Benefit changes are driving demand for NHS mental health services

Unfortunately vulnerable person who have care and nursing needs are certainly being hit by benefit changes causing “substantial care deficit resulting from the impact of growing social and economic hardship”.

But on top of that the Service Providers who undertake to provide care workers to administer the care required to these vulnerable people are short of the Care Workers to perform this care. Workers are unwilling to come into the Care Industry in the numbers required due to the abysmal pay they will receive, especially when taking into account the responsibilities they have to take on in their duties of care.

Most of these Care providers are funded by either Local Authorities directly or the local authorities fund the persons in need of care so they can instruct a provider to provide staff or they employ their own carers by receiving Direct Payments from Local authorities or if funded by health they will be funded by Personal Health Budgets.

While health have been receiving some increase in payments from the Government, but in no way of sufficient proportions, this is not so for Local Authorities who have been subjected to cuts based on austerity measures implemented by the Government of at least a cut of 60% and even more.

So while there is a health crisis, there is also a Social Care crisis of even greater proportions, which could, if the austerity measures are not reversed see a dismantling of Social Care by providers handing bach Council contract due to these providers having deficiency of staff to fulfil these contracts. Many Service Providers are seriously considering if they can even remain in the industry.

Urgently the Government need to take this on board and seriously undertake to fully fund all aspects of Social Care, for if they fail to do so the decimation of Social Care will have a direct impact on health services, making a the crisis in health even more of a crisis, resulting not only a complete breakdown of Soc ial Care, but also of the health service.

If you think it is bad now just you wait and see.

It is because of the above that a petition has been created and I therefore wish you to consider supporting and promoting in any areas at your disposal the Petition – Pay all employed carers the Living Wage

Flash, (Families Lobbying & Advising Sheffield), a group of family carers of relatives with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism in Sheffield are concerned at the state of Social Care, not only in Sheffield, but throughout the UK.

We all know that there is a major crisis in Social Care not just in Sheffield, but all over the UK. This is in a large part due to the lack of persons willing to come into the Care Industry, of which the low pay is a prime factor.

Parliament are aware and have formed a Cross Party Committee to look at funding, recruitment and pay for Care Workers in the Care Industry.

The Government currently have a recruitment campaign for the Care Industry ‘Every Day is Different’ https://carervoice.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/new-campaign-to-recruit-thousands-more-adult-social-care-staff-gov-uk/comment-page-1/#comment-57 .

However, there is no mention of pay.

Please therefore, could you consider the following

#pay #employed #wage #funding #government #serviceproviders #living

Could you look at signing and promoting the Petition – ‘Pay all employed carers the Living Wage, created by FLASh (Families Lobbying & Advising Sheffield).

Petition link https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236151

Please sign this Petition, however, until you then click the signature verification link in the resulting email your signature will not be valid and will therefore not count re supporting the Petition cause.

More information https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aq2MsYduiazglWxA60JAY_2cpvN8

We need this Tory Government to end Austerity Cuts to Local Authorities and then increase the Grants to these Authorities so they can fund Care Service Providers to be able to pay their care workers at least the Living Wage.

Please also see the HFT report ‘Sector Pulse Check’, https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aq2MsYduiazglXuM7Duz6HOYXvsv

If the Petition attains 10,000 signatures, the Government will respond and if 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

Please support and share with your work colleagues, family & friends, Social Media, MP and Local Councillors.

For any further information Chris can be contacted on carervoice@gmail.com

Thank you

Chris Sterry
Vice-chair of FLASh

‘Dickensian diseases’ are on the rise

The Government are playing a very dangerous game and are not qualified to understand what they are producing as they themselves are miles away from it and so are many MPs no matter their party or politics.

They have to listen intently for all that is being said and to a large extent to what is not being said to any large degree.

For what is surfacing is just the tip of the iceberg and by the time our supposed leaders, if they ever do, realise it, it will be too late for the majority of the population.

Or is it that they are extremely clever and do understand and this is a ploy to decimate the poor, vulnerable, disabled and sick of the UK by reducing their numbers to a minimum of survivors.

Renata Jones: Shared space works for no one | Conservative Home

Cllr Renata Jones is a councillor in Charnwood.

The first I ever heard of the shared space concept was seeing one materialise in Leicester city centre. It just sprung up one day, at the newly named Jubilee Square. Formerly known as St Nicholas circle, I still feel the need to smirk a little whenever I hear or feel forced to use what still feels like the new name for this area, although we’re now a few years on.

Having worked near said square when I first heard it was to change, I asked around and read some more. I heard concerns of fellow workers and some business owners in the area. I found info on the council website. I responded to a consultation. Knowing how slippery council can be perceived to be, I demanded in doing so that I get a receipt of my consultation response, and notification of when the meeting to discuss it would be, and copy minutes of any outcome. I got an email receipt acknowledging my consultation related response. I had thought I’d go to the city council and watch the debate, but I was never told when it was debated. Nor was I sent related meeting minutes. Work just began one day to change the square.

Despite voicing concerns at the plans, I never anticipated just how odd it would be when finished. A deliberately undulating lawn created what could perhaps aspirationally be called a ‘design feature’ to an architect or garden designer, or perhaps injury or death trap by a health and safety officer. Parts of the lawn had one meter high cliff edges. High enough to do enough damage if you fell off onto the concrete below, but shallow enough that it’d look flat if you walked along head up instead of down. I tried asking the council if there’d been accidents as a result of this soon after creation, only one report I believe they said at the time. Observers frequenting nearby establishments told me they’d seen three the first day Heras fencing was taken away, two pedestrians and a cyclist. Sounded more painful somehow for the cyclist, given related speed of travel.

 

Source: Renata Jones: Shared space works for no one | Conservative Home

Tory Esther McVey just sneaked out a spectacular climbdown on housing benefit cuts

This is just a start as Social care throughout the UK is in an extensive crisis and all, some more than others, are in a dire need of extra finance just to tread water, let alone cater for the increase in needs relating to social care from an ever increasing amount of people both children and adults and their respective carers.

If the Care Industry is allowed to collapse, which it is now and in some instances beyond crisis point, then we will be back in Victorian Times, a time when many Tories regal at in their wish to return to ‘Victorian values’. Are these values we wish to return to, extensive child labour, lack of sanitation, workhouse, penalizing the poor, disabled and the sick.

Just a moment, we may already be there.

UK wants to promote its disability policies to rest of the world, says Mordaunt | DisabledGo News and Blog

The minister for disabled people has dismissed a damning UN report on her government’s disability rights record, arguing that the rest of the world should instead be learning from the UK’s policies. Penny Mordaunt was speaking weeks after the UN’s committee on the rights of persons with disabilities said the government’s social protection policies had caused a “human catastrophe” for disabled people. The short debate was secured by the SNP’s Deidre Brock, but took place towards the end of the parliamentary week, when most MPs had returned to their constituencies, so only a handful of MPs were in the Commons chamber to hear the debate. Brock said the government’s austerity policies were responsible for causing disabled people “a river of human misery”. And she said the UN committee had criticised the government’s “austerity fetish” and had called on the government to “backtrack” on its cuts to independent living support. Brock called on Mordaunt to promise to include disabled people and

Source: UK wants to promote its disability policies to rest of the world, says Mordaunt | DisabledGo News and Blog

Sanctioned for not being able to sign on on bank holiday Monday. Tears, frustration and rain.

The poor side of life

Today’s demo started rather hurriedly and to be honest I didn’t know if I was coming or going. This feeling was amplified because it was cold, rainy and my daughter was a bit fed up. understandable of course. But she soon settled down into our usual routine and all was well.

We are seeing a lot of new faces due to Stalybridge Jobcentre shutting. They don’t know us and what we are doing, and we don’t know them or their situations either. So we have to start from scratch, which at times isn’t easy.  But it’s a whole lot harder for them.

I started a conversation with a man who had been previously attending Stalybridge Jobcentre for his appointments. The first thing that he said to me was that he couldn’t believe how rude the front desk staff are at  Ashton Jobcentre, and how rude some of the advisors are also…

View original post 1,606 more words

David Cameron scolded again by his MUM after she is awarded for opposing austerity cuts : Express.

‘He said: “I’m incredibly proud of my mother. She was an absolute role model to me.
“She really imbued in me this idea of public service, she was a magistrate for about 30 years.’

A pity David Cameron did not continue in the role model of his Mum and the imbued idea of public service,, or was it for only certain sections of the community.

Call for carers to be made exempt from hospital car parking charges : Welfare Weekly.

A tax on the sick. With all the dealys at hospitals re appointments will they provide refunds re parking charges, if not the hospitals could be charged with deliberately creating delays to bring in even more money.

Care Act failing as councils cut spending, warns disability charity

If your gay, ethnic minority or very old, then pretty soon it’s if you are disabled or mentally ill or just don’t fit in.