June 2010 Archives

Disability groups have received partial reassurance that a planned new assessment for claimants of Disability Living Allowance will not look like the controversial work capability assessment.

As part of the government's welfare reform measures it plans to force all new and existing claimants of working age to undertake this new medical assessment from 2013.

This would replace a system where most people access DLA through a self-assessment form, backed by supporting medical evidence.

The Department for Work and Pensions has said it did not have details of how the assessment would work, but the Disability Alliance said it had been reassured by disabilities minister Maria Miller that it will not be the WCA, which is under review.

This determines whether people receive jobseeker's allowance and are required to seek work, or are given employment and support allowance (ESA), which is worth £25 a week more and involves more support.

However, campaigners have warned that many people have wrongly been placed on jobseeker's allowance after being has deemed fit to work.

However chief executive Vanessa Stanislas, of the DA, warned that any new test would be expensive to administer and there were options under the existing legislation to reassess anyone.

She said: "We said we want to be involved in any discussions around that [new test] so we can inform that as best we are able. We just know it won't be a WCA. That fills me with hope."
 

I try my best not to get too depressed but a constant diet of cuts and their implications is almost too much.

The Guardian has seen a private Treasury assessment of the extent of chancellor George Osborne's planned cuts. This suggests that 1.3m people will find themselves out of work over the next five years.

Of these between 500,000 and 600,000 will go from the public sector. Of course Osborne has consistently failed to spell out the impact of his budget cuts, though the impact should come as little surprise.

The implications for social work do not bear thinking about. Although there is a promise to protect frontline spending, it is tough to see how there will not be an impact upon the sector in terms of vacancies not being filled.

Today's stories on the web reflect the coalition government's desire for welfare reform.

So here poverty tsar Frank Field tells unemployed fathers to get back to work - or risk losing their benefits: Unemployed fathers who refuse to go back to work should lose benefits, says poverty tsar 

And here chancellor George Osborne warned he was planning to speed up his plans to cut the welfare bill: Millions face incapacity benefit cuts as welfare reforms speed up

Disquiet over the size of the cuts are causing problems within the government itself with Lib Dem equalities minister Lynne Featherstone expressing concern: Minister joins backlash against Osborne's sickness benefit cuts.

They claim to be the first in the country to market sex aids to disabled people and their website encourages discussion of the topic in their forums. Although if you want the take from a social work professional's point for view you could look at this thread on our forums.

If football doesn't excite you but magnets do then this story claiming they may also help treat Alzheimer's might be of more interest to you. Maybe it'll mean North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il will invest in some really big ones instead of missile projects.

This is my first blog in ages so I'm a touch nervous. Just a couple of things for you all to chew over today.

Am I the only one who finds Osborne's well documented enthusiasm for cutting services and public sector pay bizarre for a career politician who seemingly plans on making a living from the public purse until retirement?

That aside, apparently, and unsurprisingly, the unions are ready to fight back. 

If you voted Lib Dem you might well feel aggrieved about today's budget but Clegg says he hasn't sold out to the Metro.

Lib Dems in Aberdeen are also finding themselves in hot water after scrapping plans to build five new elderly care homes.

On another note...

Good carers are hard to find, which may contribute to why 60,000 older people end up with hip fractures (commonly caused by falls) each year. Age UK have come up with a figure for the cost of falls of older people to the NHS. It's £4.6m a day. So perhaps a bit more investment in cheap social care solutions or carers is called for.

A few details are beginning to emerge of the government's commission into long-term care funding.

It seems likely that it will have a small membership, possibly as few as three, from the world of insurance who will analyse all the published options rather than re-open the debate.

The idea is for the government to be able publish a paper in October next year and seek to act faster than the previous government, which would not have implemented any funding proposal until 2016 at the earliest.

Andy Burnham, former health secretary and Labour leadership candidate, has been defending social care budgets and called for the government to scrap its commitment to real terms NHS budget increases. He cares so much he's been telling us and The Guardian to get his message out. If only he'd had this kind of urgency about him in his year as health secretary.

It'll be interesting to see how that might effect GPs who, according to Pulse, could start taking a more active role in monitoring the health of dementia patients following a few pilot studies.

More after the jump...

Public sector pension's could well be at risk too. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says public sector pensions put £1bn strain on the public purse and this could possibly undermine attempts to real in the deficit. The British Chamber of Commerce have also called for reform of these pensions.

This morning we're able to offer you a smattering of stories featuring  cuts, booze, football and mental health.

Conservative pledge to protect frontline services in doubt as cuts revealed

Liverpool council facing £11m blackhole

Women's charity fears World Cup surge in domestic violence

BBC takes Asbo alky on holiday to Ayia Napa

Broaden the discussion of mental health issues

More after the jump.

Wales has provided a progress report on the first 18 months of its Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Strategic Action Plan.

The impressive part of this update is how much work has been carried out for this world first 10 year all-age autism strategy, which has seen £5.4m committed to it for the first three years.

This year, for instance, 22 new autism projects have started. These have involved local authorities working together, often in partnership with the NHS and voluntary sector, to deliver projects which directly benefit children and adults with autism.

These are the sorts of projects the adult autism strategy in England is likely to see implemented, though it is clearly light years ahead of work in England.

Among examples one project is focusing on increasing the skills and knowledge of 35 clinicians involved in the assessment and diagnosis of children with autism. 

Across South East Wales the current ASD Emergency Card Scheme already operating with the four police forces throughout Wales will be expanded to involve awareness raising and training for fire and ambulance personnel throughout the South East Wales region.

Within West Wales a project designed to develop access to sport, recreation and leisure provision is being established, which will develop the ASD knowledge and skills of staff in activity centres in West Wales, and will help children with ASD and their families to access this recreation provision.

The Welsh government is also working with the local NHS to establish an All-Wales approach to the assessment, diagnosis and post-diagnostic support for adults with autism in Wales.

This will also include regional community support programmes for adults with autism especially those with Asperger's Syndrome, and the appointment of a Wales Autism Employment Ambassador.

Interestingly Wales will be setting up a professional chair in autism and additionally developing a Wales Autism Research Centre in Cardiff University.

Carers who attended Andrew Lansley's speech in Bromley by Bow yesterday walked away with a small spring in their step.

Despite the silence from Westminster on carers benefits (including a rather vague answer from Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, to a Parliamentary question yesterday) Lansley confirmed work is under way and hinted at its direction.

He said: "My colleague Paul Burstow is looking now at how we can do more to support carers and how we can have respite care built into care plans for carers."

The new care services minister Paul Burstow has signalled his commitment to the adult autism strategy.

In a written ministerial statement Burstow said he would be co-chairing the Autism Programme Board, with David Behan, the director-general for social care.

This looks set to ramp up the pressure on social workers in hospital discharge teams who already come under scrutiny for "bed blocking" when they can't find community services to meet clients needs. At present local authorities are charged for extra days spent in hospital by patients that are medically ready to leave.

Patients will have to stay in the community for a minimum of 30 days to be considered not having suffered readmission.

A minimum price for alcohol, advertising bans and more rigorous screening for problem drinkers must be introduced to curb the nation's binge culture, the NHS treatment watchdog has recommended today.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said that a minimum price per unit is the most effective way of tackling excessive drinking and its impact on the NHS and society.

NICE also advises that GPs should ask newly registered patients about their drinking habits.

However health secretary Andrew Lansley seems already to have ruled out minimum pricing  on the grounds that "supply and price are far from the only factors in driving alcohol misuse."

His stance will cause disappointment among alcohol concern bodies but to a degree I agree with his thinking as there is more to drinking than just the price of alcohol. Clearly fewer drinking problems will make life easier for social workers.

However it does appear clear that the government will be putting up taxes on super-strength lagers and ciders, which is something the homeless group Thames Reach has been lobbying for, for some time.    

The latest is See No Evil, which is in action across the Irish sea later this month. 

Vocal carers campaign group, Carer Watch, have blasted the government this weekend for its lack of action on carers' benefits. This is the first of those in this area of the sector which I have heard be so vocal on this issue. It seems the honeymoon period for the coalition government is already over but will other now come out and be as critical?