UKHCA Update

Dear UKHCA member,

To keep you updated, UKHCA’s Chief Executive, Bridget Warr, has been conducting a number of live and pre-recorded TV and radio interviews in relation to the EHRC report and the slant that this has been given in the media.

Although programming schedules can change at the last minute, during the day we should have given the following interviews:

4 x national media interviews:

• BBC News Channel
• BBC – One O’clock News
• BBC – Five O’clock News
• BBC Radio 4, You and Yours

14 x BBC local radio:

• Gloucestershire
• Newcastle
• 3 Counties Radio
• Stoke
• West Midlands
• Leicester
• Coventry and Warwickshire
• Cornwall
• Humberside
• Oxford
• Kent
• Bristol
• Wiltshire
• Essex

Kind regards,

Colin Angel
Policy and Campaigns Director

United Kingdom Homecare Association Ltd
Group House
52 Sutton Court Road
Sutton
SM1 4SL

Direct line: 020 8288 5291
Email: policy@ukhca.co.uk
Web: www.ukhca.co.uk

Webchat About Caring For The Future

Following the launch of Caring for our future on 15 September, David Behan, Director General for Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships, will be hosting a webchat on Tuesday 18 October at 3.30pm.

If you would like to take part you can set an email reminder by visiting the DH website http://davidbehan.dh.gov.uk/webchat-about-caring-for-our-future/. Or if you prefer you can also post a question on the website in advance of the webchat taking place.

This is a great opportunity for you to ask David any questions you have on the social care engagement exercise, and which will help to inform a Government White Paper next Spring, alongside a progress report on funding.

Devastating impact on health of older carers

A report launched today by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers reveals that 70% of older carers suffer a devastating impact on their health due to their caring role. The report “Always on Call, Always Concerned” highlights the concerns of older carers while demonstrating how essential it is to support local centres that look after older carers’ needs. Based on a survey of 639 carers aged 60-94, the report found that 65% of older carers have long term health problems or a disability themselves and seven out of ten (68.8%) say that being a carer has an adverse effect on their mental health. Of the UK‟s approximately six million carers, around half are aged over 50 and 1.5 million of these are carers over the age of 60 alone. The pressures of caring also particularly affect older carers in other ways; a major concern for eight out of ten is what will happen to the person they care for in the future. And only half feel safe or confident in lifting the person they care for. For more information see link
http://www.carers.org/news/devastating-impact-heal........

How Old Is To Old?

Just under a week ago on Meridian Tonight there was footage of George Gibbs aged 83 driving around daily searching for work. Today George has started work for Pimlico Plumbers of London as a van driver. But the question has to be asked how old is to old when it comes to work?

The "oldest person" on record to have been in employment was 104 year old Buster Martin, who also worked for Pimlico Plumbers, where he cleaned their vans up until the day he died. Buster was employed by the London plumbing company for approximately 7 years. Buster stated 'bordem' for his return to work.

Buster was not the only person to work past the magical age of 100 either. Jim Webber aged 105 was also working up until the age of 104 as a gardener in the town of Stoke Abbott. Jim worked as a farmer in Stoke Abbott until his retirement in 1975, but also couldn't be doing with 'sitting' around doing nothing like the 'normal' retired person, so went and started a gardening business where he worked for £2 an hour (raising to £3 because of the increasing price of fuel for his tractor!).

I'm sure many people would think 'they are far to old to be working!', but are they? If some one is fit and healthy and their job keeps them going, surely they should be allowed to do this. It mobilises them for a longer period and gives them something to get up for in the mornings.

Tender Loving Carers try as hard as we can to brighten a service users day and give them something to get up for. If we can help them to get out and keep active we will. Whether it be organising for them to go to a day centre to socialise or organising for them to go to an art class for an hour a week. Each year we organise a Christmas Party to bring our service users together to socialise with people their own age, and get them out of their house for a few hours.

So when you next think 'I don't want to go to work' or 'I don't like my job', just think what your job might mean to an older person.

Elliot Masters
Administration Apprentice

The Importance of the Homecare Sector

Dear Member,

UKHCA Chair, Mike Padgham, has written a letter highlighting the important of the homecare sector and thanking homecare workers for that fantastic job that they do. The letter has been published in the Guardian Online and is reproduced below.

Kind Regards,

Policy and Communication Team

In the furore over the Equality and Human Rights Commission report and this week's Age UK's revelation over huge cutbacks in social care spending, I fear the excellent and vital work carried out by home-care workers has been forgotten. It is important to set the record straight and reassure the public that domiciliary care is in safe hands.

Recent inspections by the Care Quality Commission found that the percentage of people supported by home-care agencies rated good or excellent has risen from 87% to 93%/

This is a vital sector and the need for public confidence to be high is crucial. There are more than 6,880 registered home-care providers across the UK, 84% of which are in the independent and voluntary sectors. These organisations employ over 440,900 home-care workers, who deliver over 6.65m hours of care per week to around 600,500 service users, valued at £4.8bn per annum.

Of course, home-care provision can improve, but to achieve that more realistic levels of funding will need to be ploughed into social care in general. Shortcomings cannot always be blamed on a lack of funding, but a £610m cut from social care by local authorities in the past year is not going to help.

In the meantime, home-care workers do a fantastic job, often under tremendous pressure and in all weathers, and for that we, and their grateful clients, are very thankful.

Mike Padgham

Chair, United Kingdom Home Care Association

Quotation from a Service User

It has only been a few weeks, since my mother in law came to live in Whitstable, she had very good carers in London, and we knew it was going to be very difficult to find another care team to support her with her needs in the same caring way. It was a frightening prospect for us, as well as my mother in law.

After careful consideration we decided to use TLC as it is locally based. it seems that after only a few weeks my mother in law has settled down, and now lookes forward to her new care friends (as she calls them) supporting her in a very kind, caring and understanding way.

My husband and I are very relieved that we are able to relax knowing that Ivy is being supported with great care and kindness by the TLC team.

It is very early days, but we do feel we have made the right decision choosing TLC to take care of my mother in law, and long may it continue to enable her to stay living in her own home as she wishes.

Daughter in Law of a New TLC Service User

Testimonial about Tender Loving Carers

A close friend of mine needed help and guidance with gaining care for her mother who had previously worked her way through 3 care agencies because of her reluctance and attitude to anybody who wanting to help her. My friend was beside herself when she called Tender Loving Carers . By the time she discussed the matter with the staff in the office she felt that for once somebody really understood her problem, and that a weight had been lifted. They carried out a thorough assessment and began caring for her mother in no time. The care has been wonderful,backed up by professional carers and easy to talk to office staff. This company is family run not a mega company, and comes highly recommended. Best of all her mother really looks forward to seeing her carers twice daily.

Written by a current service user