no.256 • £4.75 incorporating
February 2018
The Number One magazine for the care sector
Secretary of State is urged to act swiftly By Dominic Musgrave A PROVIDERS’ group has called on Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt to act quickly and tackle the crisis in social care. And they have invited Mr Hunt and his new ministerial team to visit the frontline of social care delivery as soon as possible to see the situation first-hand. The Independent Care Group says on the face of it adding social care to Mr Hunt’s portfolio gives greater profile to the care of the country’s oldest and most vulnerable. But it says that will only count if it is backed up by some swift action straight away and not by waiting for the summer’s Green Paper. The Group’s chair Mike Padgham said: “Credit where credit is due, the Prime Minister has at least acknowledged the need to address social care by adding it to Jeremy Hunt’s secretarial portfolio in a very high profile manner. “On the face of it, social care now also has a dedicated minister again after it was previously downgraded to a Parliamentary Secretary of State post. “We have to hope that this is an indication that the Government is going to treat the care of our oldest and most vulnerable residents as a greater priority.
“What we need to see now is the Government bite the bullet, merge health and social care into one department, properly fund social care and get on with creating a system for properly-funded, seamless care.” The Independent Care Group is calling for better funding for social care to address the 1.2m people who are currently living without the care they need. A £2.5bn shortfall in social care is feared by next year and the Independent Care Group warns that care homes are closing and homecare providers are unable to deliver contracts because they are no longer viable. “We were disappointed that social care was ignored in the budget because the warning signs are there that social care is in crisis and something must be done,” Mike added. “We cannot wait for the Green Paper, measures have to be put in place now, not some time after next summer. The care of our most vulnerable residents cannot wait that long.” n What do you think should be done to tackle the crisis in social care? Email your thoughts to editor Dominic Musgrave at dm@ scriptmedia.co.uk or post them on our Twitter page @caringuk
Residents of Featherton House Care Home in Banbury enjoyed a bit of winter ‘spice’ when they visited Geri Halliwell at her home to appear on ITV’s This Morning. The former Spice Girl baked biscuits with her young daughter Bluebell and presenter Rylan Clark-Neal, before serving up the treats to the residents. The home is close to Geri’s country estate, and a group of residents were invited as guests to sample the TV personality’s home cooking during a segment of This Morning and join in a singalong with Geri and Rylan as a tribute to the late George Michael. The residents were also invited to share a glass of sherry as well as the baked treats with Geri and Rylan.
Care worker saves baby’s life A ROUTINE shopping trip took a rather unexpected turn for Natasha Page, a carer at Barnes Lodge Residential Care Home in Tonbridge, when she noticed a baby had stopped breathing. “I was joining the queue in Primark in Maidstone with my daughter when a lady in front of me stopped, she told me to pass her as she was seeing to her baby, I continued to the queue and thought nothing more of it,” said Natasha, speaking of the incident. “While I was paying for my items, my 22-year-old daughter looked back and noticed the lady was having difficulty. “She told me the baby had gone floppy and wasn’t breathing. I didn’t have time to think at all, I just rushed to the lady and took over, shouting for someone to call an ambulance.” Without hesitation, Natasha sprang into action and immediately
performed lifesaving resuscitation on the baby, who she believed to be around three months old, until she began breathing again, while onlookers called the ambulance service. “It can’t have been any longer than a couple of minutes but it was such a relief when she started crying, I put her in the recovery position and the ambulance crew took over once they arrived.” Natasha, who has worked at Barnes Lodge as a care worker since it opened its doors in October 2016, has previously worked with children and undertaken a baby and child first aid course. Following the incident, Natasha managed to contact the baby’s mother through commenting on a news article on Facebook, so she was able to thank her for saving her baby’s life.