Disability Living Allowance claimants have risen by 30% – but for more complex reasons than Iain Duncan Smith would have you believe Few people would argue with the government’s desire to tackle benefit fraud.
The Undateables was kindly, thoughtful and full of inadvertent comedy ‘That’s quite a lot of aftershave, Richard.” “Well,” replies Richard, continuing to wreathe himself in the aerosol mist, “when you’re going on a date, you’ve got to be sure.” Richard, a 37-year-old man with Asperger’s syndrome was going on his first date in 20 years – the second of his lifetime.
In a Today programme feature on the island of Sark, Sarah Montague teased out a powerful story of mystery and intimidation Today (Radio 4) | iPlayer Beyond Disability: Adventures of a Blue Badger (5 Live) | iPlayer It’s My Story: The Long Walk (Radio 4) | iPlayer Schubert (Radio 3) | iPlayer The Today programme is usually burbling away in the background as the Sawyer family enjoys a relaxed breakfast (baby poking spoons in her ears; six-year-old “doing” spelling while in vital final stages of solo Cornflake-eating race; Mr S checking football scores, managing toast production line; me in never-ending search for missing phone/sock/cup of half-drunk coffee). And the Today programme suits us fine, until it gets to the 8.10am interview
Serious failings in the support of disabled children are glossed over, while an unpublished report on abortion is leapt on It feels like cheap point-scoring to say that abortion opponents are more concerned with saving foetuses than protecting actual, living children, but the contrasting reactions to two pieces of research by the Care Quality Commission this week suggest exactly that. On Thursday, the CQC (the independent regulator of health and social care services in England) published a report that showed serious failings in the support of disabled children : unacceptably long waits for wheelchairs, a lack of cohesion between different services, and families feeling that they hadn’t been sufficiently consulted about their children’s care. The result: no outrage, no contrite statements from the secretary of state – even though the uncertain effects of the health and social care bill have increased concerns about co-ordination between patient care agencies for children with disabilities
Thousands of coders are taking part in a global game development challenge, and many are being encouraged to consider a specific audience: gamers with disabilities The annual Global Game Jam kicks off on Friday, with thousands of coders around the world gathering in hundreds of different venues to spend the weekend writing games.
House of Lords rejects Lady Grey-Thompson’s proposal for pilot scheme before disability allowance cuts are introduced The government fought off a fresh challenge to its controversial welfare reform bill on Tuesday night, when peers rejected a proposal to delay the full introduction of slashed new disability payments after ministers offered concessions. As the cabinet hardened its tactics by agreeing to overturn a series of defeats in the House of Lords last week, a cross-party group of peers failed to introduce a pilot scheme before a new regime for disability allowances can be fully introduced. Peers voted by 229 to 213, a government majority of 16, to reject an amendment tabled by Lady Grey-Thompson, one of Britain’s most successful disabled athletes, after the government warned her plan would cost £1.4bn.
Welfare is out of control. This government faces tough choices, but helping those most in need is at the heart of our proposals Coming into office we knew that radical strategies were needed to reform our broken welfare system
Changing the disability living allowance is not popular – but it is right. Ministers must hold their nerve Were I still an MP, I would dread the coming impact of the government’s disability living allowance reforms in my constituency.
Running a website reviewing healthcare has been a great success but we faced difficulties when we tried the same for care homes Can the quality of care for frail older people be improved by a care homes review website, a bit like TripAdvisor? The government thinks it can and, according to reports this week , will be publishing its plans in a social care white paper in the spring. While few would disagree with the goal, our experience of providing a web-based feedback platform for health services suggests that there will be more than a few pitfalls along the way, and that careful thought will be essential if ministers are to avoid making matters worse for care home residents and staff alike
Wide-ranging inspections set to begin next April under programme announced by Care Quality Commission Home care services are to be subject to inspection under a programme announced by the Care Quality Commission. Reports will be produced on about 250 companies before the health watchdog publishes its verdict on the state of home care nationally. The move by the CQC comes before the release of an Equality and Human Rights Commission report into the home care system in England, which is expected to be highly critical
