News

The Prime Minister has announced plans to reform Britain’s social care in a three-stage plan for a national care service.

In a podcast, Gordon Brown said the Government will be setting out the route to a national care service that will benefit every family in the country meaning a much better deal for our older people.

• Listen to the podcast

The reforms will be introduced on three stages starting with a “radical overhaul” of care in the home which will help more of our old people cope longer at home.

Secondly, building up the care service, so that people who have been in care homes for more than two years will get their care for free.

And thirdly, paving the way towards the introduction of a comprehensive national care service available to all.

The PM said:

“Our current care and support system is no longer adequate for these challenges we see ahead. It cannot meet all our needs, nor match our aspirations. And if left unchanged, it would not cope with the extra demand in years to come.

Our answer is bold, ambitious reform to create a system firmly rooted in the proudest traditions of our national health service: personal care, there for you when you need it.”

NHS Lambeth and NHS Southwark have agreed to integrate with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to become part of King’s Health Partners.

The three organisations will now work together to engage with patients, stakeholders and the public before formal integration takes place in April 2011.

Community health involves services such as district nursing, health visiting, reproductive and sexual health, school nursing, specialist child health, elderly care and therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. These services are provided in GP surgeries, health centres, schools, children’s centres, patient’s homes and residential and nursing homes.

Have fun, meet new people, gain new skills!

CoolTan Arts will run free arts and multimedia workshops open to all Southwark residents over 19.

Places are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Workshops start from March and run until July 2010, and Southwark residents can attend one course of 10 hours.

To make a booking, please return the enrolment form to CoolTan Arts, along with a deposit of £10 (unemployed) or £20 (employed). Cheques need to be made payable to CoolTan Arts and will be returned upon completion of the course. Tuition is free but materials re not included.

Workshops include:

Desktop Publishing
Podcasting / Radio Production and Broadcasting
Photoshop for beginners
Basic IT
Local history
Creative writing
Poetry
Portrait drawing
Batik (small charge for materials)
Machine sewing intermediate (small charge for materials)
Screen printing (small charge for materials)

For more information please contact Clara or Kathrin at CoolTan Arts.

clara@cooltanarts.org.uk

kathrin@cooltanarts.org.uk

020 7701 2696

Census 2011: Area Manager positions in Southwark

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have started the recruitment process for 2 Area Managers in Southwark, for the 2011 Census. These roles will be employed by the Office for National Statistics, will be full time (August 2010 – June 2011) and will be paid £18.19 per hour (equivalent to £35,000 per annum).

Southwark’s two Census Area Managers will be responsible for the census operation in Southwark. Their primary focus will be to ensure that the maximum number of people return their census questionnaires. Area Managers will be responsible for managing teams of up to 15 Census co-ordinators who themselves will be managing teams of up to 15 distributors, collectors and enumerators. The closing date for applications is the 11th of April 2010.

To find out more and to apply for these roles please go to www.censusjobs.co.uk,

For more information on Southwark’s preparations for the 2011 Census, please contact Christos Pishias on ext 57312, christos.pishias@southwark.gov.uk

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) will be replaced by weekly credits for parents and carers. Carers caring for a total of 20 hours per week or more will be able to apply for Carer’s Credit to protect their State Pension – both the basic and State Second Pension. This will help in situations where carers currently struggle to get their State Pensions protected, for example:

1. Carers caring for 20 hours or more per week (only those caring for 35 hours or more qualify before April 2010).
2. Carers looking after someone who refuses to claim disability benefits or who finds it extremely difficult because of their condition. This would benefit people caring for people with mental illness, for example.
3. Where more than one carer is looking after someone who is severely disabled – only one can claim Carers’s Allowance (but from April 2010 the other will be able to claim Carer’s Credit).
4. Carers who are looking after several people but cannot claim Carer’s Allowance because they do not care for any one of them for 35 hours. After April 2010 people in these situations will qualify for Carer’s Credit. To claim the Carer’s Credit carers must be caring for 20 hours or more a week for someone who is either:

• in receipt of a qualifying benefit (any rate of Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance, middle or highest DLA care component),
• or where there is no qualifying benefit, has a signed certificate from a health or social care professional to confirm that the level of care being provided is appropriate (as in 2. above).

For more information click here

Some of Britain’s six million carers will find it easier to build up a state pension from April, when new rules come into force.

Hundreds of thousands of carers don’t currently qualify for credits towards their state pension, but that’s about to change.

Many people – mostly women – fail to qualify for a full basic state pension because they don’t pay enough National Insurance contributions. And one of the biggest groups to lose out are carers. If you give up work to look after your children, you can effectively get credited for those years, but under the current system, it’s much harder for carers to qualify. They need to claim a benefit called Carer’s Allowance to trigger credits for National Insurance contributions, which many carers aren’t entitled to receive. But from April 6th, the rules will change and anyone caring for someone for 20 hours a week or more will get credits towards their state pension.

Read more

Help for Southwark residents with housing arrears.

Southwark Council is working in partnership with the voluntary sector, and Southwark Credit Union to try and deal with some of the difficulties people may have caused by the recession.

Read more

Three out of four people in the UK suffer from depression at some point but only a third seek help, a poll found today.

Women are more likely to feel depressed than men, with 80% saying they regularly or occasionally feel down or unable to cope.

Money is the biggest cause of depression, with more than half of all people surveyed saying they have felt down about money over the last 12 months.

Men are particularly likely to have linked their depression to the recession, whereas women have been worried about family or relationships.

January is regarded as the most depressing month of the year, caused by post-Christmas credit card bills and cold weather.

Zelda Peters, director for mental health at the charity Turning Point, said even mild depression needs to be identified and treated early.

“We know that, if diagnosed early, mild depression can be successfully treated.

“If not, it can escalate and lead to unemployment or long-term sickness, and even to negative behaviours such as drinking more, missing work or college and lying to family and friends.

“Most people think anti-depressants are the answer and for some people they are.

“But there are a huge range of treatments beyond this on offer, such as psychological therapies which provide effective long-term relief.”

Caring with Confidence is a free knowledge and skills based programme which aims to help carers make a positive difference to their lives and the lives of the people they care for.

The courses are available through groups or a series of self study workbooks.

For more information please click here.

Developing fun and healthy lifestyles for older adults

With regular physical activity you will increase your chances of living a longer, healthier and more independent life. At least 30 minutes of activity, five or more days per week, can improve your overall health. This does not have to be all in one go and three slots of ten minutes throughout the day would be a great start.

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