social care

The pandemic and lockdown highlighted the importance of companionship and friendship. Various studies have shown the importance of social ties in relation to health, including reducing risks of heart disease and promoting well-being. I am a student at Durham University, exploring the role of...

Many of the headline numbers for the social care and NHS workforces are remarkably similar. Both have around 1.1 million fulltime equivalent staff, similar numbers of vacancies and similar percentages of overseas staff. The two sectors are inextricably linked operationally. Staff move jobs...

The number of people in the UK aged 85 or older who require round-the-clock help to eat, dress, wash and go to the toilet will almost double over the next 20 years, research has suggested, highlighting the explosion in social care needs. An estimated 446,000 of over-85s will have “high...

A new tax for the over-40s in England should be introduced to help pay for elderly care for all, MPs say. Retired people should also be made to pay it if they have lucrative pensions or investments, two influential House of Commons' committees said. The contribution - dubbed a social care...

Vulnerable old and disabled people will see cuts to vital care services and higher charges, council chiefs say. The annual budget survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services shows councils expect to spend £21.4bn this year in England. While this is a rise from £20.8bn last...

Ninety MPs have signed a letter calling on the prime minister to set up a cross-party convention on the future of the NHS and social care in England. They say a non-partisan debate is needed to deliver a "sustainable settlement" to fund social care costs. The letter to Theresa May and...

There’s no doubt that one of the biggest challenges facing Britain is how we deal with our ageing population. The countless warnings about the crisis in social care leave no room for doubt. Over the last seven years, budgets have decreased by more than £6bn (pdf) in real terms, and more than 1.2...

It was interesting to watch the sudden spike of interest in social care during the general election campaign. The public debate was welcome, but now the dust has settled what action has actually been taken? The fallout from the “dementia tax” made it appear as though, for once, social care was...

Acomprehensive settlement for funding social care remains elusive. Successive governments have placed it in the “too difficult” pile and, given the role that social care played in the election campaign and its outcome, it is difficult to envisage the government being able to solve it anytime...

The NHS and social care system in the UK is facing a staggering increase in the cost of looking after elderly people within the next few years, according to major new research which shows a 25% increase in those who will need care between 2015 and 2025. Within eight years, there will be 2.8...

The chair of the long-term care commission has attacked the Conservatives’ plan to make more elderly people pay for social care, saying it would leave people “completely on their own” to deal with future costs. Under the plans to be unveiled in the Tory manifesto on Thursday, people with more...

A record number of care home businesses failed last year as the financial pressure on social care in Britain took its toll. New government figures show that 75 care home businesses were declared insolvent in 2016, up from 74 the previous year. The failures mean that in total 421 care home...

Ninety-five UK councils have had home care contracts cancelled by private companies struggling to deliver services on the funding offered, an investigation has found. As a result, a quarter of the UK’s 2,500 home care providers were at risk of insolvency, and almost 70 had closed down in the...

hi everyone just need some advice please My daughter is 14 and her hba1c has been as follows, 14 % in June 10% in September and now 12% this month, her levels during the day vary between 4 & 9 but mostly in range , however she wakes up over 16 most mornings even though she's on 44 units of...

Ministers are looking at increasing council tax to pay for social care but have been warned that it will not tackle funding problems which are “out of control”. Experts, including the former Tory health secretary Stephen Dorrell, have warned of a growing cash crisis hitting local government and...

The full extent of the crisis facing social care is revealed by an Observerinvestigation which demonstrates the government’s flagship policy to keep elderly people out of hospital is failing in most parts of the country. The findings – amid claims from senior NHS figures that “we are going...

Evening everybody My name is Brian, Type 1 diabetic. Medtronic 640g insulin pumper, previously on Lantus, then Levemir, and always Novorapid. Very active on the DOC but new to this forum. I am involved in arranging and running the T1D London meetups group on Facebook. Also run my own website...

The number of people in the UK with complex needs who require both health and social care is increasing rapidly. In the south-east of England, for example, our population of over 75-year-olds (already the largest in England) is expected to nearly double to 1.5m in the next 20 years. Health and...

The future for adult social care services in England "looks bleak", a think tank has warned. Chancellor George Osborne announced measures in his Spending Review that would lead to a rise in care budgets. But the International Longevity Centre said that would only "paper the cracks" and...

The government will allow local authorities in England to increase council tax by 2% to cover a funding shortfall in adult social care, George Osborne is expected to announce. The Local Government Association says there will be a shortfall of more than £2.9bn in care services by 2020. The...