograph: Reed Saxon/AP

Diabetes care in England is in a “state of crisis”, with fewer than half of people with the condition getting the basic minimum support, a report warns.

According to the State of the Nation 2012 report, published on Monday by Diabetes UK, there are some areas where just 6% of people with diabetes are getting the regular checks and services recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

The report details how not getting these checks has helped fuel a rise in rates of diabetes-related complications such as amputation, blindness, kidney failure and stroke. (more…)

Posted in Carers, Diabetes, stroke. Tags: , , , , , , . No Comments »

Elderly face ‘revolving door’ hospital care under nursing cuts

May 14, 2012 — Maureen

Elderly patients face a ‘revolving door’, being shuttled between hospital and home because of cuts to community nursing, the Royal College of Nursing claims today (Mon).

6:30AM BST 14 May 2012

The union is branding Government efforts to provide more care out of hospitals – to reduce cases of ‘bed blocking’ and enable people tolive more independently – as a “façade” due to the cuts.

Numbers of community nurses – a catch-all term for district nurses,healthcare workers, school nurses and others – have dropped by 3.5 per cent the peak in 2009, according to an RCN survey, with the profession losing about 1,700 posts across England. (more…)

Posted in Carers, elderly care, ukcuts. Tags: , , . No Comments »

500,000 to lose disability benefit

May 13, 2012 — Maureen

Half a million people are set to lose disability benefits as the Government pushes ahead with plans to rid the system of abuse and fraud, Iain Duncan Smith says.

By , Political Editor

10:00PM BST 13 May 2012

 

In an interview with today’s Daily Telegraph, the Work and Pensions Secretary says that he is determined to introduce radical reforms to disability benefits which will see more than two million claimants reassessed in the next four years.

Iain Duncan Smith says that the number of claimants has risen by 30 percent in recent years “rising well ahead of any other gauge you might make about illness, sickness, disability”. Losing a limb should not automatically entitle people to a pay-out, he suggests.

The cost of disability living allowance, which is intended to help people meet the extra costs of mobility and care associated with their conditions, now outstrips unemployment benefit and will soon be £13 billion annually.

Under the reform plans, the existing benefit will be replaced with a simpler “more focused” allowance and only those medically assessed to be in genuine need of support will continue to qualify. (more…)

Posted in Carers, disability, ukcuts. Tags: , , . 1 Comment »
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