Having just seen Boris’ speech, where the heck does that leave all of us, and our carees, now?!?!
The word EXPENDABLE springs to mind … even DISPOSABLE.
BB, total nightmare. Sending cyber support.
Melly1
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Response from my MP:-
I understand your concern for your wife and others in her situation. Let me assure you that the Government’s fundamental concern at present is the protection of the most vulnerable. The Health Secretary made clear this afternoon that the legislation is there to ensure that those who most need social care can access it when there is a shortage of social care workers. The legislation is fundamentally about prioritising the vulnerable but safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the prioritisation is as intended.
Will anything be changed?
Labour’s shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said no MPs “came into this House” to give powers of this kind to the executive, “curtailing some of the basic freedoms our forebears fought for and we take for granted”.
While Labour believed unprecedented measures were now needed to “save lives and protect our communities”, he said the measures would “chill every Liberal in the House” and it only offered its support with a “heavy heart”.
However, he said the bill required careful scrutiny to ensure the “quite extraordinary” powers were not abused, particularly in changes to rules on mental health sectioning and the provision of social care.
The bill, he warned, would give councils the power to “downgrade” care for the disabled and the elderly and that this should be subject to a review by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
While councils should be able to prioritise those with the greatest needs in the event of staff shortages, “what no-one of us wants to see is the legal minimum of support become the default”.
Coronavirus: What's in the emergency legislation? - BBC News
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Did anyone honesty think that things would have been anything different ?
All emphasis has been on protecting those currently working … financial … and care workers / NHS staff … health / caring.
Many carers with their carees now in lockdown , isolated , many without Internet access.
No 5th. cavalry out there … fingers crossed that a local group will make contact … door to door in many areas.
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All M’s day services have now closed after the PM’s address last night.
No alternative funding made available as yet. That’s 28 hours of support just disappeared.
I keep pleading for them to finally sort out Direct Payments again for him, with an independent fund manager, so I don’t have to get involved with that side of things again.
I know someone who could possible support M but without Direct Payments, can’t arrange anything.
I am getting increasingly annoyed at the government throwing money at all sorts of people to support them financially. Not one mention of all the extra unpaid work dumped on family carers, and how to repay them in some way because their caree is now with them 24/7 with no respite.
Carers UK is continually updating information on the main website - see here for links
https://www.carersuk.org/forum/44/coronavirus-information-and-guidance-39984
We can understand Honey Badger’s concerns and the other views shared in this topic.
Today the NHS will start sending letters to the 1.5 million people identified from their medical records as being at highest risk (and who need to strictly follow the government’s guidance), providing advice on how they, their families and carers can best protect themselves against the virus. Text messages will also be sent out during the week, reiterating the advice and signposting to sources of support.
If you receive a letter or are caring for someone who has, you can register for further support here: COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk - GOV.UK
Or you can call 0800 028 8327, the government’s new dedicated helpline.
You can find responses to frequently asked questions about the coronavirus on the following page on our website. This page will be updated as more questions are received.
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/health/looking-after-your-health/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-further-support
Wishing you all well
Michael
just contacted local mp about our problems with shopping etc and livi nhs app that was advised by gp practice mp office said they will find out more info and where to get help in our local aera and contact us back asap
Please can we have all press releases put straight on the forum. OK they might be on the main site, but I never look at that!
On the other hand, I always click on “unread posts” whenever I come to the forum.
The forum is an important and valuable interface between us.
Coronavirus : Disabled people will be seen as ‘expendable’ under emergency powers, Tanni Grey-Thompson fears.
‘Decisions will be taken by someone else about our usefulness that we will have no control over’ Paralympian warns.
In a bleak speech, the champion Paralympian highlighted how a bill about to be passed could result in “the complete removal of social care responsibilities” > for at least two years.
The campaigner for disabled rights also raised fears of a drift to a register to decide which disabled people should receive services, as they shrivel.
“Decisions will be taken by someone else about our usefulness in the next few months that we will have no control over,” Baroness Grey-Thompson told the House of Lords.
“I am starting to worry that disabled people might be seen as expendable during this pandemic.”
Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, as still catching up on today’s posts - the forum has been very busy!
A friend pointed out to me that Carers uk have responded to the Coronavirus Bill and the suspension of the Care Act
Melly1
Resistance is futile … it is now LAW.
Royal Assent given yesterday.
NOT ONE MP voted against.
A dark day for the carer army and our carees.
Clauses suspend existing duties requiring councils to meet the eligible needs of vulnerable older people, disabled people, and young adults with social care needs about to leave the children’s care system.
Part of the bill will allow councils to prioritise care for those they consider most at risk if adult social care services become overwhelmed by surging demand or staff absences.
But charities warned this could put vulnerable people at risk.
Disability Rights UK said: “Given the already broken social care system, this bill will almost inevitably leave many thousands of disabled people without essential support or any rights to request this support.
Rolling back our rights is not good for anyone and in the current circumstances will put many lives at risk.”
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said that while robust measures were necessary to save lives, on social care it > should > “not be possible for local authorities to immediately drop care packages to a lower level”.
He said Labour opposed the change that would allow people with mental illness to be sectioned on the approval of just one doctor, rather than two, saying: “Our medical professionals are going to be under huge pressure over the coming months and mistakes may well be made.”
For a two year period , reviews every six months … welcome to the new " Norm. "
… and that word again … EXPENDABLE … as in cannon fodder.
Carers UK … time for new guidelines that fit the new ball game ?
The rug has been pulled from under our very feet! Much of the advice given in the Carers UK posting of what to expect of the hospital discharge program now obsolete? Many local authorities’ no doubt will seize the opportunity to cut social care, whilst publicizing their amazing efforts for whatever they do for the pandemic. Will recovering coronavirus patients be treated any differently from other discharged patients? Or will they suffer the same fate as the rest of us, vis a vis social care?
What are we to say when asked about unsafe discharges? Assessments???
Yep … main reason several of us are asking CUK to commence a daily Q & A on this forum :
https://www.carersuk.org/forum/44/question-and-answer-sessions-40168
Never has the time for collaboration between carers and their supporting organisations been more ripe.
WE NEED HELP … the supporting care system is being pulled like a rug from under us … AND INFORMATION
… the local mutual aid groups can only do so much.
A nationwide carers cards … for more than 16 years we have been asking for one.
If nothing else , it would open doors than are currently being slammed in our faces , here , there and everywhere.
Clap for the NHS !
Pray for family / kinship carers ?
Now … the abandoned carer army.
DESPITE THE SOURCE , well worth a 5 / 10 minute read :
Crucial care services are being withdrawn during coronavirus crisis
Councils and care bosses are trying to withdraw support for vulnerable people who have been asked to self-isolate.
It comes after the Coronavirus Act watered-down local authorities’ duty of care to adults and children.
Those under threat include some of the 1.5 million older and ill people who’ve been instructed not to leave their house for the next 12 weeks.