Debt with Disability News Articles

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[CENTER][B][SIZE=4]'Energy saving' scam hits elderly[/SIZE][/B]
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Some elderly householders are being targeted by people offering to sell them bogus "energy saving" devices that are dangerous.
Trading standards officers say they have received more than 200 complaints about phone calls from the scammers. The callers claim to be energy suppliers, or their partners, and offer a plug-in gadget that supposedly cuts electricity use by 40%. The officials say they are unsafe and could cause a fire or electrocution.

Ron Gainsford, chief executive of the Trading Standards Institute, said criminals were using high energy prices as a pretext for selling dangerous devices, mainly to elderly householders.
"A safety recall has been issued for the...[B]Read more here--> [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15984990"]BBC News - scam hits elderly[/URL][/B]

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[CENTER][B]Patients In Care Homes 'Being Put At Risk' [/B]
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The care of patients at homes across England is being put "at risk" because of failings by the NHS watchdog monitoring them. Sky's Rhiannon Mills reports.....[B]Read/Video Report more here---> [URL="http://news.sky.com/home/video/uk-news/video/16122148"]Care Of Patients At Homes Across England Is Being Put Because Of Watchdog Failings - Sky News Video Player[/URL][/B]

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[CENTER][B]Ministers announce U-turn on mobility benefit cut[/B]
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Controversial plans to axe some benefit payments to disabled people living in care homes are being dropped. The government had planned to axe the "mobility" part of Disability Living Allowance - worth £51-a-week - for those in residential care. It had argued that local authority contracts with care homes should cover residents' mobility needs.

But after much criticism from charities Work and Pensions Minister Maria Miller confirmed the plans have been dropped. In a written statement to MPs, she said the decision had been taken "having listened to the concerns raised" and the proposal would be removed from the Welfare Reform Bill. Up to 80,000 disabled people in care homes are thought to receive the mobility component of DLA. Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to axe it in last year's spending review, aimed at...[B]Read more here---> [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15977291"]BBC News - Ministers announce U-turn on mobility benefit cut[/URL][/B]

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[CENTER][B]NHS Plans Could See Sick Receive Early Treatment[/B]
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[CENTER][B]The UK's sickest patients could be given access to life-saving drugs a year before they would normally be made available.[/B]
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The "early access scheme" will put new drugs and technologies in NHS hospitals more quickly so patients could get treatments for conditions such as brain and lung cancer. The move is part of proposed reforms that will be announced later by David Cameron. The Prime Minister will also announce controversial plans to boost the economy by sharing NHS data with private healthcare companies.

Mr Cameron will insist "opening up" the health service can make it a "huge magnet" for innovation and drive growth. Closer collaboration with life science companies could mean giving them more freedom to run clinical trials inside hospitals, as well as access to anonymised patient records. However, the ideas have already encountered strong opposition from privacy campaigners, while Labour has warned of NHS privatisation by the....[B]Read more here---> [URL="http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16123806"]NHS: Prime Minister David Cameron To Announce Plans To Reform Health Service Including Data Scheme | Politics
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[pompeyfaith]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

Not sure this is an entirely good idea as the past will tell you the track record of data security by this government and it's departments as well as the private sector has not been good.

It is is not just a matter of wiping the name from the record file as your personal details are written/typed on nearly every piece of paper within it so will require a lot of intervention from office staff to go though it all and that is where mistakes and errors will be made.

Regards

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[B]HSBC Fined £10.5bn For Bad Advice To Elderly[/B]

[CENTER]Linky: [URL="http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/blog.php?b=845"][B]HERE[/B][/URL]
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[CENTER][B]Southern Cross care homes fiasco will be repeated without financial monitoring, say MPs[/B]
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The Southern Cross care home crisis could be repeated because of ministerial inaction, MPs warned last night.The sudden collapse of Britain’s biggest residential care operator in the summer caused turmoil for more than 30,000 elderly and vulnerable people. The company was crippled by having to pay a £250million rent bill as councils sought to cut fees in the wake of the credit crunch.

Despite the fiasco, the Commons public accounts committee has found that neither Whitehall nor local authorities are monitoring the financial health of care providers. Other companies are racking up huge debt, including Four Seasons Healthcare, which runs more than 500 homes and carries, according to MPs, nearly £1billion of...[B]Read more here--> [URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2070506/Southern-Cross-care-homes-fiasco-repeated-financial-monitoring.html"]http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2070506/Southern-Cross-care-homes-fiasco-repeated-financial-monitoring[/URL][/B]

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[B]Con artists are 'targeting dementia sufferers'[/B]

Con artists are dealing "another body blow" to the most vulnerable in society who need more protection, according to a charity. The Alzheimer's Society calculated that 15% of people with dementia have been victims of financial abuse such as cold calling, scam mail or mis-selling. That equates to 112,500 people, who lose an average of £850 each. A separate police report has claimed that financial abuse could lead to premature death. "Some are so socially isolated that they continue to give money to criminals, even when they realise what is happening, just to maintain some form of human contact," the City of London Police report said.

[B]'Hidden depths' [/B]
The Alzheimer's Society has attempted to make some estimate of the extent of financial abuse of the elderly - a subject in which data has been difficult to gather in the past. It spoke to 104 carers and 47 people with dementia, as well as focus groups with nursing staff, social workers, and......[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16167995"]BBC News - Con artists are [/URL][/B]

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[CENTER][B][SIZE=3]Reforms that would let elderly keep their homes are shelved for a decade[/SIZE][/B]
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[CENTER][SIZE=3]Health Secretary also refuses to rule out a pensioner tax to pay for old age care

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The scandal of pensioners selling their homes to pay for residential care could drag on until 2025. It had been hoped a fairer system would be in place by 2015 but it emerged last night that it might take a decade longer. In a further blow, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley refused to rule out a pensioner tax to pay for old age care. Ministers also admit that people will have to take more responsibility for themselves by spending thousands on insurance schemes or by releasing equity in their homes. Campaigners expressed outrage at the likely delay, which would see hundreds of thousands more pensioners having to sell up – denying their...[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2073872/Pensioners-wait-decade-care-home-reforms-let-homes.html"]Pensioners to wait another decade for care home reforms that would let them keep their homes
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[pompeyfaith]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

These two reports are quiet shocking what depths has certain parts of society sunk to that they have to treat the most vulnerable with utter contempt and as for a pensioner tax do the Government not think that the elderly have already paid there share for support.

Scary times knowing that the younger generation will grow up knowing that everything in old age will be taken from them and pay a tax on top.

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

i is hoping to win the lottery this week and move to Canada............

[CENTER]SHOCKING.......!!! TREATMENT........!!!! OF THE ILL AND FRAIL.........!!!!
AND TO THE SOCIETY......!!!!
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[pompeyfaith]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[B]Government caught out on DLA statistics... again [/B]

Serious doubts have emerged about crucial statistics used by the minister for disabled people to justify the government’s sweeping disability living allowance (DLA) reforms.
Maria Miller was appearing this week before MPs on the work and pensions committee as part of its inquiry into coalition plans to cut spending on working-age DLA by 20 per cent and replace the benefit with a new personal independence payment (PIP).
In her evidence, Miller twice stated that DLA spending had grown by 38 per cent over the eight years to 2010-11, as a justification for the government’s cuts and reforms.
But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has now admitted that this figure refers to total DLA spending, including payments to children and older people, even though only working-age DLA is being cut and reformed.
The DWP told Disability News Service that the real growth in working-age DLA spending was only 28 per cent.
But even this figure of 28 per cent is almost certainly too high, as it fails to exclude demographic factors – such as the general growth in the population – which the DWP has previously admitted is an important consideration in determining the true rise in DLA claimants.
Miller suggested to the committee that demographic factors would remove a third from the figure of 38 per cent that she quoted.
This could mean the growth in working-age DLA spending is as low as 18 or 19 per cent over eight years, rather than the 38 per cent quoted by Miller – but the DWP has been unable to produce the relevant figure.

More:

[URL]http://www.bhfederation.org.uk/component/k2/item/1493-government-caught-out-on-dla-statistics-again.html[/URL]

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[CENTER][B]Care cuts spark crisis for elderly - 900,000 will miss out on support next year[/B]
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Cuts to social care services mean that Britain’s elderly are facing an ‘absolute crisis’, according to the head of a leading charity.

Age UK’s director Michelle Mitchell said increasing numbers of older people with considerable care needs were ‘getting absolutely no support at all, or poor quality and limited support’ as a result of cuts to local authority provision. She said research by the King’s Fund health charity showed that the number of older people who need significant care support but receive no assistance will reach almost 900,000 in 2012, rising to one million by 2015...[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2079666/Care-cuts-spark-crisis-elderly--900-000-miss-support.html"]Care cuts spark crisis for elderly - 900,000 to miss out on support
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[B]Sharp rise in social care fees a stealth tax - Labour[/B]

There has been a sharp rise in the cost of council services for elderly and disabled people, Labour has warned.Data from 93 out of 153 councils in England showed fees for meals on wheels has gone up by 13% over the last two years, while transport rose by 33%. The survey also found huge regional variations in the charges, which Labour says have become a stealth tax. The government said local authorities were responsible for non-residential care and changes should be affordable. Cross-party talks on the future funding of care are to begin in the new year, the BBC understands. The findings, the result of a freedom of information request by the Labour party, also found differences in the fees levied and the caps on the sum people - mainly the elderly - have to pay....[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16353807"]BBC News - Sharp rise in social care fees a stealth tax - Labour [/URL][/B]

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[B]New £5.5m funding for mental health help in Wales[/B]

Patients in Wales with mental health problems may be able to access more help from their GPs with new funding. The Welsh government says its £5.5m investment will mean more patients have care plans tailored to their needs. It is also expanding its advocacy service to help them understand their legal rights. Health Minister Lesley Griffiths said the money would pay for some of the proposals in the Mental Health Wales Measure, which became law in 2010. About £3.5m will go towards support at a local level.....[B]Read more here---: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16333761"]BBC News - New £5.5m funding for mental health help in Wales[/URL][/B]