In a bid to boost care worker numbers, the government has added them to the Shortage Occupation List, making it easier to recruit them from abroad. Care home and home care workers, who will need to receive a salary of at least £20,480, will be eligible for the health and care visa scheme for a…
An additional £60 million is being given to local authorities to support adult social care during January as Omicron cases rise. This Omicron Support Fund comes on top of £388 million already announced by the government for infection control and testing in the care sector. “Protecting care staff and people who use social care services…
Practical suggestions on improving the design of environments in which people with dementia live are central to two new books by a husband-and-wife team. Award-winning landscape architect Annie Pollock is author of A Breath of Fresh Air: The importance of air quality in aged care design, while Ricky Pollock has written Acoustics in Aged Care….
TV celebrity Alan Titchmarsh gave residents of a Hampshire care home a lovely surprise when he called in on them in his capacity as Deputy Lieutenant of the County. Titchmarsh, gardening expert and novelist, also took the opportunity of his visit to the Lawn, in Alton, to congratulate staff for their hard work during the…
Alzheimer’s Society has updated its estimate of the number of people in the UK with dementia to 900,000 aged over 65. It revises the previous figure of 850,000, which dates back to 2014, and takes into account “excess deaths” of people with dementia during the pandemic. The new figure of 900,000 is based on modelling…
A decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to refuse a licence for the dementia drug aducanumab has been described as “bitterly disappointing news for people with Alzheimer’s disease.” Alzheimer’s Research UK chief executive Hilary Evans made the comment after the EMA rejected an application by the manufacturer Biogen to distribute the drug across the…
A sixth of people with dementia spent last Christmas alone and a fifth of families struggled with feelings of guilt and anger as vulnerable relatives were forced into social isolation. These findings from an Alzheimer’s Society survey accompanied the launch of its Christmas appeal, which is raising money to pay for more support. In its…
Training and guidance on identifying signs of domestic abuse should be provided to health professionals, Age UK said on International Human Rights Day (10 December). Citing a rise in domestic abuse incidents during the pandemic, Age UK said older people were often overlooked in discussions about it. It was only in October, following a campaign…
Falls are three times more common among care home residents than people of similar age living in the community, but new research published by the British Medical Journal has shown a way to achieve significant improvements. Pip Logan and colleagues (BMJ 7 December) developed and tested the Guide to Action Care Home (GtACH) programme, in…
Care workers could benefit from a £300 million recruitment and retention fund launched by the government, money which it said could be used to “pay for bonuses and bring forward planned pay rises” as well as for overtime payments. It is in addition to £162.5 million announced in October. But there are serious questions about…