dumnonia

Sunday 29 July 2012

Bristol care home cuts could be illegal


Solicitors' firm claims Bristol care home cuts could be illegal

John Rogers Jon Rogers, deputy leader of the council, said the whole service needed an overhaul
Proposals to close care homes and day centres in Bristol could be illegal, a firm of solicitors claims.
Bristol City Council is considering three options for services, all of which involve closures.
But, Irwin Mitchell Solicitors is concerned that an option involving no closures has not been put out to public consultation, infringing the law.
The Lib Dem-run council, which could close up to 13 centres, says it is consulting widely on the plans.
Nine council-run care homes and at least four day care centres have been mooted for closure.
An Irwin Mitchell spokesman said it appeared the public had been given no choice on which of the homes and centres to close.

Options for day care

  • Close four buildings, which require investment to be fit for purpose accommodating displaced users in remaining centres, where possible
  • Develop three service hubs and close 10 centres
  • Close 11 day services based in council-owned buildings, or transferring their ownership
Polly Sweeney, from the firm, said: "The law is quite clear in saying that the consultation process must be open and allow people to respond adequately, and they must be given sufficient information to be able to respond properly.
"One of the concerns that people are telling us is that they just aren't being given the option to keep care homes open when they feel that's the right option for their loved ones."
Julie Wilson, regional organiser for Unison in Bristol, said: "Across the whole of health and social care the council is proposing to make savings of £5.1m and in order to do that is proposing making approximately 150 posts redundant.

Residential elderly care options

  • Explore potential to manage three homes - Redfield Lodge, Grenville and Brentry - in a council-led partnership, doubling capacity at Westleigh to 20 beds, and closing nine homes
  • Maintaining Redfield Lodge as a home for people with dementia
  • Retain Westleigh and double capacity to 20 beds, and closing 10 remaining homes
"In day services it is a third of all staff... that's a very significant cut in services."
But Jon Rogers, deputy leader of the council, said the whole service needed an overhaul.
"We actually had a lot of debate internally about whether we should have a 'do nothing' option on the paper," he said.
"We thought the difficulty is that everybody who has a resident there will say 'let's do nothing'.
"And they won't think about the impacts of actually closing this particular home or that particular home."

More on This Story

Related Stories

Related Internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites
at No comments:
Labels:

Monday 16 July 2012

homeless


Gloucester council's homeless plan criticized by Gear agency


Related Stories

A homeless agency says people will be turned on to the streets if a council plan to cut emergency accommodation in Gloucester goes ahead.
Gloucestershire County Council said it was unfair that the only provision for the whole county was at the Gear project unit on Southgate Street.
It plans to provide six emergency beds in Cheltenham and reduce the Gloucester bed provision from 21 to eight.
Gear's Brian Jones said the council's £1.5m proposal was "nonsensical".
He said: "At a beds allocation meeting in Gloucester last week, 70 people were chasing just four vacancies.
"There is an accountability issue here. Difficult decisions must sometimes be made but as the life expectancy of homeless people is just 42 years, more not less care needs to be taken of them and in the decision making process.
"Unless something is done to address the reduction in beds tragedy will result."
'Take pressure off'
A Gloucestershire County Council spokesman said support for homeless people was "inconsistent" across Gloucestershire, largely centred in Gloucester itself and "too reliant on emergency shelter".
He said: "We need to put more support into rural areas, increase the number of beds in Cheltenham and start to deal with homeless people where they live.
"We want to take the pressure off Gloucester and change the way we treat the homeless."
He added that the decision to change the service would now be subject to a review by the council's Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.
at No comments:
Labels:

Saturday 7 July 2012

Severe flood warnings in South West as heavy rain falls


Severe flood warnings in South West as heavy rain falls

Related Stories

Severe flood warnings have been issued for parts of south-west England, as river levels rise after heavy rain.
The Environment Agency said lives were in danger by parts of the River Yealm, Devon, and Burton Bradstock, Dorset.
In Northumberland, motorists have been warned to be aware of standing water after a man, 20, died when his car came off a road during torrential rain.
Some 74 flood warnings and 143 flood alerts remain in England and Wales, with 13 flood warnings in Scotland.
Meanwhile, officials at Silverstone on the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border say motorists who turn up for Formula One Grand Prix qualifying sessions on Saturday will be turned away because of muddy conditions in its car parks.
Up to 30,000 ticket holders travelling by car have been asked to stay away but ticket holders for car parks away from the circuit, those camping elsewhere and able to arrive on foot, or planning to use the park and ride service, should still be able to access the site.
Spokeswoman Katie Tyler apologised to fans and said the circuit was "genuinely upset" by the disruption after heavy rain flooded car parks. All available car parking is now full.
She said a decision would be made on Saturday afternoon whether fans would be allowed into public car parks on Sunday.
The Met Office has amber warnings of rain in force for Dorset, Somerset and parts of Devon.
In other developments:
  • In Midlothian, several drivers had to be rescued from carsovernight, mainly on minor roads in the Rosslyn and Auchendinny area
  • Residents in the Leicestershire village of Sheepy Magna were evacuated from homes after flooding
  • Firefighters were called to protect properties from flooding in Powys and Carmarthenshire
  • Flooding is affecting rail services in England with problems including a landslip near Honiton and flooding at Totnes in Devon
  • Saturday's sessions the Taste of Edinburgh festival have been cancelled after its site on the Meadows was hit by flooding
  • Monday's horse racing meeting at Newton Abbot has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track
The Environment Agency's severe flood warning means there is a danger to life, while a flood warning means immediate action is required.
People by the River Yealm in South Hams, Devon, from Cornwood to Yealmpton have been urged to stay in a safe place, listen to the emergency services and be ready to evacuate their homes.
The same warning has been issued for High Street, Mill Street, Manor Farm and The Rookery in Burton Bradstock, Dorset.

At the scene

John AyresBBC South West
With severe flood warnings we knew south Devon would have problems but not where would be worst-affected, so the day started with a call to the Environment Agency.
The River Yealm was expected to flood, but getting there was a problem. I had to turn my car around on three occasions as roads were blocked by flooding.
When I arrived in Yealmpton, a road was partly flooded and river levels were high, some people were trying to protect their properties. Everyone was worried about high tide.
A decision was taken to close Torr Bridge fearing it might collapse, cutting one side of the village off from the other. Along the affected parts of the river were 40 properties and 75 people, although everyone was accounted for. When the water levels dropped the bridge was judged to be safe.
The Environment Agency have used pumps to help emergency services clear flood water from properties and warned people on campsites to stay alert.
It also warned residents to stay away from dangerous flood water, and not to walk or drive through it.
Heather Shepherd, from the National Flood Forum, told the BBC: "There are many properties across the country that actually haven't been affected by flooding before, and this is suddenly arriving on their doorstep unexpectedly."
She said the most important things were to plan what to do with loved ones and pets if you needed to leave your home, and to get your most precious household items up high and safe.
BBC weather forecaster Peter Gibbs said a large area of rain had been concentrating over south-west England and predicted as much as 60-70mm (2.4in-2.8in) of rain in some spots on Saturday.
The Met Office said a low pressure system was set to bring rain and thundery showers to the UK until early next week.
at No comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)