SPRING 2016
THE CARER
PAGE 23
Paying for Care Costs in Later Life Maintaining Standards for Cleanliness Using the Value in People’s Homes Academics from Cass Business School, City University London, have sought to find a solution to the social care funding challenge. In a paper, Paying for Care Costs in Later Life Using the Value in People’s Homes, published this week, Cass Professor of Statistics, Les Mayhew, Senior Lecturer in Actuarial Science, David Smith and Duncan O’Leary, Research Director at leading cross-party think tank Demos look at two financial arrangements that could meet this challenge. The number of British citizens aged 75+ is expected to double to 10 million by 2040, and 1.3 million people are already receiving social care services in England alone. Social care funding is a key public policy challenge for which funding is being squeezed and local services are becoming ever more stretched. Government reforms set out a new basis to get social care funding onto a more sustainable footing by establishing a new level for what individuals and the state will pay. However, it is unlikely that delayed introduction of the reforms will be any more generous or remove the need for the individual to plan ahead. In the paper, the authors consider two new financial arrangements designed to meet the needs of people in different financial circumstances based on releasing equity from the home: an equity-backed insurance product and an equity bank that lets a person draw down an income from their home. The paper shows that a considerable part of personal wealth in the UK is contained in housing assets, which
have increased substantially in value in recent decades, which is a decisive factor in determining how many years of care people are likely to be able to afford if they were able to release equity. The paper finds: • The equity-for-insurance policy has the important advantage that the premiums do not have to be paid out of current income – removing one of the key barriers to the take-up of long-term care insurance. • While like all insurance products it means that if care is never needed, the premium will have been wasted, it is a relatively cheap way of protecting assets and should give people the peace of mind they seek without eating into their current standard of living and still enable them to leave a bequest. • The equity bank focuses on allowing users to have a more comfortable retirement with fewer financial worries and enables them to stay in their own homes for longer by enabling them to pay for the extra costs of care. • A consequence of both products is that individuals will on average pass on less to their heirs, but unless the whole value of the home is used, users will still benefit from rising house prices and the risk of a total loss of assets is removed. Professor Mayhew said: “After the most significant reforms to social care funding in living memory, there is a temptation for policymakers to believe that the mission to reform the care funding system has been accomplished – but that is far from the case. Innovative financial solutions are needed to enable people to live comfortably in their later years without the financial worries of not being able to pay for care or losing their homes.”
Care Group Puts Health Top of the Menu A LAnCASHIre-based care group has launched new health and wellbeing initiatives to help members of staff keep fit and well. Staff at the Springhill Care Group, which operates three care homes and a supported living service, will receive regular visits from a registered nurse to monitor blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and BMI. In addition, the group’s chefs are creating menu cards containing healthy recipes, which are simple, affordable and part of a balanced diet, providing the vitamins and nutrients required for optimum health. Staff are encouraged to try out these recipes at home.
Staff are also being provided with a selection of fresh fruit to encourage healthy snacking and help fulfil the quota of five portions of fruit and veg a day. Ginny Perkins, head of human resources at the Springhill Care Group, said: “Often our busy lives can get in the way of taking care of ourselves, but it’s so important to keep on top of health and wellbeing. Sometimes it’s about making time, so by introducing these initiatives into the working day, we’re helping to give staff a head start. “We’re dedicated to helping staff keep themselves fit and well, as we continue to promote a healthy, happy working environment across the Springhill Group.”
tHere Are an estimated 5,153 nursing homes and 12,525 residential homes in the UK (Age UK), this equates to a large strain of washing needing to be processed in an efficient and hygienic way. this vast quantity combined with the high standard of hygiene required can put stress on any care establishment if not processed in an effective way. mAIntAInIng StAndArdS
Within the care industry there are a lot of responsibilities for owners and managers that are vital in keeping care homes in business and upholding a good reputation, one of these being cleanliness. It is imperative to comply with health and safety regulations. Care home owners know only too well that they have a duty of care and responsibility to their patients to maintain a high standard of cleanliness and to ensure that their environment is kept safe and sanitised.
tHe ImPortAnCe oF CommerCIAL mACHIneS Professional quality for professional businesses. This is where Miele commercial washing machines come in. German built for reliability and longevity they offer a complete laundry solution with a variety of wash programmes and settings built into the machine to cater for almost every laundry requirement. Many Miele washing machines are also WRAS approved and conform with water authority regulations, this is a major benefit for any care setting as it shows compliance. The Miele PW6065 Vario Commercial Washing Machine is Miele Professional’s best selling model and is particularly popular in a care setting. It is easy to see why with the many benefits it comes with: 1. Achieve a truly thorough clean with sluice and thermal disinfection washing capability, imperative for killing bacteria and germs that the laundry items are exposed to.
These washes are of a HSG(95) 18 standard, which not only means compliance but the very best laundry results. 2. Utilising this machine provides a service that complies with the care quality commission (CQC) standards, under the ‘Premises and Equipment’ title. This is one of the standards that all care homes must meet with by law. 3. These robust machines help to minimise cross contamination and aid infection control because they deep clean your linen, towels, tablecloths and more. This prevents the spread of diseases amongst vulnerable people who have very weak immune systems. 4. There is an added option to have a tumble dryer with your machine, the PW6065 is stackable so if space is limited this model is the ideal solution. You can operate a complete professional laundry set up in less than 1 square meter. 5. Other features of this model include a larger drum opening for easy loading and unloading and a simple and fast programme selection. 6. Miele commercial washing machines make optimum use of water and energy, and are built with powerful heaters for fast heating up of water and shorter cycles - speeding up the laundry process. Your trusty representative Allsop & Francis are the leading Miele supplier in the UK and have been the number 1 Miele Professional Partner for the past 10 years. This year we celebrate 25 years in business and it’s easy to see why with an incredible repairs and maintenance service that keeps your machine going for longer, minimising downtime. We also provide a consultation service to establish, based on your businesses needs, what the most suitable machine is. This service includes discussing available space, how much washing needs to be processed and how often, as well as the available water and power supply. This information provides our technicians with a clear picture of the type machine that fits your exact specification. Call Allsop & Francis today to find out more: 01243 555525.
RNHA Spring 2016 Roadshows tHe rnHA is about to embark on its Spring 2016 series of roadshows. Due to take place in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Exeter, Leeds and London between 19th April and 11th May, they will cover a wide range of practical topics. These include: CQC inspections; capitalising on NHS England initiatives to make better use of care homes; NMC revalidation; infection control; the government’s
campaign to cut out red tape and allow businesses to focus on what really matters; the potential for care apprenticeships in our sector; overseas recruitment and its continuing importance; negotiating with local authorities and clinical commissioning groups..and much, much more. If you want to book a place, contact Irene Hunt at RNHA head office by phoning 0121-451 1088 or by email at info@rnha.co.uk