Set a national threshold beyond which local authorities will not be able red uce their eligibility; Base

the national threshold for people who use care at a level which would i n practice be equivalent to substantial in the current system. This is the level c urrently operated by the vast majority of local authorities. Introduce a consistent eligibility level for carers, which has never existed before, to support their new rights to get help and support; and Provide clarity and reassurance to people who are looking to move home and l ive in another local authority area about the level of services that the new aut hority will provide. Councils currently assess the needs of people needing care as either critical , subs tantial , moderate or low . But there is little consistency across the categories and m any councils provide support only for people with substantial care needs with a fe w restricting eligibility to the critical . Studies have shown that in 2013: The vast majority, 130, had a threshold at substantial; Only three councils provided social care to people falling in to all the ban ds; 16 provided care to those with moderate needs and above; and Three councils only provided care for those with critical needs. This year s Spending Review settlement includes a 3.8 billion merged health and soc ial care budget to make sure everyone gets a properly joined up service where th ey don t have to worry if that service is coming from the NHS or the local council . The entire fund will help ensure that access to care and support can be protecte d and will also deliver this new national minimum eligibility threshold. The new national standard for eligibility is one strand of a package of reforms that will modernise and improve the care and support that people will receive. The Care Bill will: Prioritise the wellbeing of individuals and provide them with new legal righ ts, including new rights for carers to receive support from their council; Enable a wider range of care and support to be offered that will help to del ay or prevent people from developing serious care needs; Help people to better understand the care and support system, plan for care, and know what care and support options are available to them, whether they have low or more serious needs; and Introduce a new funding system to cap the costs which a person will spend in their lifetime on their eligible needs, and ensure that no one has to sell thei r home to pay for their care. You can read the full DoH document at: Draft national minimum eligibility thresh old for adult care and support discussion: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads /system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209595/National_Eligibility_Criteria_-_disc ussion_document.pdf

****************************************************************************** Arrangements for the PALS across the Bradford district has changed As part of the national changes that have happened to the NHS and the close down of primary care trusts the arrangements for the Patient Advice and Liaison Serv ice (PALS) has changed. As of April 2013, PALS is delivered by NHS West and South Yorkshire and Bassetla w Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) which is providing the service on behalf of t he ten Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across West Yorkshire which includes Bradford City, Bradford District, Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven Clinical Comm issioning Groups West Yorkshire Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) The service is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and is based at Dougl as Mill in Bradford. The service can be contacted on 0800 0525 270 or by email at: WestYorksPALS@nhs. net. In addition NHS England has setting up a customer contact centre, which can deal ing with calls from patients and the public about issues relating to primary car e for example calls about GP practices or registering with a dentist. ****************************************************************************** Bradford Council to face a further 10% budget cut Councillor David Green Councils will be hit with further cuts of 10%. It is the first time a leading Conservative has lifted the lid on the deal struc k late last week between Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and George Osbo rne. In March, Mr Pickles was said to be fighting threatened cuts of 7.2 per cent bec ause council services had already been cut to the bone but has now settled for a h igher figure. The Conservative-led Local Government Association has warned a ten per cent cut will require an average council to find another 30 million of savings, from 2015. At risk were children's centres, museums, sports centres, road maintenance budge ts, street lighting and subsidised bus fares, the LGA said. And Councillor David Green, leader of Labour-run Bradford Council, has described the city s future as desperate if cuts on such a scale go ahead. Bradford s spending power has already suffered a reduction of 200 per person while th e 50 councils least worst-hit have lost only 16 per head, on average, Coun Green said. But, asked about such dire warnings, Mr Shapps replied: No, I don t accept that s the case. We were told that councils would be going bust by this stage of the Parliament t I know of not a single council that s gone bust. Do I think they are at the end of the road with efficiencies? No I don t e plenty of efficiencies that can be enacted. bu

I still se

I think they can do another ten per cent. They will have to be very creative abou

t it, in terms of reforming services. Mr Shapps said a Government survey had found more people were satisfied with the ir local council than three years ago when the enormous cutbacks began. Tomorrow s spending review is expected to see some other council funding pots road improvements and public health shifted to Mr Pickles department. like

That will allow him to argue that savings can be made where spending overlaps wi th other departments, reducing the pain. ****************************************************************************** IS AGE BECOMING AS IMPORTANT AS SOCIAL CLASS IN DETERMINING POVERTY? Age and social class both matter when it comes to poverty, says Claire Turner, a s she looks at trends from the latest poverty statistics. The past week has been an important one for poverty statistics. DWP s annual repor t on households living below average income showed that median income is at the lowest level for a decade, with an extra million people in absolute poverty sinc e the Coalition came into power. A JRF-funded report by the IFS published some d etailed analysis of the Government s figures. The media headline from the data is the gap between young and old. Pensioner inc omes on average have been rising and faster than all other age groups in the las t 30 years. Over-60s are the only age group to have become better off since 2007 /08. In contrast, young people have fared worse in the recession, with rising un employment and levels of income falling by 12 per cent in 2007/08 and 2011/12 th e largest fall of any age group. Median incomes of people in their 20s had not g rown in the six years before the recession. For both young and old, these are lo ng-term trends. No one could deny that a reduction in pensioner poverty is a good thing and to b e honest, pensioners were starting from a pretty low base. Pension income in the UK is still lower than in a number of developed countries. And remember, rising pensioner incomes do not equate to all pensioners being rich. Indeed, despite o verall reductions in income, working-age people without children are still most likely to be rich compared with pensioners and parents. It is important to remem ber that there are inequalities within (as well as between) generations. This said, these latest statistics do present worrying trends and generational d ifferences. It is hard to celebrate reductions in pensioner poverty when at the other end of scale there are rising numbers of younger people struggling to get by. Recent research showed that older generations have much sympathy for the str uggles of young generations and vice versa. Generational differences do not have to create a generational divide. The solution lies in changes in social policy particularly the consideration of how policy decisions affect all generations in the long term. The challenge is h ow public spending is rationed so that all generations get a fair share. The IFS report raises some important challenges for policy and research, and it is valid to look at poverty with a focus on age, even more so as our society age s and the demographic make-up of the population changes. But it will be importan t to do so alongside social class as, when we look to the wider evidence base, t his is likely to remain the key driver of poverty. ****************************************************************************** The Screwfix Foundation The Screwfix Foundation is a brand new charity set up by Screwfix (the supplier of trade tools, accessories and hardware products - owne d by the Kingfisher group). Screwfix raises funds throughout the year to support causes and projects that will fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and community facilities specifically for those in need in the UK.

Working with both national and local charities the Foundation will be donating f unding to help all sorts of projects, from repairing buildings and improving fac ilities in deprived areas, to decorating the homes of people living with sicknes s or disability. The Screwfix Foundation is working on its very first projects, so an idea of gra nt size is not yet published. Applications are made by completing a checklist an d funding form. No application deadline dates are currently published. http://www.screwfix.com/jsp/landing.jsp?id=ScrewfixFoundation ****************************************************************************** Learn how you can help someone facing a mental health emergency Hi All, Most of us know basic first aid, so we can help someone who gets ill or has an a ccident, but a lot of us don t know how to handle situations involving mental illn ess. Rethink Mental Illness are urging everyone through their 'Mental Health SOS' cam paign to learn what they can do to support someone in crisis by downloading thei r free guide at SOS: your starter guide to mental illness. You can watch the following videos for some Mental Health tips from Rethink Ment al Illness below: Panic Attacks :http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jFPAId 5bh0M Hearing Voices : http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BI6u H2p3UaU Many Thanks Emmerson Walgrove Deputy Chair Bradford & District Disabled People's Forum (BDPF) Unit 1, Carlisle Business Centre 60 Carlisle Road Bradford, BD8 8BD Tel: 01274 481590 Text: 07807 593248 Email: info@disabledpf.org.uk Website: http://disabledpf.org.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BradfordDistrictDisabledPeoplesForum********* ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************************** Physical restraint In mental health at Bradford District Care Trust (BDCT) is tw ice UK average Hi All,

Bradford District Care Trust (BDCT) physically restrained mental health patients at a rate which was more than twice the national average in one year, according to figures in the 'what s crisis care like in Bradford District Care Trust' relea sed by Mental Health charity Mind A total of 918 incidents involving 245 patients were recorded by the trust in 20 11/12, according to data obtained by Mind using the Freedom of Information Act s howed. Four of the incidents also required police involvement and one incident resulted in a patient suffering injury, on 192 occasions, restraint was used to administ er medication to unwilling patients. But the Bradford District Care Trust was unable to provide figures on the use of face-down restraint a practice the charity has demanded is banned saying it did n ot record that data. Mind is calling for the government and NHS England to put an end to life-threate ning face down restraint of people with mental health problems in healthcare set tings. Data secured by Mind under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that at least 3,439 patients in England were restrained in a face down position in 2011 -12, despite the increased risk of death from this kind of restraint. Shockingly, half of all face down restraint incidents occurred in just two trust s: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and Southern Health NHS Fo undation Trust. Yet two others - Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Founda tion Trust and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust - have alre ady put an end to using face down restraint altogether. There were at least 39,883 recorded incidents of all kinds of physical restraint during the 12 month period, resulting in at least 949 injuries to people with m ental health problems. We found huge variation between mental health trusts in t he use of all types of physical restraint. Surrey and Borders NHS Foundation Tru st reported just 38 incidents over the year while Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust reported 3,346, despite the fact that physical restraint is su pposed to be used as a last resort. Mind also conducted a survey of 375 frontline healthcare staff involved in physi cally restraining people with mental health problems. Almost a quarter (22 per c ent) had not had face-to-face training on physical restraint techniques in the l ast 12 months and one in ten (9 per cent) said that the last time they were invo lved in physically restraining someone, they didn't feel they knew what they wer e doing. More than four in ten (42 per cent) said that, with hindsight, they fee l restraint has sometimes been used inappropriately. It is also evident that some healthcare professionals are using restraint as par t of daily practice, some said they used it over 100 times in the last twelve mo nths and others admitted that they use it every shift. You can read the full Mind report on physical restraint in hospital settings in England at Mental health crisis care: Physical restraint in crisis Regards Emmerson Walgrove Interim Chair Central Hall Alice Street

Keighley BD21 3JD Tel: 01535 665258 Website: www.healthwatchbradford.co.uk ****************************************************************************** NHS urgent and emergency care services provide life-saving and life-changing car e for patients who need medical help quickly and unexpectedly. NHS England know accident and emergency departments are under increasing pressure and we want to improve the urgent and emergency care system so patients get safe and effective care whenever they need it. This is just one part of a national approach to improving the way NHS services a re delivered so that patients get high quality care from an NHS that is efficien t now and secure for future generations. Earlier this year the NHS Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh announced a review into the way the NHS responds to and receives emergency patients, called the Urgent and Emergency Care Review. This is one of the priorities in the planning guidance for clinical commissionin g groups called Everyone Counts. A steering group chaired by Professor Keith Willett National Director for Domain three: Acute Episodes of Care at NHS England has developed an evidence base for change and some emerging principles. Please read the terms of reference for the steering group. The review is looking to draw on the experience of patients and all professional s in the NHS and across social care, and now NHS England need your help and what know how you feel and what you think by taking part in the survey and completin g the quick and simple questionnaire Before completing the questionnaire, please read through the: Evidence base for improving urgent and emergency care the steering group has identified areas for improvement in the current system of urgent and emergency care. They want you to comment on and contribute to this evidence. Emerging Principles From the evidence base the steering group has developed four emerging principles for future services, 12 objectives that any new system should be shaped around, as well as some possible implementation solutions. Plea se help them by giving your views on these. Have your say and influence this review with your views and feedback which are i mportant to NHS England, the survey and review is open to your feedback and comm ents until Sunday 11th August 2013 : Please complete the questionnaire Your views will help them improve services, using your comments the steering gro up will revise the evidence base and strengthen the emerging principles. This will help then decide how urgent and emergency care services should be desi gned and set up in the future, NHS England will publish a revised evidence base and the principles for these services in Autumn 2013. NHS England will use your comments to develop a national planning framework for urgent and emergency care and Clinical Commissioning Groups will use this framew

ork to organise your local urgent and emergency care services taking into accoun t local issues and patient needs. Regards Emmerson Walgrove Interim Chair Central Hall Alice Street Keighley BD21 3JD Tel: 01535 665258 Website: www.healthwatchbradford.co.uk ****************************************************************************** A million over-65s still working: the number of people aged 65 or over and still in employment has tipped over one million for the first time, according to the Office for National Statistics. The ONS Labour Market Statistics showed that 9.5 per cent of over 65s are now still in work. The increase is a reflection of mor e people staying on to work instead of retiring, in combination with an ageing p opulation increasing the amount of people in this age bracket. ****************************************************************************** Major new report reveals flawed approach in traditional services for older peopl e The findings of Shaping our Age, a pioneering three-year research project involv ing older people themselves, were published on the 26th of June 2013. The resear ch shows that older people have a great deal to contribute to the debate around well-being and services for older people and yet 71% say that they are rarely or never consulted on services that impact their life. Shaping our Age, supported by the Big Lottery Fund, is a joint project between t he Centre for Citizen Participation at Brunel University, the Centre for Social Action at De Montfort University and older people s charity the Royal Voluntary Se rvice. The research challenges the common perceptions of ageing and seeks to que stion the portrayal of older people and the assumptions that those providing ser vices for them often make. To coincide with today's launch, Shaping our Age commissioned new quantitative r esearch amongst over 65s which is also being published. This highlights older pe ople's own concerns about their position in society; 61% of over 65s think that society sees them as a burden and the majority (57%) think that the media encour ages the idea that older people are a problem for society. Two-thirds of older p eople (66%) feel that they are stereotyped and, worryingly, well over half (56%) think that older people are ignored. Despite the views of others, the vast majority (62%) of over 65s do not feel as old as they are and two-thirds (61%) don't see age as important. Shaping our Age illustrates the huge contribution that older people have to make to the debate around their own well-being and how best to provide services and support for older people and yet only a third (33%) of older people feel that th e contribution that older people make to society is recognised. The report shows that traditional services for older people, whilst addressing i mportant practical needs, can also encourage passivity and dependence. Many of t hese services do things "for" older people rather than working alongside them, i nvolving older people and responding to what they themselves would like. Older p eople reported being patronised or not sufficiently involved or valued. These findings are echoed by the survey results which found that although a majo

rity of over 65s (57%) do not use services specifically for older people; for th ose that do, one in ten feel that the services provided are not really what they want nor are they interesting or stimulating enough. 16% say that the services are the stereotypical ones that people think older people would like. ****************************************************************************** Feeling lonely? Feeling lonely can be fleeting, felt for just a day, or for it can be a longer t erm emotion. It is useful to think positively about doing something to help yourself out of l oneliness, while remembering not to blame yourself for feeling this way. Feeling lonely is a normal human emotion that is simply a sign of wanting contac t with people and is often something that happens because of your circumstances, or your external situation. If you have been feeling lonely for a while, a firs t step is to notice and identify this, even if just to yourself, so you can thin k about what you could do to help yourself, or how to ask for help from others. If you think you are feeling lonely you could try one or more of the following: Think about yourself think about what you would like more of maybe time with f riends or family, if so invite them to visit. Often if you are lonely you think people do not want to visit. This is understandable but often people will respon d to an invitation and will come and spend quality time with you. Look after yourself if you can do something to improve your health, take small s teps to eat well, take gentle exercise and keep active, all of these things can help you to relax more fully in your own company. Share your skills and time with others you can offer time or specific skills b y helping out in your street, neighbourhood or with local organisations. You cou ld volunteer with the Royal Voluntary Service or Independent Age who support old er people. Your community and neighbourhood find out what local activities are being planne d and book them up: walks, singing groups, book clubs and bridge. For example, t he University of the Third Age has a wide range of activities in many local area s. Speak to a health worker if you feel very lonely long term loneliness could co ntribute to later depression and other health problems. Your GP should be able t o direct you to local services. ****************************************************************************** What role for extra care housing in a socially isolated landscape? The Housing LIN report highlights five core elements of extra care housing that give older people fulfilling, socially-connected lives. They are: The ethos of extra care housing promotes the concept of a home (and community) f or life, independence, homeliness and flexible care pathways. The design of extra care housing schemes promotes social contact through 'buildi ng in' communal areas and facilities - such as cafes and leisure facilities - th at encourage residents to mix. Sometimes these facilities are also open to the w ider community. Residents of extra care schemes can also participate (or not) in a wide range of activities both onsite and in the wider community. These range from onsite exer cise classes through to joining local organisations outside the housing developm ent. Although many residents, particularly the younger and fitter ones, will tak e part in a range of 'mainstream' activities off-site, the less active ones can still gain the social contact offered by even relatively low-key activities with in the housing scheme - such as exercise classes or quizzes. With care and support staff available on-site around the clock, new residents ha ve access to some social interaction from the off. Most studies of social wellbe ing in extra care note the importance of staff in supporting new residents as th ey develop and strengthen social relationships. We see this as an in-built sense

of community and the fourth building block of social interaction in extra care. And finally, there is evidence that extra care housing offers improved health an d functional ability with, for example, fewer falls and shorter hospital stays. Residents feel more confident about - and are more capable of - engaging in soci al activities. ****************************************************************************** Positive Minds and Older People s Mental Health Partnership Forums (OPMHPF) Raising the Profile of Mental Health Issues for Older People Wednesday 17th July 2013 at City Hall 2.00pm Start (Refreshments & networking from 1.30pm) At the last forum, it was observed that many different organisations including t he statutory services are voicing the same concerns that social exclusion and is olation in older people is leading to mental health problems. We all believe th at working in partnership to increase Early Intervention/Prevention and Increasi ng Access to Psychological Therapies for them is crucial. If young and old would like to see content, independent older people, then this message must hit home with the NHS and Government. As you can see our speakers from national organisa tions have come together to give support to our work as they each have an intere st in the success of our campaign. Speakers: Alison Ingram, Information and Advice Programme Manager, Age UK England Gil Chimon, Director of Services, RELATE National Kevin Jarman, Deputy Director for Adult IAPT . Dept. of Health Who is it for? For anyone interested in raising the profile of mental health issues in older pe ople and bringing together Mental Health Support for Older People Booking essential as number are limited Please complete the booking form and send to alison@kivca.org.uk by Friday 12th July 2013 For queries or further information please contact: Positive Minds OPMHPF Support Worker: Telephone: 07949 789479/01535 665258 ****************************************************************************** AN INTERGENERATIONAL APPROACH IS ONLY WAY TO PREPARE FOR AN AGEING POPULATION When most people think ageing they think older people. But in order to explore the implications of an ageing society a cross-generational approach is much more he lpful, says Claire Turner. The public and policy debate about readiness for ageing currently focuses on the young and old, but this is at best distracting and at worst divisive. We need t o focus on the implications across generations to have an honest, evidence-based dialogue about ageing and fairness, and need to include all generations in that . Last week I sat on the panel of a debate on public services and demographic chan ge. The debate came on the back of the House of Lords Select Committee Ready for

Ageing report. The questions were wide ranging but time and time again the disc ussion came back to intergenerational issues, in particular intergenerational fa irness between young and old. This evening marks the first event of the Guardian Ageing Population Partnership, which will bring together different professional s to answer the question: how can we best respond to the opportunities and chall enges of an ageing population? I m sure the same intergenerational issues will be writ large there too. This is an important facet of the understanding how we individuals, communities and the state - prepare for an ageing society. However, I m not sure how helpful t his particular type of intergenerational focus is to the debate. At its most basic level, if we define intergenerational as young and old we miss out a large part of the working age population when the opportunities and challenges of living l onger affect us all. Also, simply focusing on two generations - young and old has the potential to pitch one generation against another. The young and old dyn amic can make generational issues feel niche (conjuring up images of primary sch ool aged children visiting care homes) when the reality is that the issue of fai rness across and connections between generations and over time should be at the core of public policy. I would argue that a cross-generational approach to ageing would be a much more helpful way to think about the consequences of living longer. While the intergen erational debate has tended to highlight the conflicts between young and old, ev eryday lives do not necessarily reflect this. Different generations live togethe r, sharing neighbourhoods and workplaces, and this will become more common as pe ople live and work for longer. ONS projections estimate that babies born in 2011 can expect to live for nearly 100 years (average 94 years for males and 97 years for females). We are already at a time where we see five-generation families and this is surely set to contin ue given increased life expectancies. These real and personal connections could help shift the debate on ageing to a place which is meaningful to all of us. ************************ *****(FOR AUGUST??) **** ************************ Strengthening corporate accountability in health and social care Hi All, Directors in charge of care homes and hospitals that allow neglect and abuse to take place could be held personally and criminally accountable for failures in c are, under proposals unveiled by Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb today. Plans announced today include moves to introduce a fit and proper test for direc tors, as part of work to address problems in the current system that fail to hol d company directors to account for serious failures in care. The consultation forms part of the work to begin rebuilding trust in the health and care system, shaken by serious failures in care due to scandals like Winterb ourne View and Mid-Staffs. Some of the key proposals to ensure that directors of organisations are personal ly held to account include: The introduction of a compulsory fit and proper person test for directors, res ulting in removal from their post upon failing the test; Addressing the loophole in the system where providers responsible for appall

ing failures in care can escape prosecution; and Making it easier for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to prosecute provider s and their directors where there are clear failures to meet very basic standard s of care. Remarkably, there have been no prosecutions for failures in care sinc e the CQC was established. Under the new proposals, organisations and their directors that fail to meet the new fundamental standards of care could face immediate action from the regulato r including prosecution. CQC s powers to prosecute for criminal neglect would be s trengthened. Currently, providers responsible for appalling care can escape prosecution, even in the worst cases. This is because CQC can only prosecute in cases where it ha s previously issued a warning notice to the provider and the provider has failed to comply with that warning notice. With the introduction of fundamental standa rds following the Francis Inquiry, we want to make it easier for CQC to prosecut e providers where there are clear failures to meet basic standards of care, with out the need to issue a warning notice first. To view the consultation documents are as follows Strengthening corporate accountability in health and social care Corporate accountability: our plans: easy read version To responded to this consultation by Friday 6th September 2013, responses should wherever possible be sent by email to: corportate.accountability@dh.gsi.gov.uk Alternatively, responses may be sent by post to: Sheila Evans, Quality and Regulation, Area 601 Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, Lon don SW1A 2NS ********************************* New proposals to improve care for vulnerable older people The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP the health secretary has announced he is seeking views on a set of proposals to radically improve care for vulnerable older people. The proposals set out improvements in primary care and urgent and emergency care , they look at establishing ways for NHS and social care services to work togeth er more effectively for the benefit of patients, both in and out of hospital. Comments are being sought from NHS, social care and public health staff, carers and patients and people can discuss and comment on the proposals through the bet ter health and care site. The proposals include every vulnerable older person having a named clinician res ponsible for their care outside of hospital, ensuring accountability is clear an d care packages are personalised and tailored around individual needs. The proposals include every vulnerable older person having a named clinician res ponsible for their care outside of hospital, ensuring accountability is clear an d care packages are personalised and tailored around individual needs. The other proposals include: better early diagnosis and support to stay healthy by improving the role GPs play in supporting people to stay healthy and taking an active role in mana

ging the health of their local populations improving access to primary care through new types of services such as r apid walk-in access services, helping patients connect with their GP in differen t ways through new technology, making booking appointments easier and building o n existing services and opening hours providing consistent and safe out-of-hours services

enhancing choice and control by rolling out the friends and family test to general practice by December 2014, giving more choice about location and type of service such as seeing a preferred GP or nurse and the option of doing this face-to-face or by email and telephone better sharing of information and joining up services so care can be pro vided in a coordinated way Over the summer, the Department of Health will seek views on the proposals, test them and the best ways to implement them. It will work with NHS England to set out a plan for improving out-of-hospital care for vulnerable older people. The final plan will be published in October and will be reflected in the refresh ed Mandate to NHS England for 2014 to 15. *********************************************************