More people face paying for care as means-test threshold is frozen for 13th year – Community Care

More people face paying for their care after means-testing thresholds were frozen for a 13th consecutive year, the government announced this week. The upper capital limit, above which people must pay the full cost of their care (in most cases)*, will stay at £23,250, for 2023-24, said the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) […]

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Is it good that we have to welcome the small mercies being offered by his Government, well it is better than nothing, which this government puts as its first action, but will still leave many people well below the ‘bread-line‘ to live on.

So, I do disagree with King’s Fund senior fellow, social care, Simon Bottery where he states ‘the government “deserves some credit” for its inflationary rise in the MIG’, for it is not credit they deserve for the little they are giving is an insult to all persons in needs of care, their families and all who work in Social Care.

This Government and really all previous governments, are and have refused to see what is happening within Social care and in doing so have all allowed the social care crisis to escalate to what it is now  and has really been for years. It is now being recognised by some that this social care crisis is seriously affecting the NHS, which it has been doing for many years, but ignored by many.

It is debatable whether this ignoring has been by ignorance or by design by this government and all previous governments, from what I see I really do believe the latter for it is so clear that none of these governments really cares about social care and to some extent, even the NHS. Is this because they have, personally, sufficient funds not to rely on social care and the NHS and if or when required they would source it privately, well that could be so, but is it that they only really care for themselves and not others below the level of their amassed fortunes, for many are so wealthy that, even the high costs of living are not of any concern to them.

This is well seen in how they are governing the UK and keeping many on just a level to live on, but in doing so many in the UK are well below a living level of subsistence.

Is there really a ‘Welfare State‘ anymore? Well there is a State. but it is well below Welfare.

Perhaps the real government policy is too keep people on a below subsistence level in the hope they will not survive, hence reducing the costs of welfare even further as there will be so many less people around to need welfare.

We see this in the level of benefits not, in many instances, keeping up with inflation, continued pay freezes in the Public sector and how all essential emergency workers are being treated, not just now, but so for many years previously.

We so, desperately need a Government for the People, but I can’t see this occurring anytime soon, if ever. The Human Rights of the people in the UK are continually being eroded, by our governments.

 

Source: More people face paying for care as means-test threshold is frozen for 13th year – Community Care

Rishi Sunak told care system at risk of collapse if workers not paid as much as nurses

Well, I am astounded, as I have been saying care workers should be paid equally to nurses for quite some years and now we have Damian Green, the former First Secretary of State saying so also. But, most care workers only earn the National Living Wage of 9.50 per hour, and to earn £23000 per year the rate for a 37.50-hour week would need to be around £11.80. Even that would not be enough for has been said they should be earning around £14/15 per hour, equivalent to some supermarket workers for much fewer responsibilities and less technical abilities.But, care workers are said to be unskilled, which is so far from the truth as to be effective and efficient they need much skill for it is not just giving personal care, they need empathy, understanding ability to work on their own without supervision while respecting the choices of the person receiving care. In many instances, the care visit could be just 15-30mins leaving very little time to toilet, wash and dress and prepare meals, and many other activities, including shopping, washing and ironing clothing and bed linen, and much more. To do caring properly it is a very skilled occupation and care workers need to be respected more not only by the government but the media and the population of the UK. While most care workers are employed by the private sector some are directly employed by the person receiving care and funded by Direct Payments which come from Local Authorities, (LAs) who also provide the funding to the care providers employing the care workers. These are the same LAs who have been subjected to austerity cuts by the Tory Governments over, at least the last 10 years or more.But, really no Government has looked favorably on Social Care ever. This lack of Government attention is causing much of the current problems within the NHS due to insufficient Social Care being available to discharge hospital patients when nursing care is not required but some form of care is still required, maybe for a short time. Many more care workers are required many more than can be available from the current UK workforce, so non-UK workers are desperately required, but the immigration policies are not fully allowing them.Yes, little amounts of funding for social care has been announced but it is so too little for any significant help to solve all the problems, therefore Social care will continue to disintegrate and the NHS will also continue to stay in a major crisis.

Source: Rishi Sunak told care system at risk of collapse if workers not paid as much as nurses

Train strikes: What are the RMT’s demands compared with Network Rail’s current offer? | The Independent

What are the RMT demands compared with Network Rail’s pay current offer? Here’s what’s on the table at the moment

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Lets face it strikes benefit no one, the employers, the employees and in many respects the public, so no strike should be started until all avenues have been exhausted.

In fact, it could be argued whether strikes should be allowed at all, surely independent arbitration should be a consideration on which the outcome is binding on all parties.

Then at least the public would not suffer from actions that are totally outwith their control or influene what the public will do, which could be to take their custom elsewhere or do without the service completely.

If customers stop using a service then the income to the employers reduces and so there is less finance to fund remunnerations to employees so in these circumstances striking is benefiting no one.

Reunerations in many employments in the UK are poor in comparisons to similar employments in other countries and some employments are much worse than others. Some of these employments include care, hospitality and agriculture but there are many others, in these vacancies are excessive causing many problems, but due to the low remunerations not enough persons in the UK are taking these employments and the UK immigration rules are not allowing sufficient persons to enter the UK to fill these vacancies.

We are experiencing crisis after crisis and no one is willing to act, which is mainly the Government, who do need to do what is required for all concerned and not just sit back and do nothing for it is their duty to act for all concerned.

Source: Train strikes: What are the RMT’s demands compared with Network Rail’s current offer? | The Independent

Decade of neglect means NHS unable to tackle care backlog, report says | NHS | The Guardian

Exclusive: Government-commissioned paper pinpoints budget squeeze as key reason for service’s loss of capacity

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Yes, austerity cuts are the blame for many problems in the UK and not just the NHS.

However, all governments since 1948 are to blame for the crisis in Social Care, but austerity cuts just made the crisis much worse.

Until the crisis in Social Care has been solved, the NHS will always be worse off, but no Government sees this problem.

So solve Social Care and part of the NHS problem will be overcome, provided no more Governments restrict finance to both Social Care and the NHS.

 

Source: Decade of neglect means NHS unable to tackle care backlog, report says | NHS | The Guardian

Cost of living crisis: the UK needs to raise taxes not cut them – here’s why

Why tax cuts are unlikely to help Britain address its current crises.

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Tax cuts or increases, that is the question and not one to really answer, for when looked it is a generalisation and not one directed at certain communities.

In the UK there is much more of the population which is regarded as poor and on low incomes than there are the, so called, rich.

So a tax cut means more in the ability to spend for the poor, i.e. those poor who pay taxes as opposed to the poor whose income is below the taxation starting point.

While tax increases make the poor so much worse off, than the rich, especially if the tax brackets are not increasing in line with inflation, which they have not been, in fact for a few years they have been frozen, which effectively bring more people into taxation.

Ideally, taxes for the rich should increase, while for the poor they should reduced. Also, inline with all this welfare benefits should aways be increased yearly and, at least, inline with inflation.

It is so wrong that the poor get poorer, while the rich get richer, it should be that all get richer, with the poor increasing quicker than the rich, there in doing so the gap between the poor and rich be reducing, whereas, it currently is increasing.

Salaries for so many in the UK are far too low, especially in care and this needs to change so much so that even low salaries are more than sufficient to live on, thereby reducing the need to claim some benefits to reduce the gap to enable reasonable living.

 

Source: Cost of living crisis: the UK needs to raise taxes not cut them – here’s why

A vision for the future of social care

I so agree, which is why I support the petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care, https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care

Further information can be found at https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aq2MsYduiazgo1VP3BeD4Qrpt0Xm?e=hHwlFU

Fly into Caring

Coffey again lets her mind let loose, but in reality the crisis in the Aviation professions and the Care profession should not be used as a matter of flippancy as they should both be taken seriously.

Yes, the job situation in the aviation professions is the current lack of jobs due to COVID-19 and its effect on the economy , while in the care profession the job situation is the abundance of job vacancies due to Government underinvestment, working conditions and the ever extending market for people needing care.

Within care it is not just people fitting in for they need to have the expertise to care, listen to the person for whom they are caring for and proceed within the limitations of the cared for persons choice.

It is not that ‘one fits all’ for the persons in need of care will have a multitude of reasons why care is needed and some of these reasons could change on a day to day basis, or even within the day. There is never enough time allocated in the care package to fully extend to all the persons needs, as in short visits of 15 mins to 1 hour could mean that there is a choice required to whether, dressing, toileting, eating and drinking, emotional support and others is provided and which are not.

So, flippancy is not the order of the day for each area, aviation and care the need to a large extent is massive Government financial investment, which is not forthcoming, well, certainly not for care.

For, within care the Government intentions appear to be to enhance deaths, for it was in the situation of hospital discharges from hospitals into care homes. But deaths could be the result in any areas of care, be it, home care, respite, hospices, supported living, etc.

This situation within care has been the case, well before COVID-19, but COVID-19 is just another catalyst for care to cope with.

Care, (Social Care) is in a very serious crisis and that is the reason I created the petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care, https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care

If more information is required please see,

https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aq2MsYduiazgoBjtY1Dpe14ktF4j?e=sJYSLV

You may not, currently, require Social Care, but, sooner or later, you may well do so and if the crisis is not solved, then the Social Care you then require may not be there.

Lockdown has brought families of learning disabled people to their knees | Edel Harris | Society | The Guardian

The support system so many rely on was struggling before the coronavirus crisis. Now it is truly broken

Source: Lockdown has brought families of learning disabled people to their knees | Edel Harris | Society | The Guardian

 

 

Austerity ‘ripped resilience out of health and care service’ before Covid-19 crisis hit, says IPPR | Care Industry News

Underinvestment in social and community care left four in five hospitals with ‘dangerously low’ spare beds as crisis hit

Major new analysis of the state of the health and care system in England in the run up to the Covid-19 pandemic today reveals the extent of the crisis that was facing medics and carers even before the crisis hit.

Source: Austerity ‘ripped resilience out of health and care service’ before Covid-19 crisis hit, says IPPR | Care Industry News

 

 

Don’t just clap for carers- Urgent calls for new deal for health and care employees | Care Industry News

Researchers from King’s Business School have published a paper urgently calling for a new deal for health and care employees that acknowledges and reflects their worth to our individual and communal well-being that has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper says that the sector needs a new model of employment relations, characterised as fair care work, to tackle the challenges exposed by the crisis.

Source: Don’t just clap for carers- Urgent calls for new deal for health and care employees | Care Industry News