| Hello Thomas Welcome to the Independent Living newsletter. If you prefer, can read it online, here. Contents: 1. NHS Change Day 2. More Losing Benefits 3. It's Not Fat that's Making us Fat? 4. Wheelchair Taxi Travesty 5. Project Ability 6. Latest news - Squirrel Medical, Best British Loos & more! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1. NHS Change Day So much is being written in the mainstream media about our NHS, that I have tended not to give it so much coverage here, but the start of the build-up to this year's NHS Change Day does, I think, warrant some special attention. 3rd March 2014 is a national day of action when everyone who values the NHS is urged to pledge to do something big or small to improve things for patients and the health and care system. A new survey shows that two-thirds of people think frontline staff have little or no say in how the NHS is run, despite being the ones most trusted to improve it. While only 11% of people think frontline staff currently have enough input into how the NHS operates, half would put their greatest trust in those same staff to protect the future of the health service and drive improvement, ahead of NHS management (13%) and politicians (12%). Following the success of the first NHS Change Day last year, when individuals within the service made pledges to improve things, this time, members of the public are also invited to take part. The sort of things we can do to make the NHS run better? Well we could start by turning up for our appointments, and treating A & E as the emergency resource it is, rather than a convenient alternative to the GP's surgery. Then, perhaps some attention to lifestyle changes that would make us healthier and less reliant on medical interventions... You can read more here, and later this week, I am interviewing Dr Jonathan Griffiths, a GP who has been involved with NHS Change Day since its inauguration: look out for the podcast shortly. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 2. More Losing Benefits Politicians with a reforming agenda may (in private) dismiss individual accounts of financial hardship and emotional distress as some sort of inevitable collateral damage; a price worth paying in pursuit of a worthy goal, but anyone else watching the unravelling of a system of social support built up gradually over the best part of a century may well be wondering whether they still live in the same country. Imagine, for a moment, that you are a young man freshly diagnosed with testicular cancer, which requires urgent treatment. You have a jobseeker's appointment which you are unable to attend for this reason. You phone to explain, and the job centre's response is to withhold your Jobseeker's Allowance as a sanction. Following an operation to remove the tumour, a scan shows that the cancer has spread to your lymph nodes, so you are immediately re-admitted to hospital for chemotherapy. This time, a social worker from CLIC Sargent, the charity for children and young people with cancer, rings the Job Centre on your behalf, but guess what, even that is not sufficient justification for failing to sign on. In addition to coping with the physical and psychological trauma of a serious illness and unpleasant treatment, you are also expected to manage without any money. And you have the extra thrill of knowing that you are one of that lucky group of people chosen to bear the entire burden of any future savings needed to reduce the deficit and restore Britain's finances to order: the disabled; the sick; the young; the working age poor. This is just one individual example. On most days, there is an equally incomprehensible account in my inbox or Twitter feed. In 2010, I would have described myself as a supporter of welfare reform. Now, it is beginning to feel too much like civil war. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3. It's Not Fat that's Making us Fat? Returning to the theme of lifestyle changes to take some of the load off the NHS, a new international initiative has been launched, that aims to reduce the frankly alarming rates of obesity and diabetes we are now experiencing, by attacking a substance that has many in thrall: sugar. Action on Sugar hopes that it can achieve similar success to the campaign for reducing salt, generally regarded as one of the most effective nutritional policies since the second world war. Between 2001 and 2011, salt intake has fallen in the UK by 15%, and most products in the supermarkets have had their salt content reduced by between 20 and 40%, leading to a reduction of at least 6,000 deaths a year from strokes and heart attacks, and a calculated healthcare saving cost of £1.5 billion. Because the reduction was made quite gradually, people didn't notice the change in flavour, and Action on Sugar believes the same could be done with added sugar; a 20 to 30 percent reduction over three to five years, leading to a painless daily 100 kcal reduction (or more for the most obesity prone). You can read more here. It is quite easy to spot, and avoid, the obvious sources of lavish helpings of sugar, such as cola, cakes, biscuits and sweets, but one sneaky trick the food industry has played on those of us who have been conscientiously reducing our fat intake in the interests of health, is substituting sugar for fat in many a "healthy" option. There are 56 terms to be found in the ingredient lists which all boil down to - sugar. Maybe time to brush up our vocabulary skills, and learn a new diet mantra: it's not the fat that is making us fat. Well, it might be, but it's not the only guilty party! We will be returning to various aspects of this subject in forthcoming issues. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 4. Wheelchair Taxi Travesty Transport accessibility is a subject that I will be covering here shortly, following the recent Parliamentary debate on the "Access to transport for disabled people" report. In the meantime, the actions of a taxi firm in Middlesbrough should, I think, make us all feel rather indignant. Boro Taxis has announced that they won't carry disabled passengers any more, after being told that it was illegal to charge them extra. You might like to read that sentence again: I had to! Yes, this is another example of businesses who think it is acceptable to make customers with special needs pay a premium for their services. People with a disability are more likely to use taxis than the population as a whole: public transport is by no means always as accessible as it might be, and if your disability is significant, door-to-door transport may well be the only feasible option in any case. Taking a largely captive market and then charging them double seems exploitative, at the least. Middlesbrough Council warned the company that it risked losing its licence, following complaints from the public about overcharging. The deputy mayor said businesses had "a moral obligation to treat everybody the same". How anyone can believe that withdrawing services altogether from one group of customers is somehow acceptable is beyond me. Let's hope that some of those local passengers are planning to make use of the Equality Act 2010: it's what it's there for. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 5. Project Ability Creative arts are a great way for adults and children of all abilities to express themselves and experience a sense of achievement. Project Ability is a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation which provides opportunities for people with disabilities and those with mental health issues, aged from 5 years to over 80. More than three hundred people each week take part in their programme of workshops, events and exhibitions, which are held at their centre in Trongate 103 and in community venues throughout the city. This Saturday sees the opening of a group exhibition featuring new work made by artists who took part in their Residency Programme 2013. You can see more here, including a work by one of the artists, Lea Cummings. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 6. Latest news - Squirrel Medical, Best British Loos & more! Squirrel Medical has been responsible for some significant innovations in pressure relief and circulation management. They have now allied themselves with Renray Healthcare - you can read more here. The annual Loo of the Year Awards attract thousands of entries from across the country, including accessible and Changing Places facilities. Some good news for those of us watching with dismay the relentless closure of public facilities: there are still many businesses who recognise the commercial good sense of providing decent toilets for their customers. You can see more about the 2013 winners, here. Interested in helping research into the effect of nutrition and exercise on the brain as we age? There is still time to volunteer for this study. And that's it for this week! Don't forget you can access all the news as soon as it is uploaded in our News Centre. And, just as importantly, our new look Forum is always open, and waiting for you to post about any topics that interest you. If you haven't visited recently, take a look! Previous newsletters are archived here. Our Facebook page is regularly updated with the latest developments on the site, and is also somewhere that you can share your opinions with us. Or if you want to make it pithy, send us a tweet! @IndLiving Until next time, with all good wishes, Frances -- Frances Leckie Editor E: editor@independentliving.co.uk t: +44 (0) 208 133 0628 Skype: francesleckie w: http://www.independentliving.co.uk This newsletter was sent to thomaschambers@eircom.net. If you prefer not to receive future copies, just reply asking to be removed from the list, and it will be done! |
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Fw: IL Newsletter, 15th January
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