Month: January 2017

The chief executive of the Welsh Local Government Association, Steve Thomas, has stated that increases in social care costs may lead to the local councils being forced to combine. Mr Thomas states that the landscape of the rising cost of social care is set against decreasing council budgets.  Last week the Welsh government injected an …

Cost of social care could result in Welsh councils merging Read More »

Theresa May will announce in a speech to the Charity Commission on 9 January 2017 her plans for a ‘shared society’ a large part of which seeks to address problems with the perception and treatment of mental health. Mental health problems cost the NHS £105bn annually and affect younger people more than their older counterparts. …

Prime Minister pledges extra support for mental health services Read More »

Concerns continue to rise in Westminster that Brexit is overshadowing the urgent action needed to tackle the social care crisis. Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, of the health committee, the Labour MP Meg Hillier, of the public accounts committee, and Clive Betts, also a Labour MP, have written to Theresa May outlining their fears that pressing …

Theresa May put under pressure by MPs to act on the social care crisis Read More »

Recent studies from NHS England have shown that 17,509 bed days were lost in October 2016 in the 24 trusts which specialise in mental health and learning disability care, an increase of nearly 56% on the previous November. A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said:- “No-one should face unnecessary delays in being discharged. The …

Mental health hospitals affected more than other parts of the NHS with delays in discharging people from hospital Read More »

In a study conducted in Canada which followed 2m people for 11 years approximately 10% of people who gained dementia could be due to their proximity to a major road. The research does not know the precise reason beyond the distance that people live to a major road such as whether the traffic, pollution or …

Research appears to show incidence of Dementia higher in people who live near major roads Read More »

Sweden trialled a two-year experiment which saw care workers’ day reduced from 8 hours to 6. To cope with the reduction in the working day more care workers had to be employed at significant cost, just over £1m over the period.  At the same time reduced hours care workers’ salaries on shorter working days were …

Reduced working day trial in Sweden for care workers positively received Read More »

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid recently confirmed dedicated adult social care funding will form a key part of continued long-term financial certainty for councils. Included in the pledge was a £240 million dedicated social care grant for councils in 2017, a greater flexibility for local authorities over the Council Tax social care precept and continued certainty …

Review announced on a long-term solution for the social care crisis. Read More »

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid recently confirmed dedicated adult social care funding will form a key part of continued long-term financial certainty for councils. Included in the pledge was a £240 million dedicated social care grant for councils in 2017, a greater flexibility for local authorities over the Council Tax social care precept and continued certainty …

Councils continue to benefit from long-term financial certainty for adult social care services Read More »