Telecare Aware

Care workers descended on Northumberland County Hall on Tuesday to protest against the possible closure of residential homes in Ashington and Morpeth. Workers donned black Save Our Services T-shirts and carried placards and banners to protest. The staff are backed by the GMB, Unison and the FBU, coming together under the banner of Defend our Public Services. The protesters are trying to persuade the council that care for the elderly should be kept in the public sector. Read the article here.

Comment: There are good, reasonable arguments for reviewing and reconfiguring services for older people. It’s not just about quality of facilities, but about keeping them out of hospitals and residential care by allowing technology to do what it is good at (monitoring, alerting and aiding) and releasing people to do what they are good at (the personal touch). In a public debate reminiscent of when mental health services were being reconfigured from long-stay hospitals to community services, why aren’t these arguments coming across? Did no one learn the public relations lessons from those situations?

Local councils will share £2.6million to set up systems and run the pilots for between 18 months and two years. Individual budgets will help vulnerable older and disabled people take control of their own social care budgets, manage their support and choose the services that suit them best.

Department of Health news article

Health staff and therapists at a Surrey PCT have launched a not-for-profit firm to supply their services to their former employer. Sign of the times…

A medical alert system and the quick thinking of an 82-year-old woman may have prevented a serious assault, police said. Read more.

Sad reminders of the need for telecare.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1490007.htm

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17129694%255E1702,00.html

Another newspaper letter (see previous entry). Does the lack of appropriate home care (including telecare) amount to negligence? Read the letter here.

Letter in Cambridge Evening News illustrates concerns that could be eased with appropriate use of telecare. Read here.

This article is about a watch-sized GPS device for convicted drunken drivers. The privacy debate is relevant to telecare. Read more.

Nice publicity for local home improvement programme. Read more.

The theory is simple: buy your own house or flat, designed specifically for later years, within a development that has age restrictions on ownership (usually about 60), with all support taken care of, from leaky taps and shopping to personal care, as needed. It’s a stage up from classic sheltered housing, which typically provides a warden and little else.

Actually, an interesting article.