Care news

• Care staff notch up 45 years of service at Norfolk care service

  08-07-2020 07:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  A trio of staff members at an award-winning Norfolk home care company are celebrating racking up 45 years of service between them. Doreen Taylor, Anne Brady and Caroline Simpson have each worked 15 years at Extra Hands at their Horsham St Faith office, near Norwich. Anne, who is 64 and a grandmother of two, looks […]
  
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• Sure Start could have changed everything for my family. Labour must be brave – and revitalise it | Terri White

  18-04-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A new report shows how transformational the initiative was. But Keir Starmer’s early-years plans lack the same visionSure Start did change the lives of children, a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) told us last week. It not only improved educational outcomes for children, particularly kids from deprived areas, but also reduced later need for education, health and care plans for those with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), and paid for itself. The confirm
  
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• DWP warns carers they could face greater penalties if they appeal against fines

  17-04-2024 19:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Officials at Department for Work and Pensions accused of ‘threatening and cruel’ tactics over repayment ordersWoman with dementia, 92, told to repay £7,000 in disability allowanceGovernment officials have been accused of using “threatening and cruel” tactics towards unpaid carers by saying they could face even greater financial penalties if they appeal against “vindictive” benefit fines.This month a Guardian investigation revealed that thousands of peopl
  
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• Unpaid carers lose out in benefits gap | Brief letters

  17-04-2024 19:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Carer’s allowance eligibility | Liz Truss’s bestseller | Save the election date | Earthworms rule | Reservoir picsRe Jan Pahl’s letter (12 April) illustrating the very low value that carer’s allowance (CA) places on unpaid carers’ contributions to the care of their families, the gap between entitlement to and eligibility for CA is further proof of this. In 2022-23, 1.3 million people were deemed to be entitled to claim CA, but nearly 400,000 were ineligible bec
  
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• DWP warns carers they could face greater penalties if they appeal fines

  17-04-2024 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Officials at Department for Work and Pensions accused of ‘threatening and cruel’ tactics over repayment orders Government officials have been accused of using “threatening and cruel” tactics towards unpaid carers by saying they could face even greater financial penalties if they appeal against “vindictive” benefit fines.This month a Guardian investigation revealed that thousands of people who look after disabled, frail or ill relatives have been forced to pay
  
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• Man with Down’s syndrome died from choking at care home, inquest hears

  17-04-2024 16:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Marcus Hanlin swallowed conkers hidden in rice after being left unsupervised in Bristol homeA man with Down’s syndrome, severe learning disabilities and poor eyesight, who died after swallowing conkers hidden in rice as part of a sensory activity at a nursing home, had been left unsupervised though staff knew he was fascinated by food, an inquest has heard.Marcus Hanlin, 57, was on a regime at Cheddar Grove nursing home in Bristol that included him only eating pureed meals and being kept a
  
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• Man died after swallowing conkers at care home, inquest hears

  17-04-2024 16:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Marcus Hanlin, who had Down’s syndrome and was on regime of pureed meals, choked after being left unsupervised, inquest toldA man with Down’s syndrome, severe learning disabilities and poor eyesight, who died after swallowing conkers hidden in rice as part of a sensory activity at a nursing home, had been left unsupervised though staff knew he was fascinated by food, an inquest has heard.Marcus Hanlin, 57, was on a regime at Cheddar Grove nursing home in Bristol that included him onl
  
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• One in 52 Blackpool children in care as poverty soars in north of England

  17-04-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  £25bn of public money would have been saved between 2019 and 2023 if north had same care entry rates as south, report saysOne in every 52 children in Blackpool are in care compared with one in 140 across England, leading to calls for more to be done to urgently tackle the widening north-south divide, brought on by “decades of underinvestment”.Nine in every thousand children are in care in the north, compared with six in the rest of England, according to a report by Health Equit
  
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• Labour plans review of carer’s allowance after thousands forced to repay

  16-04-2024 13:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Alison McGovern says UK would ‘grind to a halt’ without unpaid carers and confirms party will review system if it wins powerLabour will review the system of carer’s allowance if it wins the general election, the party has confirmed, after the Guardian revealed that scores of unpaid carers were being forced to pay back thousands of pounds for minor breaches of benefit rules.Thousands of carers have run up huge debts, been given criminal records and been forced to sell their home
  
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• Eileen Jarvis obituary

  14-04-2024 16:56 via theguardian.com
  
  My mum, Eileen Jarvis, who has died aged 92, devoted her life to fighting for the rights of women and children, first with the women’s liberation movement and as a volunteer for Women’s Aid reguges, and then as a social worker in three London boroughs.Her passion for social work stemmed from the poverty she had witnessed growing up in north Wales, as well as the tragic high-profile case of Maria Colwell, a seven-year-old killed by her stepfather in 1973. While raising her own daughte
  
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• Revealed: hundreds of vulnerable children sent to illegal and unregulated care homes in England

  13-04-2024 17:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Observer investigation finds that private companies made £105m despite not being registered with OfstedHundreds of extremely vulnerable school-age children in England are being sent to illegal, unregulated homes every year because of a chronic shortage of places in secure local authority units.An Observer investigation has established that councils placed 706 children, the majority of them under the age of 16, in their care in homes that were not registered with Ofsted, the children’
  
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• ‘Nowhere else is available’: how vulnerable children end up in illegal care homes

  13-04-2024 17:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Harrowing court video hearings reveal plight of those unable to find a place in secure, registered accommodationThe judge sitting in the family division of the high court can barely hide his concern and frustration as he listens to a barrister acting for Kent county council update him about the plight of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl in an unregistered, illegal children’s home run by a private company.She is at risk of child sexual exploitation. In the past, she has run away, taken hard dr
  
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• ‘They’re heartless’: how one woman fell victim to the carer’s allowance trap

  12-04-2024 18:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Karina Moon, who is sole carer for her daughter most of the week, was told she needed to repay £11,292.75 or be prosecuted for fraudEx-ministers press Sunak on ‘persecution’ of carers who broke earnings rulesCarers in the UK: have you been threatened with prosecution for benefit fraud?Karina Moon vividly reacalls the telephone call that brought her to tears. She was stood, frozen, in the living room of her home in north Wales as a government official told her she needed to repa
  
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• It’s a rotten system that puts unpaid carers in the dock | Letters

  12-04-2024 17:50 via theguardian.com
  
  A council’s benefits expert and a tribunal judge, plus other readers, respond to reports on how the DWP is persecuting carers for unwittingly breaching complicated benefits rulesI have worked in benefits for more years than I care to admit, although for local authorities rather than the Department for Work and Pensions. The news about the persecution of carer’s allowance claimants is not surprising (Calls to end ‘persecution’ of carers over UK benefits rule breaches, 9 Ap
  
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• Many aged care workers may wait until 2026 for full pay increase as Albanese government requests phased implementation

  12-04-2024 10:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Commonwealth requests Fair Work Commission phase in full 23% increase over two years to prevent workforce shortages elsewhereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission, according to the Albanese government.The commonwealth has requested that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from Janua
  
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• Tell us: how did Sure Start help you or your child?

  09-04-2024 12:09 via theguardian.com
  
  We would like to hear from people who benefited from New Labour’s early years programmeGordon Brown and other veterans of the last Labour government have called upon Keir Starmer to include a new Sure Start-style programme in his election manifesto after a study showed its benefits to children from low-income backgrounds.Sure Start was first announced in 1998 and saw the development of hundreds children’s centres across the UK. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on carer’s allowance: people who look after others should not be an afterthought | Editorial

  08-04-2024 19:46 via theguardian.com
  
  The DWP’s system punishes claimants for payment errors. But it is the rules, not the carers, that are most at faultThe problems caused by attempts to reclaim benefit payments to carers, on the basis that they are ineligible due to increased earnings, are not new. Between 19,000 and 39,000 overpayments have been logged in each of the last five years. But this only makes the latest details of the heavy-handed manner in which these situations are being dealt with all the more dismaying. It is
  
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• Who are unpaid carers, and why have some had to repay large sums to UK government?

  07-04-2024 18:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Rules around earning limits for people in receipt of carer’s allowance risk them unknowingly racking up debt to DWPCarers threatened with prosecution over minor rules breachesAnalysis: Why are so many carers being taken to court?Unpaid carers provide support for loved ones – normally parents or children, who are disabled, frail or ill. There are an estimated 5.7 million carers in the UK. The majority of unpaid carers are women. The 46 to 65 age group is the biggest unpaid carer cohor
  
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• Who are unpaid carers, and why have some had to repay large sums to the UK government?

  07-04-2024 18:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Rules around earning limits for people in receipt of carer’s allowance risk them unknowingly racking up debt to DWPCarers threatened with prosecution over minor rules breachesAnalysis: Why are so many carers being taken to court?Unpaid carers provide support for loved ones – normally parents or children, who are disabled, frail or ill. There are an estimated 5.7 million carers in the UK. The majority of unpaid carers are women. The 46-65 age group is the biggest unpaid carer cohort.
  
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• The financial, physical and emotional toll of being an unpaid carer | Letters

  07-04-2024 18:16 via theguardian.com
  
  The government provides nowhere near enough support for people who care for their loved ones, writes Kirsty McHugh of the Carers Trust. Plus a letter from someone who cares for a partner with a mental health condition, and another from Jane Nation on the invisibility of disabled peopleYou’re right to praise Kate Garraway for shining a light on the financial, physical and emotional toll of being an unpaid carer (Editorial, 27 March). The government still provides nowhere near enough support
  
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• The right to carer’s leave in Britain is a step forward, but a system that relies on unpaid care is still wrong | Emily Kenway

  05-04-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A week’s break would have made a huge difference to me when my mum had cancer – and so would recognition of carers’ vital roleFor the first time, employees in Great Britain are going to have the right to time off work for caring responsibilities. This change, which comes into effect tomorrow, will affect about 2.5 million people who are juggling employment with caring for long-term sick, disabled or elderly loved ones. I know first-hand why carer’s leave is sorely needed.
  
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• Lease electric cars to rural care workers, UK climate charity says

  01-04-2024 11:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Possible charity highlights financial savings and environmental benefits for low-paid staffMinisters should consider a social leasing scheme for care workers in rural areas across the UK to use electric cars, a climate charity has argued, saying this would save often low-paid staff large sums, also bringing a big environmental boost.A focus group of carers in rural and semi-rural parts of the UK, carried out as part of the study, found that one woman earning less than £20,000 a year as a m
  
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• ‘If you want to abuse your workers, that’s fine’: UK modern slavery watchdog’s funding cut

  30-03-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Government accused of undermining the fight against labour abuses after £2m real-terms cut to oversight budgetBritain’s labour abuse watchdog has had its funding cut by the Home Office despite a dramatic surge in exploitation in the care sector.The budget of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has been set at £6.25m for 2024-25 compared with £7.7m last year, official figures show. Continue reading...
  
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• Finley Boden ‘should have been one of the most protected children’, finds review

  27-03-2024 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Baby murdered by his parents after ‘inadequate safeguarding’ by authorities in Derbyshire, says reportA 10-month-old baby, who was killed by his parents just 39 days after a court returned him to their care, should have been “one of the most protected children in the local authority area”, a review has concluded.Finley Boden died on Christmas Day 2020 after a period of “inadequate safeguarding” by authorities, who initially removed him from the care of his par
  
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• Home Office granted 275 visas to nonexistent care home, report finds

  26-03-2024 18:20 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Shocking’ system for awarding care worker visas leaves people at risk of exploitation, inspection report saysA damning inspection report has found multiple failures in the Home Office’s system for awarding care worker visas, including 275 granted to a care home that did not exist.The report found the whole regime of allowing care homes to sponsor visas to bring in workers from overseas was “shocking” in its implementation, and the net effect was “a system tha
  
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• Home Office granted 275 care worker certificates of sponsorship after ‘false’ application

  26-03-2024 18:20 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Shocking’ system for awarding care worker visas leaves people at risk of exploitation, inspection report saysA damning inspection report has found multiple failures in the Home Office’s system for awarding care worker visas, including 275 certificates of sponsorship granted to a care home without its knowledge and “using false information”.The report found the whole regime of allowing care homes to sponsor visas to bring in workers from overseas was “shocking
  
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• Care home residents enjoy theatre schools’ 50s-themed musical drama production

  24-03-2024 15:18 via careindustrynews.co.uk
  
  Residents from three Dorset and Hampshire care homes enjoyed a post-war Britain-themed production performed by a theatre school in Bournemouth.Care home residents from Castle Dene in Bournemouth, Elizabeth House in Poole, and St Ives House in Ringwood saw BIGLITTLE Theatre School’s musical drama show, The Trainmaster, at Bournemouth School for Girl’s performing arts centre. The story focused on a revered railway stationmaster, his family and the passengers, and was performed by the t
  
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• Siblings begin independent living journey at Grantham supported living service

  24-03-2024 15:06 via careindustrynews.co.uk
  
  Conversion work has been completed on a house in Grantham which has enabled three adults to start a new life and live independently.  Radis Community Care will provide supported living services to the individuals in partnership with Golden Lane Housing, supported housing landlords for people with a learning disability and those living with autism. Siblings, Aiden and Shannon, have moved out of their family home for the first time this month to start living independently at this ne
  
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• Veterans enjoy exotic food and drink, and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

  24-03-2024 14:53 via careindustrynews.co.uk
  
  The importance of a healthy diet has been highlighted by Royal Star & Garter during Nutrition & Hydration Week.Residents at the charity’s three Homes took part in cooking activities, taste tests and tucked into yummy foods, snacks and drinks, as part of Nutrition & Hydration Week, which took place between 11 and 17 March.Royal Star & Garter provides loving, compassionate care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia, from Homes in Solihull, Surbiton
  
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• St Mary’s Group Care Homes Recognised in Knight Frank’s Luxury Care Home Guide 2024

  24-03-2024 14:27 via careindustrynews.co.uk
  
  St Mary’s Group is proud to announce that two of its distinguished care homes, St Mary’s Riverside in Hessle and St Mary’s Lodge in Anlaby, have been named finalists in the Knight Frank Luxury Care Home Award 2024. This prestigious recognition places both homes among the top 100 care facilities in the UK, a testament to their commitment to luxury and quality care.Knight Frank Healthcare, renowned for its expert valuation and advisory services to the UK’s leading care oper
  
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