Why council was found to have breached Care Act needs duty after panel cut indicative budget – Community Care

Thankful for the court’s decision, but is Croydon alone in these areas, I so doubt it.

Also, was it that Croydon didn’t understand the requirements of the Care Act 2014, knew them but decided to not abide by them, or was so short of finance that they took a chance they could get aways with it.

Perhaps a mixture of all and may be some more.

Many, if not all Local Authorities, (LAs) are so short of finance, due to Tory austerity cuts in 2010, that they are having to cut many essential services and LAs are shouldering the blame for these cuts, when the real problem is the Tory governments since 2010. While initially social care was not affected to as much degree as some other service with some LAs, due to the ongoing and more substantial cuts imposed over the years, social care had to shoulder their degree of cuts. This then making social care being provided to many being far short of what is required and to some no social care at all.

As we can see, this has and is severely causing many problems within social care and much suffering and lack of care for persons in need of care and creating much stress and concerns with their families as well.

Families do as much as they can and then even more, thus causing their own health’s to suffer.

In the last few years this has been causing much more demand on the NHS and further increase the crisis in the NHS, so not only major crisis in social care, but also in the NHS.

This government and all future governments have to ensure that funding for social care and the NHS is at least sufficient and then sustainable. To not do so will lead to the eventual complete disintegration of social care and so to much of the NHS.

Perhaps this is what all Tories are wishing for and then they can bring in full privatisation and the complete demise of the NHS and social care.

Will Labour be any better, well I so doubt so.

Source: Why council was found to have breached Care Act needs duty after panel cut indicative budget – Community Care

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When is the cost of living payment and who can claim it? – BBC News

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Source: When is the cost of living payment and who can claim it? – BBC News

Reform of adult social care: vanishing over the horizon | The King’s Fund

The original government plans were all so insignificant that they would have had very little impact, now these insignificant plans have been drastically cut and won’t be introduced until October 2025, if even then, by which time there could well be no social care to speak of for there is now so little available.

What could occur is those currently waiting or been denied social care could be no longer around and therefore only new adults would be around, so demand could be cut due to deaths of persons lacking social care.

More likely and certainly more so, there will be dramatic increases in persons needing NHS care not only in numbers of persons, but higher levels of care required, therefore any solving of the NHS crisis will not occur.

The outlook is very dire indeed for both social care and the NHS and in effect both could not survive in any real form.

The lack of staffing in social care will become even more so, perhaps this will be the main factor in completely extinguishing social care, so much so that virtually no one will be receiving social care.

Unfortunately I see no future for social care and very little for the NHS and the existance of health care free at the point of delivery could be of the past and all will be required to pay upfront.

Will a change of government be a saviour, I doubt it for no government in my 74 years of life has sufficiently funded social care, if at all and to a large extent funding for the NHS has also been in sufficient.

As to workforce there maybe improvements in some areas of the NHS, but very little, while social care workforce will continue to decline.

I feel for persons coming forth for they will be so defunct of care, so that the UK population will commence to decrease, but great suffering will be around for many.

The outlook will be so dire, that death will be a release.

 

Source: Reform of adult social care: vanishing over the horizon | The King’s Fund

Ofgem boss defends decision not to ban force fitting of energy meters – BBC News

As far as it goes good, but there is so much more way to go as vulnerability doesn’t always start at 85 and may not do so.

Vulnerability can start at any age, so age should not be the criteria, but vulnerability should be. Is it that 85 has been decided upon as it is believed there are only a few of this age, but many who are vulnerable.

The numbers it affects should not be a consideration, but the conditions of the persons should be.

Source: Ofgem boss defends decision not to ban force fitting of energy meters – BBC News

I’m proud of being disabled – but sometimes I grieve the ‘other me’ | Metro News

My own daughter had Cerebral Palsy, many physical disabilities, a sensory disability and autism, she too had no knowledge of not having disabilities for all her conditions were from birth.

Did she wonder what it would be like if she had no disabilities, well I will never know for she died October 2022 at age 54. She never complained as long as there was someone to care for her, this was originally done by my wife and myself, but when our health started to deteriorate, my wife first and then mine, it was clear we couldn’t provide the degree and quality of care she needed and deserved. We started by bringing care into our home gradually, but in time it had to be 24/7. We engaged the services of an excellent care provider who provided excellent carers. Not only were they excellent carers but we really part of our family.

When my wife died in September 2020 and my own health was deteriorating, not only did they care for my daughter but in some respects for myself. In fact if it was not for the carers I myself would not be here, for the last twice I was admitted to hospital in 2021 it was down to the carers calling for an ambulance and they then maintained the care for my daughter in our home. On my returns home they again cared for both of us, well for my daughter but a caring eye on myself.

I believe my daughter was happy with her life, for she knew no different and seeing her engaging with her carers was a delight to observe.

As I say the carers were great and I am still in contact with most of them and when they can visit me and I am always pleased to see and hear from them.

When my wife died my daughter and her carers kept me going, but now on my own, my life is far from good. But I try to do the best I can, but I do really miss the life I did have and certainly my family.

 

Source: I’m proud of being disabled – but sometimes I grieve the ‘other me’ | Metro News

BASW warns of ‘dilution of social worker role’ as DHSC plans more assessments by non-qualified staff – Community Care

Undertaking assessments and filling in forms are both areas were many skills are required and qualified social workers have gone through many years of obtaining the required academic qualifications to do so, but learning theory is only part of the process as there is also a skill need into putting into practice what has been learnt in all academic studies. This is a major skills and not all have these skills.

When doing this there is the skill of listening to what is being said and perhaps more importantly to what is not being said for a multitude of reasons. For persons undergoing these assessments may have been through them before and have very poor experiences or it may be the first time and they are unsure of the process and therefore may not only not provide all information and maybe importantly in the right way.

For the information required is what you can do or what you can’t do and whether it can or can’t be done the severity of the need and any timescales experienced in undertaking any tasks of need.

This can be and in many instances is a very stressful process on the persons involved and should never be rushed.

I know of social workers who are not willing to be employed by local authorities, (LAs) as they have said due to demands directed to them by the LAs they are not being allowed to do the work as they have been trained to do, so this is a very worrying aspect.

Really it all depends on the ability of the person undertaking the assessment and whether they really have the bests interests of the person being assessed or the interests of the LAs.

It should be that the person with needs be at the centre, but there are many instances of where this is not.

To result in an inappropriate assessment being created will not fully cater for all the required needs of the person in need being correctly assessed and will lead to many essential needs being ignored or not fully considered.

When a decision is then given it should be made fully clear that if the person in need is not content with the outcome then they can ask for it to be reconsidered and maybe take further actions.

 

Source: BASW warns of ‘dilution of social worker role’ as DHSC plans more assessments by non-qualified staff – Community Care

Thousands with learning disabilities trapped in hospital, some for years | Learning disability | The Guardian

This is other situations which are adding to the crisis in social care and health, both are very under resourced areas and adding greatly to the concerns of persons in need of care, their families and the staff in those facilities.

In many instances the lack of appropriate facilities nearer to where the person in need of care lived also adds to these concerns for the further away they are from any family will only add to the distresses of the persons and their families.

The families could well be a great source of information on how to look after their relative, especially on how they have tended to live their lives and more about their individual characteristics. Hospitals, any hospital tends to treat conditions on a general basis and don’t usually alter this to individual tastes and some preferences. Everyone is an individual, but in many instances the routines of hospitals are unable to take these into account, especially when many resources are in short supply.

In many instances the persons in these assessment units will undergo changing moods and these could well become more intense the longer they are away from their families, thus leading to more difficulties in the administering of their care, thereby creating even more distress to them. This could well, then lead to measures being taken by the hospitals to contain the person, which may not be the best ways in dealing with the situations, but have been believed to be the best in general, but not for each individual person. So a person could become more distressed than they were when originally admitted and this, if the treatments being given are not adjusted lead to more severe deteriorations.

This is expressly so, if a person is deemed to be ready for discharge but there are no appropriately accommodations available, near their families, who could be then available to help in any care being required.

This is due to the very severe crisis in social care throughout social care which has been caused by many years of under investment in social care by UK governments, especially since the 2010 Tory austerity cuts on Local Authorities.

The social care crisis is so severe than it could well see the end of social care in the UK, which would have very serious consequences for health in the UK, and create even more crisis in the NHS.

Unfortunately this current government and all previous governments have ignored social care leading to this very severe crisis and there does not appear to be any real assistance coming in the future. Therefore the crisis in both social care and the NHS will continue to escalate, thus causing even more greater longer stays in hospitals assessment units.

Not good for anyone, so we urgently need a very listening government. Human rights are not being respected and many more safeguarding alerts will occur. So very urgent funding and other actions are required. The funding will need to be long-term to ensure continuity and sustainability for social care, which has never been present before.

A great culture change is required by Government.

 

 

Source: Thousands with learning disabilities trapped in hospital, some for years | Learning disability | The Guardian

Hunt’s Budget boosts tax relief for foster and shared lives carers and support for care leavers – Community Care

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced increased tax relief for foster and shared lives carers, and improved support for care leavers in his Spring Budget today.

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Yes, ‘Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced increased tax relief for foster and shared lives carers, improved support for care leavers and enhanced help for disabled people to enter the workplace’.

A miracle you may say for a Tory Government, but do miracles really happen, well, perhaps not.

Yes, many disabled people may wish to work and have the skills to do so, but with their disability will they be able to attend work without some assistance. If they will need assistance where will this assistance come from? Some may say family, but families are already saving the UK £billions, in fact from, a Carers UK 2021 report at least £193 billions so how much more will this government wish families to give. But families have many other commitments and could well have their own difficulties with finance and more available time.

So the alternative could well be social care, but that too is in a severe crisis which has been for many years and each coming year the crisis grows. It is requiring a massive funding  response some say as much as £7 billion, but I believe so much more at least £12 billion.

In the care profession there are major shortages of staff, so already many in need of care are not receiving any or just a little to, perhaps survive, but some maybe not. While quality care is required the lack of carers is resulting in many instances of poor care being given, not because carers are not willing to provide good quality care, but they have insufficient time to do so. Their pay for the responsibilities they undertake are also well below what they should be and this is so similar to those in childcare. Another example of a budget proposal which has not been thought through. In both childcare and social care the carers could earn so much more in areas of much less responsibility and many are leaving to do so.

But, is this government providing the funds to local authorities, (LAs) to fund this care, well the simple answer is either none or only a fraction of what is really required.

The Budget made no mention of real social care funding and in the Oppositions response to the Budget they too made no reference.

So it is not just this current government that is totally ignoring social care, but also possible future governments.

The lack of social care is causing many inequalities and many of these are also affecting the NHS, so lack of social care is also part of the NHS crisis.

But this government is not listening, either through their ignorance or by their willingness not to, which it is, is up for discussion, but I have my own views on which it is, as I believe the government is the equivalent of the ‘3 wise monkeys’.

This government just doesn’t care, the Parties may not be occurring, but the attitudes are still there.

 

Source: Hunt’s Budget boosts tax relief for foster and shared lives carers and support for care leavers – Community Care

Blue Badge campaign wins backing from Oscar-winning actress | York Press

To obtain a Blue Badge there is strict criteria and in York banning Blue Badge holders from the centre of York there is total discrimination. There is Equality Act 2010, but it is wholly insufficient and more areas need to be included to ensure full equality.

By York’s actions in means that virtually every person with disabilities have also been excluded from the centre of York, so equality is no longer available in York.

The ruling ‘LibDem/Green-run authority has said is necessary for anti-terror bollards to be installed to protect people from hostile vehicle attacks’ and while anti-terror provision needs to be considered surely a much less discriminatory action should have been taken.

Source: Blue Badge campaign wins backing from Oscar-winning actress | York Press

I’ve worked out that being disabled costs me an extra £13,000 each year | Metro News

The real cost of being a disabled person will not be known unless you are the disabled person, because we are all different, even persons with similar disabilities. For there are many forms of disabilities and people who have them will have them with differing degrees of severities and will more than likely have more than one disability.

Yes, there are some disability benefits, but there are many criteria which needs to be matched and the forms are very lengthy and not all that easy to compile. So, in many instances the amounts of disability benefits which could be received will in most respects never be sufficient to cover all costs related to disabilities.

This is even more so in today’s circumstances due to the very high living costs and the severe shortages in both social care and health care available.

Everyone should be entitled to equality, but being disabled means more needs to be done to get anywhere near to be equal to persons without disabilities.

Other than the severe shortages of social and health care, just consider the different forms of transport.

After many years of campaigning some forms of transport are now more accessible than previously.

Buses, for example now have to have wheelchair access and wheelchair spaces on every bus. However, in many instances these spaces are already taken, maybe with baby pushchairs and even though there is a message there to say that wheelchairs have priority, but trying to gain access is in many instances difficult to do.

Then there is only one or two spaces so what happens if room for a third wheelchair is required, yes, they could wait for the next bus, but the 3 persons could be together and who is to say the next bus will have room or when it will come.

Other forms of transport have their own inequalities.

But one of the worst forms of travel is by plane, as people in wheelchairs or even some with other mobility problems will be unable to board and disembark without special assistance and there could be lengthy waits for it to arrive, if it ever does and will the assistance be as sufficient as it should be. Then what about toilet access on the plane as the wheelchair will not be allowed to be with the person, so will all assistance be available throughout the flight. Surely, in this age of technology the ability to travel in your own wheelchair on a plane should be there and when boarding or disembarked they should be the first and not the last.

To a person who uses a wheelchair, the wheelchair is an integral part of them, not just an accessory to be taken away for easy of loading a plane.

So even though costs is a major factor there are many more factors that have to be taken into account, causing much more unnecessary stresses to the person with disabilities, equality has so much more of a way to go and it is a very long way, which should not be so in many various areas.

These are Human Rights which are not being adhered to and any areas where full equality is not available actions should be taken against those who are not providing this full equality whoever or whatever they are.

Source: I’ve worked out that being disabled costs me an extra £13,000 each year | Metro News