Southern Cross care home bars son from visiting disabled mother

A former Glasgow city councillor has been banned from making solo visits to his elderly mother in a care home run by Southern Cross after complaining about her treatment.

The report from the Scotsman can be found here.

Comments Off

Life-prolonging drugs

The chairman of BMA Scotland, Dr Brian Keighley, has questioned whether society can afford the cost of treatments designed to prolong the lives of terminally-ill patients for weeks or months, given the current pressure on health service budgets. Dr Keighley said in some cases tens of thousands of pounds were spent on drugs to extend cancer patients’ lives for relatively short periods He added that such treatments should be looked at ‘critically’ and that for life-prolonging treatments costing thousands of pounds, ‘useful’ longevity, should be the criterion for decision-making.

The article in the Scotland on Sunday can be found here.

Comments Off

British Geriatrics Society – new report

A new report, Quest for Quality by the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), has highlighted the fact that up to 400,000 vulnerable older people resident in care homes are frequently denied access to routine NHS healthcare because they live in care homes. The inquiry found many often cannot get access to GPs, therapy services, out of hours services or specialist dementia services such as memory clinics.

The report can be found here.

Comments Off

The “Christie Commission”

The “Christie Commission” or to give it its Sunday name: “Report on the Future Delivery of Public Services by the Commission chaired by Dr Campbell Christie”, was published today.

One recommendation is that our health and care services are integrated.  I will write about this in more detail in my next article on Scotland’s care industry.

The report can be found here.

Comments Off

Winterbourne care home to close

A residential hospital for vulnerable adults near Bristol where alleged abuse was secretly filmed by the BBC Panorama programme is to close on Friday.

Castlebeck, which runs Winterbourne View, said the hospital would close on 24 June when the last patients would be transferred to alternative services.

The BBC news report can be found here.

Comments Off

Elderly care in England

Age UK claimed in a report published today that care and support for older people in England has reached breaking point.   The report claims that 800,000 people who currently need care receive no formal support from the state or private sector agencies.

A copy of the report can be found here.

 

Comments { 0 }