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National news

News Archive

This page contains links to news articles from the press which may be of interest to carers and also local news and developments related to carers. Use the links above to access archived news stories.
West Sussex Carers Online does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these links.

The dementia tax (added 14.7.08)
Thousands of people with Alzheimer's disease are being forced to shoulder the costs of their own care. Read more here

Carers need help to get work (added 11.7.08)
The government is coming under pressure to give bigger incentives to encourage Britain's 6m carers to go out to work. Read more here

New Deal for Carers: a step in the right direction? (added 30.6.08)
Read the response to the New Deal for Carers from The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Caring for Carers at www.carers.org

www.easyhealth.org.uk added 30.6.08)
This website is a project by Generate who work with people with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Easyhealth pulls together accessible health information from over 50 organisations across the country, helping people to find health information that is easy to understand. The website has health information which is applicable to most patients, with simple language and is usually pictorially illustrated.

Funding for caring - website offering a reference point on planning to finance the care of elderly or disabled relatives.

Intel creates website for carers (added 17.6.08)
Intel has created a website community for carers, health professionals and family members which provides carers with advice and support from professionals. www.connectingforcare.co.uk has been created by Intel with the aim of uniting families, carers, healthcare professionals and social workers. Read the full article here.

Saga offers free holidays to carers (added 17.6.08)
Saga is offering free holidays to 100 carers a year. The group, now owed by a private equity company, is setting up a new trust, the Saga Respite for Carers Charitable Trust, and putting aside £200,000 to pay for the new venture. Any person over 50, who has been caring for anyone for a year - from a disabled child to an elderly relative - will be eligible to apply provided they have not taken a holiday for 12 months. Read the full article here

Government launches new vision for carers (added 17.6.08)
On 10th June the Government published its National Strategy for Carers: 'Carers at the heart of 21st Century families and communities'. The Strategy sets out a ten year vision and reflects what carers said they want to see. Read more from Carers UK

Carers UK welcomes pledge for new regulator to involve carers (added 17.6.08)
Carers UK is claiming a lobbying victory after the government brought forward proposals to ensure the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) takes account of users and carers' views. Read more here

Charged into poverty (added 10.6.08)
Rising care charges are putting older and disabled people at risk of not being able to afford to eat, heat their homes, wash or get essential support, says a new report published by Carers UK as part of the Coalition on Charging. Read more here

Carers can't afford to be ill (added 9.6.08)
New survey highlights health risks for the UK's six million carers, both for carers and those they care for. Read more here

Putting people first - without putting carers second (added 2.6.08)
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers held a roundtable discussion on 8 May, hosted by HRH The Princess Royal. Carers Minister Ivan Lewis spoke alongside Anne Smyth, Chief Executive of Carers Resource for Harrogate and Fern Routledge from Crossroads Caring for Carers to an audience of senior government, third sector, stakeholder representatives and journalists. The discussion highlighted some of the personalised and innovative services already out there and raised some of the risks carers have identified with initiatives such as Direct Payments. Read the report here

Keeping it in the family (added 2.6.08)
Alcohol Concern and The Princess Royal Trust for Carers have published a new report highlighting the negative effect that parents’ chronic drinking can have on their children’s wellbeing. The report estimates that approximately one million children live with a parent who is dependent on drink. The two charities will be making a number of recommendations to government to make work around alcohol harm reduction more ‘family-centric’. Read more here

Thousands of carers face losing home to pay IHT bill when loved one dies (added 30.5.08)
According to data from the Office of National Statistics, one in five households contain at least one carer. In nearly half the cases where a carer lived in, the carer was either the unmarried child of the person being cared for or an elderly person looking after another elderly person. Many will inherit the house they live in when the person they care for dies. Read the full article here

Carers Week Parliamentary Motion (added 13.5.08)
Carers Week parliamentary champion, Anne Begg MP, has tabled a motion of support for carers and Carers Week 2008 (numbered EDM 1369). To see the full wording visit http://edmi.parliament.uk. Please draw this to the attention of your local MP and, if he/she has not already signed, encourage them to add their support.

Care home residents wrongly being denied Attendance Allowance! (added 13.5.08)

Fair Benefits for Carers petition (added 12.5.08)
In the UK, a carer is paid the equivalent of 40p per minute to be primary carer for a disabled person in the home. In 2008 people who care, and save this and other governments around £800,000,000 must be allowed to exist and survive above the poverty level. Carers do not benefit from reductions in gas, electric, telephone bills, and also have to eat and pay the same as any other section of the community. This online petition, from GoPetition, is available at www.gopetition.com. Once completed the petition will be sent to Government Ministers in charge of benefits.

National Carers Strategy: A ten year vision? (added 12.5.08)
The Government is expected to publish its National Carers Strategy in June. Find out what Carers UK wants from the strategy by visiting www.carersuk.org/Policyandpractice/NationalCarersStrategy

Guide for People working with Black Carers (Added 4.1.08)

Many carers of people with Parkinson’s Disease lack support (added 25.4.08)
The Parkinson's Disease Society has published the results of a survey of people with Parkinson's and their carers. The research is based on a survey of over 13,000 members of the PDS, including nearly 6,000 carers. The findings provide insight into all aspects of life with Parkinson's, highlighting inconsistencies in access to specialist care across the UK. It also reveals that many carers are not receiving the information or support they need. Read more here

Campaign win for carers (added 17.4.08)
Carers of sick and disabled people have won their battle to keep a question on caring in the 2011 census. Read the article from Carers UK here: Read more here

Carer's discrimination case gains ground in European Court (added 29.2.08)
In a case which has implications for the employment rights for all carers, the European Court of Justice has recently ruled that a carer could suffer discrimination 'by association'. Sharon Coleman, who cares for her disabled son, took her discrimination claim to an employment tribunal after she felt forced into leaving her job as a legal secretary. She began a claim for constructive dismissal against her former employer on the grounds that she had been treated less favourably than other parents working at the firm, due to her son's disability. “Other members of staff were taking time off for hospital appointments or worked from home, but my requests were always turned down."
Carole Cochrane at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers says: "The Princess Royal Trust for Carers welcomes this crucial legal victory and hope that this case leads to greater steps to ensure that Britain's 2.5 million carers in the workforce do not face discrimination because of their caring role. Currently 1 in 5 carers are forced to give up work to look after a loved-one, which can lead to isolation, ill-health and poverty, yet carers save the government £87 billion a year.” Read the article from Carers UK here, or visit www.equalityhumanrights.com

Government reforms to State Pensions for women (added 28.01.08)
Women's State Pension age is changing, gradually rising from 60 to 65 between year 2010 and 2020. For women born between 6th April 1950 and 5th April 1955 their exact State Pension age will depend on their date of birth. To find out exactly when they can claim, there is a State Pension age calculator on www.thepensionservice.gov.uk - follow the link from the home page. Women retiring on or after 6th April 2010 will only need 30 qualifying years of National Insurance Credits (NIC), instead of 39 years, to qualify for a full state pension. A new Carers' Credit would give NIC credit to women who stay at home as carers for a minimum of 20 hours per week (reduced from 35 hours at present).

Carers tell PM "It's time to deliver" (added 21.01.08)
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson attended a consultation event in Leeds in January which was organised by Carers UK and the Department of Health. The PM met around 60 carers and heard their views on the issues that affect them, including benefits, access to health and social care services, support to remain in work and discrimination against carers. Read the article from Carers UK here.

New Standing Commission on Carers (added 18.01.08)
The government has announced that a Standing Commission on Carers will be established. It proposes to ensure the voice of carers is central to the development of government policy; to look at how carers will be affected by changes in society; and to oversee the national carers' strategy due to be published next year, and monitor implementation of the strategy and the New Deal for Carers.

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