LAW AND BENEFIT REVIEW
[part of the 'Disability Matters' & 'Law and Benefit Review' Group]
'for all disability issues’
disability.matters@yahoo.co.uk
www.lawandbenefitreview.co.uk
[01285-861752]
REVIEWS, ARTICLES, COMMENT, UPDATES, LEGISLATION, BENEFITS, PENSIONS, CARING, NHS, BILLS WATCH, ETC.
March 2008
[edition 22]
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Hi, Welcome everybody to the MARCH 2008 issue of the Law and Benefit Revenue [LBR]. We are now at the start of three months into 2008 and are still waiting for some really good news. We would like to remind you all that in addition to the articles here every month, there are more numerous separate and different articles on our other website at http://beehive.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk and we advice that these should be read in conjunction with the LBR.
From April 7 2008, the majority of UK state benefits and pensions will increase. We will be bringing those benefits, allowances and pensions appropriate to the elderly and disabled people in the April 2008 LBR.
EXHIBITIONS
2008 MOBILITY ROAD SHOWS
Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh between 25th & 26th April 2008 and
Stoneleigh Park, Coventry between the 12th and 14th June 2008.
FREE parking and admission.
For full details of the events and updates log onto www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk or call 0845 241 0390
NAIDEX 2008
NEC CENTRE, BIRMINGHAM, 29TH APRIL TO 1ST MAY 2008
www.naidex.co.uk
BILLS WATCH
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE BILL: The Health and Social Care Bill is to establish and make provision in connection with a Care Quality Commission; to make provision about health care (including provision about the National Health Service) and about social care; to make provision about reviews and investigations under the Mental Health Act 1983; to establish and make provision in connection with an Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator and make other provision about the regulation of the health care professions; to confer power to modify the regulation of social care workers; to amend the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984; to provide for the payment of a grant to women in connection with pregnancy; to amend the functions of the Health Protection Agency; and for connected purposes. This Bill is currently passing through the Parliamentary process and as updates or important amendments are made to the original bill we will bring them to you.
HOUSING AND REGULATION BILL: The Bill is ploughing its way slowly the parliamentary corridors together with the accompanying impact-assessment. The Bill has come to the fore-front with attention being paid to accessibility and staircases being wide enough to take stair-lifts.
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE BILL: This ‘reform’ bill continues in the same manner as the above Housing & Reg. Bill with no end in sight as to when, and if it will become an Act.
SPECIAL
We have received many worrying enquires concerning the extra £300 import duty increase’s on mobility scooters/leisure vehicles imported into the UK. The E U Commission have decided to call ‘mobility scooters‘ as ‘leisure vehicles‘ since 2001, following a complaint from the Belgium government.
UK purchasers of battery powered mobility scooters/leisure vehicles will find an additional £300 per cent import duty has been added to the basic price. This is not a tax or an escalation of value added tax, but a trading tax known as ‘import duty’ levied against all goods imported into the UK. The following article will explain the issue:
IMPORTING ‘GOODS’ FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs [HMRC] control value added tax [VAT] and the amounts of Import Duty placed on goods. The latter is dealt with in HMRC Notice 371 available from local VAT offices details of which may be found in local BT telephone lists or downloaded from www. HMRC VAT website at http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk. Further help and advice may be obtained from the HMRC national advice service on 0845 010 9000.
The HMRC Notice 371 relies on the following legislation for its contents:
[a] Council Regulation [EEC] No 918/83, articles 71-78
[b] VAT [Imported Goods] Relief Order 1984, schedule 2, group 6, items 6 & 7
[c] Value Added Tax Act 1994, schedule 8, groups 12 & 15.
The information that has caused the E U Commissioners to look into this matter was formulated by the World Customs Organisation and reads as follows;
“The EU decision was based on an opinion offered by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) following a complaint from the Belgium government, which looked into the various forms of electric powered vehicles. Apparently, they thought that people might buy motorised scooters for using on golf courses. America has dismissed the opinion of the WCO, but the EU has enforced the import tax“. The main point’s here being ’electric powered vehicles’ which not only includes ‘mobility scooters‘ but also ‘powered wheelchairs‘ and the wording “opinion” and “might”. Frankly the decision of the E U Commissioners to base their decision solely on an ‘opinion’ and a ‘might’ without further investigation is unacceptable. For instance, trying to carry a full set of golf clubs and a bag whilst trying to control a ‘mobility scooter’ would be virtually impossible.
It has also been ascertained that ‘new’ batteries for powered scooters and wheelchairs will now also attract VAT at 17.5 per cent plus the additional import duty, on the grounds that identical batteries can also be used on golf cart’s, buggies and trolleys as well as on some caravans and mobile campers with the possibility that battery charges, [as batteries would be useless without the charges[, will also be subjected to the ‘new’ charges, [but not yet] and if other spares and accessories for powered scooters, wheelchairs, buggies, etc. are found to have a ’dual purpose’, this too will attract VAT and import duty. Goods manufactured in the UK will just attract VAT if no exemption is in force. Ultimately, it will mean that the costs of powered scooters and wheelchairs, plus any spares and accessories that are dual purposed will be greater, and as Euro MP Liz Lynn says below, “there will also be a UK tribunal against back dated duties which will serve as a test case, although this will not come to court until June or July“. If this happens, those of us who have purchased powered scooters, wheelchairs, battery charges, etc. since 2001 may receive a nasty shock in the post demanding the extra import duty and VAT on the whole price of the goods, which would be £175 per £1000 spent.
This decision by the EU was challenged by disability organisations, trade reprehensive of powered wheelchairs and scooters suppliers and H M Treasury. Normally any action by the EU would take a while before a decision is made, or so we thought, until we wrote to Ms Liz Lynn MEP who responded as follows:
“Thank you for your email regarding the changes to import duty on UK mobility scooters. I share your concerns about this unfortunate decision, and have been working with the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) to try to change the decision.
I have raised the issue in parliament, and the BHTA together with HMRC and the permanent UK representation to the EU recently took the issue to the appropriate Commission committee. However the argument was unfortunately dismissed on the grounds that the issue had already been discussed.
I understand that there will also be a UK tribunal against back dated duties which will serve as a test case, although this will not come to court until June or July.
I have also written to the EU Commissioner for Health, Markos Kyprianou asking him to look into the issue. Unfortunately this is a complex situation, and at the moment there seems to be little willingness to change position. However, I will continue to do everything I can to help“. Liz Lynne MEP
ARTICLES
1: ELDERLY HIT’S THE NHS HARD: As the aging of the population increases dramatically, increased strain is being placed on NHS hospitals, GP surgeries and care services. The Office for National Statistics has revealed that in the past year, the number of elderly people over 65 has increased by 6 per cent to 1.2 million or 1 in 50 patients. By 2031, is has been estimated that these numbers will have more then doubled to 2.9 million which would have major implications on future service providers.
During the next twenty-five years, the population of 65 and over is expected to rise by 63% to 15.8 million and this year, for the first time ever, it is expected that the population of state pensioners will be more than the number of children over 16. These increases are most likely caused by people living longer, better care and improved hospitals operations, surgery techniques and better medication . These figures have already put pressure on a already over-stretched Health Service generally.
The survey revealed that 25% of over 65’s have visited hospital as a outpatient in the last three months and one in five have visited their GP during the last two weeks. The taxpayer is in for a clobbering to be able fund this healthcare and it will get worse. More and more of any taxation generated by those in work will have to be put aside to look after those who are dependent on the state for money, care, nursing and housing - it is no wonder why the government wants to get Incapacity Benefit claimants back to work!
2: AMBULANCE PARAMEDICS REDUCED: In an effort to comply with Government ambulance emergency attendance response times, ambulance trusts are reducing the man-power on 999 emergency ambulances to one paramedic plus possibly a person trained in first-aid only.
In advance of the 999 ambulances attending a road traffic accident or serious medical condition, highly trained paramedics in fast response vehicles and/or motor cycles will respond and deal with the situation until the arrival of the emergency ambulance. Frankly, we cannot get our heads around this, because it means if this system is adopted, then two vehicles, one ambulance and one motor cycle or fast response vehicle, each with one person on board, will both be attending one incident, which in reality means that the original number of paramedics now employed on a 999 ambulance will be present and dealing with the emergency incident. OK, a motor cycle/fast response unit would more than likely reach the scene faster than an ambulance and start life saving procedures but it takes two paramedics to lift and convey a person in to an ambulance and onwards to a hospital, so why not post the two paramedics back on the 999 ambulances and increase the number of them instead of buying fast response vehicles and motor-cycles. The later is obviously a good idea in large cities such as London who also have a flying ambulance with doctors and paramedics on board and can convey stretcher patients which motor-cycles cannot do.
How can one individual paramedic drive an ambulance fast with blue lights flashing and twin-tone horns operating and at the same time provide care, nursing and the possibility of monitoring life saving equipment or giving injections on route? What happens if the injured party has a heart attack or stroke, how can a single person deal with such an emergency and at the same time drive the ambulance to A & E or will the motor cycle paramedic or the fast response vehicle paramedic leave their car/motor cycle at the scene, and then get another vehicle to take him/her back later to recover the motor-cycle/fast response vehicle with all its medical equipment on board if nobody hasn't nicked it?
3: CARERS ALLOWANCES: We are repeatedly being asked to repeat the article we printed on our website about carers allowances and needs. Instead, we recommend that you log onto www.carereuk.org/hub_content/information/order where a very detailed and updated outline of Carers Allowances, Carer Premium and Care Additions may be found. Better still, join the Carers UK organisation at www.carersuk.org.
4: OAP’S BRIBED TO MOVE: Pensioners will be encouraged to give up council properties in towns and cities and move to the country. The elderly will be paid cash and helped to move, so that families with children can move in. The aim of the proposals is to ease overcrowding in cramped properties.
Critics, and no doubt pensioners, are not keen on the idea as it would be putting pressure on pensioners to quit social housing with all the remaining benefits, such as free decoration, repairs, grass cutting, etc. If the plans go ahead, it will mean that the elderly will get ‘priority’ for small council or housing association homes outside towns and cities, but they will also rank along side those who are homeless, living in overcrowded properties and those with health problems in getting first choice of homes in the country and coastal areas. This scheme will only apply to London at the moment, if it goes ahead, with Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester also being considered.
Some one million social homes are occupied by single adults over 60 and if the scheme does goes ahead, local residents will feel the pinch as local affordable rents will be given to ’outsiders’. Our advice is take careful advice before even considering such a move, as it will take you away from friends & relatives, shops, businesses and areas that you know and hopefully feel safe in.
5: CONFUSION: There appears to be some confusion over the number of care workers that the law requires elderly people to have. This confusion relates to the Children’s Act which does not apply to elderly people.
Currently, there is no precise legal framework in England relating to the provision of services for the elderly, except under the old National Assistance Acts where it states “for those in need of care and protection” although Adult Care & Community Service still in law have a duty to provide certain services after assessment to elderly and disabled persons but bearing in mind recent local and central government proposals these legal requirements appear to have been put on the back burner due allegedly ‘financial reasons’. Perhaps those providing the services should be reminded of the National Assistance Act. 1945, much of which is no longer used having been superseded by a variety of other separate Acts of Parliament. Some years ago, some local authorities were challenged in the courts as to their legal obligations in failing to provide certain care services on the grounds that they did not have sufficient funds. The Judge thought differently and ordered the local authorities to provide the services. The Government said at the time that money that had been provided for care services by them had been used for other matters.
The so-called heinous NHS Bed Blocking Act of 2004 [properly known as the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Act which came into force in January 2004] also refers to elderly people and reminds hospital authorities to ensure the speedy removal of the elderly from hospital beds. Cheek. This Act also highlighted the fact that stroke victims occupied 20 per cent of acute hospital beds and 25 per cent of long term beds - well what do hospitals trusts expect? What else are acute and long term beds for? They should not have closed down hundreds of care and nursing homes if they have a problem with specific bed occupation. NHS Trust rules appear to say that ‘long-term care’ is for the chronically incapacitated regardless of what caused the incapacity. So what are stroke victims and the like?
6: WIDER LEG ROOM FOR FLIERS: As a flyer and a disabled person, the writer has always found it impossible to sit in any aircraft seat other than 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D or 1E, and have always tried his best to be seated in one of these seats due to their being no over-head storage spaces above these seats and a far longer leg room. The rest of the seating were definitely ’no go’ because of the overhead storage spaces preventing him bending down as well as the restricted widths of the seats which restricts access to centre and window seats, booking well in advance normally secures one of the number ’1’ seats unless the aircraft has the front emergency exits located in this row which prevents all passengers occupying them during the flight.
Now, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee have called for the minimum distance between aircraft seats to be increased from 26 to 28” so that passengers may adopt the ‘brace’ position in times of emergency landings or crashes. Many popular ‘holiday’ flights companies such as BMIbaby, Monarch, Thomas Cook, First Choice and others will have to revamp their aircraft if this adopted by Civil Aviation Authority [CAA] and presumable other world airlines and aviation authority‘s although the CAA authority is confined only to UK registered aircraft in such matters.
Other criticism by the Committee included the charging of premium economy passengers the same air passenger tax as those in first class seats on long haul flights. Current CAA requirements are in place on safety grounds to ensure passengers have enough space to evacuate an aircraft in an emergency, not for health or comfort. Many UK airlines already have the 28” margin which stretches from the base of seat back to the lower rear part of the seat in front. The trouble with this suggestion is that there is the possibility of a ‘knock-on’ effect, with airlines increasing the cost of tickets to make up for any lost seats.
Currently, seat spaces range from 30” with BMI, to 26” with Thomsonfly, Thomas Cook, My Travel and First Choice. Long haul flights as you would imagine with no room to spread your legs is a night-mare and a good reason to walk about the cabin to help prevent deep-vein thrombosis [DVT] which is often blamed on cramped seating.
The World Health Organisation recommends that passengers move about as much as possible, drink lots of water and not alcohol, so as not to become de-hydrated. Moving your feet and ankles up and down whilst seated is another way to help reduce the possibility of DVT.
So, book flights well in advance, get seats ‘1A’ etc. if you can which always has far more space than the recommended 28”, and sit back and enjoy the flight.
7: BEWARE OF SCAMS: Several elderly people have again been subjected to ‘scams’ received through the post, in their email boxes or by answering adverts, whereby they have lost considerable amounts of savings with some amounts being in excess of £30,000.
It is always advisable to ignore and delete emails that you do not know the origin of or have not requested. Many account holders holding accounts in the majority of high streets banks have been subjected to emails which look genuine and authentic as if they have come from their banks, but no bank or credit card company will ask for your account number or ask you to confirm it nor will they ever ask for your date of birth. Delete the email or better still send it to the ’Spam’ box so you should not receive any more of them from that source.
Postal ‘scams’ saying you have one a small fortune should go straight into the bin after shredding. If it appears unbelievable then it normally is and if the ‘scam’ is asking for money up front then forget it. Again, often private and confidential details of you are requested and again, on no account provide them.
Fraudsters are even posing as Members of Parliament on the internet offering vast sums of money for charity if the receiplements of the email reveal their banking details and other personal details. The police have traced the emails back to Mexico and Hong Kong but not to any individuals. Losses so far have ranged from between thousands to multi-millions. WE REPEAT, please do not give out your personal or private details to anybody particularly over the telephone, by fax or email or unexpected mail. No bona-fide banking system or building society or credit card company or finance house will ever ask you to reveal dates of birth, bank details, names, etc. over the automated systems listed here. If you receive such a request and you have applied for a loan or credit card then check with the company first to see if the request is genuine. 10 out 10 are normally not genuine.
8: TWO MORE SETS OF DATA IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN STOLEN: [a] When is this going to end or has it been going on for ages and we have not been informed? This time, up to 3,000 patients' data stolen on November 5 2007. The patients details could have been on a computer stolen from a doctors' surgery. The laptop containing patients' names, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers was taken from the surgery in Newport on 5 November. Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust said the laptop was coded with passwords and had three levels of protection.
However an NHS investigation is underway while the assembly government is facing calls for an inquiry. Initially, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust chief executive Hugh Ross announced 950 diabetic patients had definitely been affected by the incident. They were taking part in a screening service for people with eye problems. But Mr Ross later told BBC Wales's Dragon's Eye programme that information about as many as 2,000 or 3,000 patients could be on the laptop. The trust said the computer did contain some national insurance numbers but not medical information, but a link to a picture of patients' retinas was stored on it.
[b] DWP DOES IT AGAIN: Hundreds of forms containing personal and confidential information about members of the public were lost by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Staff were told that 800 budgeting loan applications have been lost in transit between Sheffield and Newcastle. In an email, DWP staff were told that customers had been querying the status of their missing applications. In September, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost discs with the details of 25 million child benefit claimants. Depots of courier company TNT are being searched for the latest missing parcels.
Interest-free budgeting loans are available to people who claim benefits such as income support so they can spread the cost of one-off expenses, such as household appliances. Lee Rock, from the civil service union PCS, told BBC Look North the forms contained applicants' names, addresses, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers and bank details. We wonder who will lose what next?
9: CHEATING AND BUNGLING COSTS £5.3 bn. : The Department of Works and Pensions, the department who lost 23 million data files, have revealed that £5.3 bn has been lost in the benefits system in two years as a result of bungling and cheating by claimants, not to mention their own employers ‘mistakes’.
Statistics that were published in late December 2007, revealed that almost £51 million a week has been overpaid to social security claimants due to fraud or error, blundering officials of the DWP, mistakes by claimants or simply stolen. In the same two year period, underpayments totalled £2 billion. Despite the promises by the Blair government, these figures have made a mockery of their crackdown on the amount of money, tax payers hard earned money, that has been squandered due to fraud and error. These appalling figures do not include the £5 billion wrongly paid out in child and family allowances.
These amounts of £51 million and £5 billion are virtually impossible to claim back and is equivalent to employing 200,000 nurses. In the period 2006/2007 2.7 billion was lost compared with £2.6 billion the previous year. Fraud alone has increased from £600 million to £800 million, claimants error accounted for £1 billion and DWP officials to £900 million and apparently not one has been sacked.
Can you ever imagine these vast amounts of money and what usefully things could be done with it? These thieves and fraudsters are hardly ever prosecuted and when the are, they are seldom sent to prison.
10: FINE THE HOSPITALS: Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer has said that hospitals should be fined if they harm patients. He also suggested that when patients contract hospital bugs [MRSA & C/Diffi] they would have to pay for extra treatment.
The report submitted by the National Patient Safety Agency said “why should the NHS funded by the tax payer pay for their care because the hospital has been negligent”. This idea is based on a USA system whereby medical errors have to report such issues by a law.
Data from the NPSA revealed that there were more than 700,000 ‘patient safety incidents’ in the NHS in 2006/7. In total, 6558 incidents resulted in severe harm and a further 40,665 caused moderate harm to patients and there were 2929 deaths.
The Department of Health are far from keen on these ideas, but they would charge hospital trusts if they failed to keep to local targets and reduce C/diff and MRSA. Charges would also be implemented if trust’s breached an eighteen week waiting time target which is due to be implemented by December 2008.
11: FURTHER INCREASES IN POWER BILLS: By the time you read this, many of your would have received notification from your power supplier of a further 15 per cent increase in electricity prices. Gas prices too are tipped to increase - again in 2008, British Gas have announced obscene profits of 571 per cent which were ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 2008.
Theses increases, just like the November 2007 ones still waiting to kick in, are said to be due allegedly to the increases in wholesale gas, with suppliers passing on the extra charges. Tracker tariffs are the most likely suppliers to be affected at first adding to their 13% - 15% rise recently. Theses increases will increase the retail price index to 10% making the April 2008 state pension increase’s virtually worthless.
This time last year, 3.5 million people across the UK, many of them elderly or disabled, were in ’fuel poverty’ whereby the spent 10 per cent of their income on gas and electricity. This figure has now reached 4 million an increase forecasted of 400,000. Energywatch, the industry’s watchdog said that there was no justification for these price increases because wholesale prices were still lower than at this time last year so who are you to believe?
The cost of gas and electricity varies greater from supplier to supplier and it is difficult to work out which supplier is best for your needs. Do not just look at the ’alleged’ savings that come up on your computer screen when searching the websites, it is the price per ’unit’ or ‘therm’ that need’s to be carefully worked out which is often difficult, because this is the price you pay and these prices vary greatly. Also look out for hidden charges which are not always obvious. To obtain an accurate estimation of your gas and electricity use, you need to be in the same property for one year during which time you will receive four bills for gas and four for electricity, to see how much you are paying over a full year, obviously you will be paying more in the winter than say in the summer. You can then work out the number of ’units’ you have used from the figure on the bills and multiply the number of ‘units’ by the price per unit plus any charges such as meter hire, added charges for paying by cheque or credit card, etc. Direct debits can save up to £14.00 per annum on fuel bills and there is no charge for the service. The average increases in fuel bills are expected to be £50.00 for gas and the same for electricity making an extra £100 for families to find.
12: BEACH ACCESS IN SPAIN: Looking forward to sunnier climates? - well the Spanish government have announced that they will invest 1.4 million Euros in making access to beaches in Almeria {Southern Spain} for physically challenged persons plus many more billions of Euros for other popular holiday Spanish Costa’s. These will provide special parking areas, ramp access, and shaded areas on the beach. Access platforms will be constructed leading to the beach and sea, and a guide is to be published with a list of beaches and the facilities available in each area which includes helpers.
13: BANKING MORE THAN £10,000 - THEN READ ON: As from December 15 2007, the fear of money laundering, together with UK legislation, has lead banks and building societies to restrict how much money may be deposited into accounts without some tangible proof as to how the money has been accumulated. Several people wishing to move abroad on a permanent basis after retirement, have contacted us saying that their banks would not accept cheques in excess of £10,000 made out to them, and many of such cheques have been returned to the payee asking for proof of the origins of the money. Building Societies will do exactly the same even if you are just operating a deposit or savings account in the UK, whereby you will have to satisfy them as to the authenticity of the money which can be considerable if the sale of a property is involved in the sum.
If you are selling your UK property to move abroad and purchase a property there for either a holiday or second home, you will find that your bank will need proof of the monies bona-vide. It is advisably before banking the solicitors cheque, which could well be an amount far in excess of £10,000, for the solicitor to write to your bank informing them of the circumstances that lead to your acquisition of the sum involved. The bank may well ask for proof of the sale such as a copy of the solicitors bill showing the balance you have received after all the costs have been paid. This is now normal practise for any institution handling money, and will also act as a guard against paying any income tax on imported money from the country you are purchasing property in, so keep all documentation just in case. France, Spain, Cyprus, Rhodes and Greece are particular keen on preventing ‘money laundering’ affecting their economies as indeed the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are.
It would be prudent for the original cheque banked into the UK account showing the sum of money to be banked to be copied before it is paid into your bank account/building society, and afterwards a copy of the bank/building society’s statement showing the cheques clearance, to be kept as the Advocate in your chosen place of further residence will surely ask for proof of the monies origin.
If you operate a business for instance buying and selling homes abroad, then you need to have an anti-money laundering process & controls in place with HM Revenue & Customs as well as registering your business with them. As a private person making a one off deposit you will not need to register.
To find out more, log onto www.hmrc.gov.uk/mlr and if confused contact HM Revenue & Customs on 0845 010 9000, but where ever you obtained the money from that you wish to bank in excess of £10,000, you must be able to prove its genuine origin by the production of authorise documentation.
14: HOSPITAL CUISINE NOT TO YOUR LIKING?: Hospital food is alleged to be so bad, and at least a quarter of patients ask relatives to bring food into them. A recent survey found that the food had not improved in 12 months when the last survey was carried out and was described by patients interviewed as “repulsive”, “awful” and “disgusting”. Which, the consumer magazine, found that 1 in 3 of those staying in hospital were unhappy with the food served. Even hospital staff serving the food said it was poor and 1 in 5 admitted that they would not eat the food.
Patients also complained that food was not served at appropriate times, breakfast to early, lunch from 11.30 a.m. and dinner at 5.0. p.m. and then nothing, other than a hot drink and perhaps a biscuit mid-evening until 14 hours later. when breakfast was served from 0545 onwards. Others said that they would have preferred the ‘hot’ meal of the day for dinner or ’tea’ as it is often called in hospital rather than for lunch. Many also said that often food served was not appropriate to their medical condition such has serving spicy food when they were suffering from ulcers.
From the writers experience in 2005 at a Gloucestershire hospital, the meals for a whole day arrived at the hospital at 0430 waking everybody up with the vehicles reversing bleeper screaming its head off. The food was then transported to a large kitchen area within the hospital which was fully equipped to prepare meals on the premises, but instead the meals were transported in from 90 miles away in Wales in containers. Presumably, the food was then kept somehow warm or cold until required. Why on earth was the hospital working kitchen not being utilised for the purpose for which is was built? The food was b***** awful, cardboard rolls every morning, no toast, tea and coffee which did not taste anything like tea or coffee, salads which were minimal in content for lunch and evening meals which were not worth commenting upon and often left. There was a choose of three meals for lunch and dinner all equally poor in contents and substance. The vitamin content of the meals must have been very low and insofar as nutrients were concerned, well? Instead, the writer almost lived on home made egg mayonnaise sandwiches and home made soup for seven days. Lovely Juberly.
15: FREE EYE TESTS AT HOME: Last month we covered free hearing tests in many areas. Now Ask Lloyds the pharmacy chain in association with ‘theoutsideclinic’ are offering free home eye site tests for the over 60’s, free glasses and free delivery and fitting. The free glasses offer only applies to those who are entitled to NHS domiciliary optical services and/or NHS spectacle vouchers details of which may be obtained from lloydspharmacy.com or Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd. Coventry, CV2 2TX. or call 0800 9549 100 for a free eye test in your own home.
16: GOVERNMENT MUST ACT TO DELIVER RIGHTS FOR OLDER PEOPLE: Improved sharing of best practice between European countries, further anti-discrimination legislation and better financial provisions must lead the drive to provide older people with the increased dignity and security they deserve, according to a Liz Lynn a Liberal Democrat Euro MP who was speaking at a conference organised by ‘Help the Aged’ and attended by politicians, the government's equality department and many older people.
Ms Lynn commented that "In the UK, 25,000 older people continue to die every year due to the cold weather; 2.2 million older people live in poverty and 500,000 older people are being subjected to elder abuse as we speak. These are horrific statistics; surely we owe our older people more than this?“ “The Government must do more to deliver a society free from discrimination, abuse, poverty and social exclusion. There is no need to reinvent the wheel; we must look at how other EU countries deal with these issues; in Finland and Sweden for example, it is much colder than the UK, but "excess" deaths due to winter cold are almost unheard of."
Thousands of people of all ages continue to face discrimination in the workplace due to the UK Government's interpretation of EU anti-discrimination legislation and a lack of awareness of their rights and as many as 10 percent of EU citizens aged 60 and older experience financial, physical or other abuse.
"The UK government must now support EU plans to bring forward new legislation to combat discrimination in access to goods and services which will help in areas such as medical treatment. "Failure to progress in these areas will lead to the continuing exclusion, abuse and unnecessary death of hundreds of thousands of older people said Ms. Lynn." Ms. Lynn MEP fights in the European Parliament on behalf of elderly and disabled people concerning many varying issues for which we should all be grateful. Thanks Ms. Lynn from all of us at ‘Disability Matters’. When ever a disability or elderly issue appears as a result of Ms. Lynn’s efforts - we will report it.
17: VEHICLE REMOVALS FROM MOTORWAYS & ‘A’ ROUTES:
[NEW POWERS FOR MOTORWAY HIGHWAYS AGENCY TRAFFIC OFFICERS]: [DECEMBER 2007]
Readers will hopefully remember that in January 2008 we featured an article on the new powers for Highways Agency Traffic Officers to remove broken down or abandoned vehicles from the strategic road network. We at ‘Disability Matters’ responded to the consultation and have received the following reply:
Kelly Luther, the Highway Agency’s Research and Policy Manager has replied to us saying “The Highway Agency will continue to promote owners or drivers making their own suitable recovery arrangements, i.e. AA or RAC. The proposed regulations will come into force when owners or drivers are unable to make their own suitable arrangements [such as when they have left the scene of the accident by ambulance] or when they refuse to remove their vehicles”.
Thanks for being with us, see you in April 2008
DISCLAIMER
[MARCH 2008]
We maintain all our rights as indicated on the Home Page of the Law and Benefit Review website, www.lawandbenefitreview.co.uk