Free user forum for designers of mobility products

Designers with a new product concept – or simply a bright idea – for the mobility market, can find it difficult to gain feedback from potential end users at an early stage. At this year’s Mobility Roadshow innovators and Roadshow visitors will meet in the expanded Design Zone Café – an open forum to exchange ideas about looks and functionality of current and future independent living products: what’s hot and what’s not.

It takes place at the East of England Showground Peterborough on 21-23 June. Entry is free and there is no charge to take part in the Design Surgery.

With more than 10 million disabled people in the UK, over 15 per cent of the total population, the market for mobility and independent living products is substantial.

Jacqui Jones the executive director of Mobility Choice, the charity that organises the roadshow said: “The future for the mobility market is design led. For some years disabled people have been challenging manufacturers of independent living aids to deliver products that are stylish as well as functional.

“We introduced the Design Surgery concept as a pilot last year and it proved hugely popular. Several hundred visitors judged new and concept products on the highly popular ‘cool wall’ and had the opportunity to have their say about products they love or hate – or would like to change in some way.”

Commitment to make the UK a world leader on dementia

The Prime Minister has pledged to more than double the funding for research into dementia and neurodegenerative disease to more than £66 million each year by 2015.

David Cameron said he wanted to see the UK become a world leader in the field.

In England 670,000 people have dementia and the number of people developing the disease is increasing. One in three people will develop dementia and it costs society an estimated £19 billion a year. 

The extra cash forms part of a series of measures which include encouraging the creation of 20 ‘dementia-friendly communities’ where individuals, businesses and the state work together to support people with dementia.

The department of health will launch a public awareness campaign later this year and hospitals are to be given financial incentives to carry out checks on patients to see if they have the condition. 

The latest measures were announced alongside the Alzheimer’s Society publishing their report Dementia 2012: A national challenge.

The health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face and we are determined to transform the quality of dementia care for patients and their families.”

Jeremy Hughes, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister marks an unprecedented step towards making the UK a world leader in dementia.

“Doubling funding for research, tackling diagnosis and calling for a radical shift in the way we talk, think and act on dementia will help to transform lives.”

New national centre of excellence for dementia care

A £5m national centre of excellence for dementia care is to open later this year in Harrogate creating 70 jobs. Vida Healthcare, the company behind plans for the new 70-bed facility to be known as Vida Hall, says it will challenge current thinking on all aspects of dementia care, particularly in such areas as design and day-to-day care.

Work is underway ahead of its autumn opening and the home will cater for all aspects of dementia care including day care, respite and permanent residences. In particular, it intends to create a best practice working environment that will be a model for care homes in the future by  improving long term wellbeing and promoting freedom of choice.

Vida Healthcare is part of Harrogate-based property and healthcare organisation The Rycroft Group, run by father and son team Chris and James Rycroft.

The managing director James Rycroft said: “We are very excited about the launch of Vida Hall and want to create a bespoke, state-of-the-art facility that will embrace a new era in dementia care and challenge current practices.”

Minister claims statistics show benefit changes justified

More than one in three people whose claims for incapacity benefits have been reassessed have been found to be fit for work, according to ministers.

The department for work and pensions has released official figures for the first 141,100 incapacity benefits claimants to start the reassessment process. They show 37 per cent of those whose claims have been concluded have been found fit for work.

The remaining 63 per cent of claimants were entitled to Employment and Support Allowance, ESA,:

Thirty four per cent were placed in the Work Related Activity Group, where they will receive personalised help and support to help them prepare for a move into suitable work in the future.

Twenty nine per cent were placed in the Support Group and will receive unconditional financial support and will not be expected to work.

The employment minister Chris Grayling said: “These first figures completely justify our decision to reassess all the people on incapacity benefits. To have such a high percentage who are fit for work just emphasises what a complete waste of human lives the current system has been.”

Families urged not to miss deadline for care home fee claims

A law firm has warned that thousands of families across England could miss out on the chance to claim back wrongly paid care home fees.

The Department of Health announced a new deadline for those wishing to claim back wrongly paid care home fees on 15 March 2012. But NewLaw Solicitors has warned that as this deadline for continuing care claims has been introduced without any effort to contact those potentially affected, it could result in thousands of families losing out.

The deadline will affect those who paid for their care between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2011. Their claims will now need to be registered with the NHS by 30 September 2012 or they will lose the opportunity to claim forever.

People paying for their care between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012 will need to register their claim by 31 March 2013.

Scott Thomas, representative for the specialist Care Fees team at NewLaw Solicitors, said:

“According to estimates from Age Concern, approximately 100,000 people in the UK should qualify for continuing healthcare funding yet relatively few are aware that they are entitled to this support. 

Under the current system, where a person has contributed to their fees for care from April 2004 onwards, they may be entitled to a reimbursement, even where the person who was cared for has since died.

Home care survey finds instances of poor care

An undercover investigation by the consumer association Which? has revealed examples of poor home care for older people, including missed visits and vulnerable people left with soiled bedclothes, food out of reach, and vital medication missed.

Which? asked 30 people or their carers to keep records for a week in January to log their experiences. Using voice recorders, diaries and computers, they noted 287 care visits showing the impact of good and bad care.  

One elderly woman was left alone in the dark for hours unable to find food or drink, another was left without a walking frame so she was unable to get to the bathroom, and one man was not given vital diabetic medication.

Some people did report carers going the extra mile to give excellent service, especially those with regular careworkers.

Which? also surveyed 926 people on the Which? Connect panel who were recipients, or relatives of those receiving home care to find out about their experiences.

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: ““The government can no longer claim to be shocked as report after report highlights the pitiful state of care for older people. If they are serious about ensuring vulnerable people are treated with dignity, then we must see real action because every day they delay is another day older people risk being neglected.”

Healthcare workers list cost efficiency drives ahead of reacting to regulations as key to success

A survey by KPMG has uncovered that healthcare professionals view their number one priority as changing business operations to drive down cost. It also shows that this focus outweighs their desire to respond to regulatory change.

KPMG’s Business Leaders Survey – based on the views of 3,000 business leaders from across Europe and the Middle East – goes on to reveal that one in five within the health sector recognise the need to adapt to take into account changing customer and stakeholder behaviour. Although low in number, this figure is still higher than the national average comfortable with change (18 per cent).

Mark Britnell, chairman and partner of KPMG’s global healthcare practice, says: “Given the current state of the economy, it’s no surprise that cost cutting is top of the agenda.  However, with just 6 per cent suggesting that a reaction to regulatory change should be a priority, questions should be asked about how healthcare will succeed in a changing world. 

“In the UK, and elsewhere, we are on the cusp of major changes to the way healthcare provision is administered. In part this is a result of changing demographics, but it is also driven by the demands of patients. Healthcare providers need to be ready to respond, whether their response is driven by regulation or populist demand.”

The survey highlights that over three quarters of respondents (77 per cent) believe the private sector will become increasingly involved in public health – both in terms of direct medical provision and outsourced, back office, functions.