Agency Fees
Stephen Gazzard
their fees are going up by 15%. They say this is due the impact of the NCSC
and is across the board. Comments please.
smicker
There is a story in local rag today of a couple being split up because
they couldn't get carers in the area the couple lived in. It's a blidy
disgrace and the local politicos have got involved but I don't think
it should have got that far. (spit)
smicker
smicker
<stephen...@btinternet.com> wrote:
Here is a story I have lifted from the Ipswich Evening Star. Sorry
about the cut and paste but it can be checked at
www.eveningstar.co.uk.
Carer shortage could lead to separation
March 18, 2003 13:18
A DISABLED woman fears she might have to leave her husband and move
into an old people's home at the age of 56 because of a shortage of
carers in the county.
Wheelchair-bound Heather Atkinson, who suffers from multiple
sclerosis, said she could not bear the forced separation from Alby,
her spouse of 27 years.
She has already spent more than two months in rest homes around
Ipswich after her husband was forced to admit he could no longer look
after his wife at their cottage in Nacton.
Mr Atkinson, 62, a former painter and decorator, of Felixstowe Road,
has chronic back problems and has had surgery to remove tumours from
his aorta and liver.
He can no longer help his wife get up in the morning and wash and dry
herself – but she cannot face returning to a home and cannot
understand why care is not available.
Mrs Atkinson said: "I can't face going back to a home, I was so
miserable. I was in two different old people's homes and a home for
very disabled young people who couldn't really speak.
"I missed Alby desperately, but I had to go in to preserve his sanity.
He's not getting any younger, he can't go on doing all these things
for me.
"I used to have two girls who came in each week. Now they say that
because of where I live, I can't get any care. The retirement homes
were surrounded by concrete. It felt like being in prison."
Her husband added: "I don't want her to go back in a home. I saw how
unhappy she was. I want us to live together."
A friend is currently helping Mrs Atkinson in the mornings, but it is
not a permanent arrangement. She would be willing to pay her
contribution towards a carer, bur she cannot afford private rates.
John Gummer, the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, said he would
taking up the case of Mrs Atkinson's care.
"This is a very real problem throughout my constituency and throughout
the whole of Suffolk. There is a lack of home carers – and one of the
problems is many of those who do this job, and do it well, find that
the money the council is prepared to pay is not sufficient to cover
their expenses.
"The council has a responsibility to enable people to remain in their
own homes for as long as possible and if people are not helped to stay
in their own homes and forced into residential accommodation, that is
immensely more expensive."
A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said there was a shortage of
carers in some parts of the county and it was often difficult to
recruit care staff in more rural areas.
He added an emergency response team would provide a short-term
solution to Mrs Atkinson's situation.
"We are sorry for the delay in being able to offer care to Mrs
Atkinson, but hope we will now be able to resolve the situation with
her," said the spokesman.
"We have been working to find suitable care in this area now for some
time and we are hopeful that a carer for the area can be found from
some recent job applications."
This really makes me angry. The fourth richest country in the world
and we cannot arrange to look after our needy. (spit)
smicker