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LIVERPUDLIANS
VOTE FOR BRADLEY WIGGINS AS MAYOR OF THEIR CITY
THE national disability charity
Vitalise, which runs the
Sandpipers respite break centre in Southport, says that the shock
findings of a new Alzheimer's Society report into residential care
for people with Alzheimer's and dementia point to an even deeper
problem.
Responding to the Alzheimer's Society's new report, 'Low
Expectations’, which found that only 41% of relatives of
loved ones with Alzheimer's or dementia said they enjoyed a good
quality of life in residential care, Vitalise's research has
revealed that the problem extends to people with other disabilities
and their carers too.
The Vitalise study found that 6 out of 10 carers (57%) experienced
huge feelings of guilt at the prospect of sending their disabled,
frail or elderly loved ones into residential care even for just a
few days, and that worries over the quality of residential care is
preventing family carers from taking up much-needed respite
opportunities.
Significantly, the study also found that 7 out of 10 carers surveyed
felt that a break from caring, even for a few days, was 'important'
or 'very important' and that carers want more choice and control
over their respite care and short breaks.
Currently, the majority of respite places for disabled or older
people are spare beds in nursing homes, where the visitor has to fit
into the homes' fixed routines. This often results in considerable
feelings of guilt and worry on the part of the carer.
Vitalise is warning that unless the causes of carers' negative
feelings about respite care are addressed, many carers will be too
worried to consider taking any respite from caring at all and will
end up putting their own health - and that of the person they care
for; at risk.
As the population ages and more people than ever before are in need
of respite care, the charity is urging respite service providers to
pay more attention to the fundamental issues of quality and choice
in respite care in order to avert a worsening problem.
Vitalise Chief Executive Chris Simmonds said:- "The
Alzheimer's Society report is shocking but sadly it comes as no
surprise to us. What our own study clearly shows is that family
carers have no confidence in the quality or suitability of the
respite care on offer. The sad fact is that carers' fears are quite
justified. In many cases respite care amounts to little more than
warehousing for disabled or older people, so it is not surprising
that carers would rather struggle on at home, risking their own
health in the process. Vitalise is 50 years old this year and what
we have found over the years is that carers' worries and guilty
feelings are eased if the focus is on providing excellent quality of
care combined with good food, activity, new experiences and the
chance to enjoy the company of others. Unless the fundamental issue
of quality in respite care is addressed, this problem will only get
worse. Access to regular, good quality respite breaks for people
with disabilities and those who care for them should not be
considered a luxury but an absolute essential in enabling families
affected by disability to carry on coping." |
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Industry
coalition calls for fair deal on CAP
THE CLA, NFU and TFA have
joined forces to campaign for a fair deal for English farmers on CAP
reform. Critical for achieving that outcome, the industry has
identified 2 central concerns, both intrinsically linked to each
other.
UK farmers already receive a level of farm payments considerably
lower than our main competitors. Instead of finding ways to secure a
more level playing field across the EU, Defra has successfully
negotiated the powers to potentially widen the gap in payment levels
further by switching money in the CAP from the direct payments
envelope to the rural development envelope.
The 2nd threat relates to plans to "green" the direct
payments. Negotiations are ongoing at a European level, but the
industry fears that Defra's preferred method of implementing
greening would close off options that will be available to farmers
in other parts of the UK and across the EU.
The coalition does not agree on every CAP issue, but it is united on
these two central issues and has announced a number of principles
which they are encouraging Defra to adopt in designing the delivery
of the future CAP policy at an English level:-
► English farmers, like farmers in the
rest of Europe, must have a choice of greening options, including
access to all the applicable categories deemed "green by
definition" which grant farmers automatic entitlement to the
greening aid envisaged within the reform package;
► Greening should not impose higher
standards, or compliance costs, on English farmers than those in
other UK regions or Member States of the EU;
► Given food security and economic
concerns, Greening must be implemented in a way that does not
require the land in question to be taken out of production and
avoids unjustifiable loss in farm income; a point that has already
been endorsed by the EU Heads of Government;
► Farmers should be able to opt out of
participation in the specific Greening measures and, as a
consequence, forego the 30% of the new payment envisaged for
Greening within the new pillar one framework but without further
penalty;
► We believe that our current combination
of statutory and voluntary measures produces levels of environmental
protection and improvement that are well above the European average;
► Introducing a Greening element into
Pillar 1 removes the need for the Government to switch funds from
Pillar 1 to Pillar 2. The outcome of the EU Budget negotiations
2014-2020 means that there must be a radical rethink of Government
policy, matching the ambition of the next programme with the level
of funds available. Measures to promote jobs and growth must be
prioritised;
► The Campaign for the Farmed Environment
will play a central role in enhancing environmental outcomes from
farmed land in England by providing valuable guidance for the
'intelligent' selection and location of greening measures on farm,
and reducing the need for prescriptive regulation. |
