read ppy Chri stm as a H to all o ur e rs and a
December 2015
d v e r ti s e r s
incorporating
no.234 • £4.75
The Number One magazine for the care sector
Older people ’let down’ by Government
By Dominic Musgrave
OLDER and vulnerable adults receiving the care they need in their own home have been let down by successive governments, a sector leader told homecare providers. Speaking at the annual conference of the United Kingdom Homecare Association , the body’s chairman Mike Padgham warned that the Government’s autumn spending review would be ‘make or break time’ for many providing homecare. “Thousands of people are going without the care they need in their own home – breaking the promises not just of this government, but of successive governments, of every political colour,” he told delegates gathering at the Kia Oval. His words came as Age UK revealed figures that showed that a million people aged over 65 with a care need were not getting the help they needed. “In 1989 they released a film called Back to the Future 2, in which the main characters went forward to October 21, 2015. “I wonder, if they had included social care in the film, what sort of future would they have predicted? A utopian vision of older people cared for properly by a society that treated them with the respect and dignity
they deserved? “Or frail, vulnerable adults denied the knock on the door they look forward to, due to a lack of money? “I know providers who are thinking of calling it a day and those who simply will not be able to afford to deliver contracts properly next spring.” The UKHCA has launched a Save Our Homecare campaign, including a petition calling on the Government to address an expected £750m shortfall in homecare spending, in the autumn spending review. The petition is well on towards reaching its 10,000 target to provoke a Government response. Mike added: “To see stressed, hard-pressed domiciliary care providers struggling to deliver proper care in the tightest ever financial climate. More people are needing homecare and yet less and less money is being invested into it. That makes no sense. “If, as a country, we need better roads, better national defence, better healthcare – we wake up to the fact that somehow we have to pay for it. And yet even though everyone is agreed that we want better care for older and vulnerable people, the country is cutting, rather than increasing, investment in it.”
Conference venues and theme are announced
Residents and colleagues at Mills Meadow care home in Framlingham in Suffolk received a special visit when music superstar Ed Sheeran popped in to cut the ribbon to the home’s new ‘Sheeran Suite’, which will provide nursing care for older people. Ed , who grew up in Framlingham, was happy to sit and chat with residents and their relatives at the care home, as well as posing for selfies with Care UK colleagues who work or support the home.
THE dates and venues have been announced for next year’s care providers conferences organised by Caring UK’s sister company Script Events. The events, which will have the theme ‘Elderly Care: Leading the Way’, will be a must-attend for care operators and managers. The first two events take place at Newcastle Racecourse and Herons Reach Hotel in Blackpool on May 18 and 19 respectively. The next conference will take place at York Racecourse on July 13, while the final two will be held at the Holiday Inn, Plymouth on October 5 and Cheltenham Racecourse on October 6. Speakers already confirmed for the event include representatives from Care England, the National Care Association and The Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling. Further speakers will be revealed over the next few months. For full details about next year’s conferences turn to page 30.