Tendering For Care

The Weybridge Alzheimer's Society Care Café may have to close barely a year after it was opened. While Surrey Primary Care Trust has continued its funding of the centre, Surrey County Council has decided to cut its portion. The centre provides social and medical support for dementia sufferers and carers.

For further information about the Spelthorne and West Elmbridge branch of the Alzheimer's Society call 01784 444214 

The Mental Capacity Act regulations extend the powers of local authorities (LAs) and the NHS to instruct independent mental capacity advocates (IMCAa) in certain cases of accommodation reviews and adult protection cases. LAs and the NHS have a duty to decide in which cases IMCAs would most benefit their clients. The most effective way to do this is for LAs and the NHS to prepare local guidance for their staff, to assist them in identifying those would most benefit. It would be unlawful not to consider the exercise of these powers to instruct IMCAs for accommodation reviews and adult protection where the qualifying criteria are met.

The Mental Capacity Act regulations extend the powers of local authorities (LAs) and the NHS to instruct independent mental capacity advocates (IMCAa) in certain cases of accommodation reviews and adult protection cases. LAs and the NHS have a duty to decide in which cases IMCAs would most benefit their clients. The most effective way to do this is for LAs and the NHS to prepare local guidance for their staff, to assist them in identifying those would most benefit. It would be unlawful not to consider the exercise of these powers to instruct IMCAs for accommodation reviews and adult protection where the qualifying criteria are met.

Recent National Statistics show that new cases of homelessness have fallen by nearly half since their recent peak 3 years ago. Housing Minister Yvette Cooper welcomed progress made in reducing homelessness and today announced a £47.2 million grant to help tackle and prevent homelessness.

The lobbying organisation Black Mental Health UK held a symposium to address theproblems of mental health within Black communities.

The British Dyslexia Association (BDA), a charity dedicated to helping children and adults who are affected by the learning disability, has issued a public appeal for help after its recent financial troubles left it in real danger of being forced to shut down.

A written statement from Richard Phillips, chair of the trustees and Judi Stewart, chief executive of the BDA, declared that one of the main causes of the problems was the "complex set of bureaucratic circumstances" which had prevented government departments' contributions getting to the charity in time." The BDA continues to lobby the government and civil servants at the highest level to find a solution...The BDA will continue its efforts to resolve this issue," they wrote.

A letter, signed by a raft of organisations including the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, warned Gordon Brown against giving social care a poor financial settlement in next year’s comprehensive spending review.

It claimed the current system is "unsustainable" and thousands of older people would be condemned to isolation. They warned the current social care system is unsustainable and needs further investment if it is to move beyond "rationing intensive social care support".

It followed being raised by local authorities through local government leader Lord Bruce-Lockhart that worsening settlements each year had now forced many to raise eligibility for support is restricted to the point where already only those in severe need are likely to receive help.

Signatories, including John Coughlan, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, Niall Dickson, chief executive of the King’s Fund and Michael Lake, director general of Help the Aged argued investing in older people’s care will yield financial as well as social gains. Targeting investment on new technology – such as telecare systems to monitor older people in their own homes – should also produce savings in health and social care.

The letter urged the chancellor to heed the recommendations of the influential Wanless report for the King’s Fund earlier this year, which warned that services for older people were already being pared back to worrying levels, so that only those in severe need are likely to receive help.

"We are deeply concerned that there are currently no signals that the government is moving to address this critical issue adequately. Within the current constraints it ought to be possible to ensure levels of social care support for older people at least do not worsen," they wrote.

"Without additional funds for social care, very many vulnerable people will be condemned to isolation and dependency. The decisions taken now will affect the lives and prospects of hundreds of thousands of older people, their families and their carers."

A report carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has revealed that the older generation wants to be offered "real" choices when it come to establishing what kind of elderly care they receive.

According to the survey results, social care should encompass all aspects of getting older, not just the medical ones and the respondents wanted social care organisations to ask older people what they actually want in order to help them to choose the best lifestyle for them.Paul Snell, chief executive of the CSCI, said that the Making Choices: Taking Risks report was designed to highlight some of the risk-related factors that may prevent older people from living life the way they choose. It also proposes some ways that social care can support people's aspirations and choices and identifies some challenges that still need to be addressed. "People tell us that real choice means having real options, with the support to choose between them," he added. One of the anonymous elderly respondents explained that at times, they were left frustrated with the attitude of some of the care workers who assumed that the older generation were incapable of making decisions "You spend your whole life making decisions about things – your work, your relationships, your children - you don't want to suddenly give up that responsibility because you're older," they said.

The new Mental Health Bill was published for consideration by during the coming year.