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.
April 2008
[edition 23]

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You are all very welcome to the April 2008 edition of the Law and Benefit Review. Yet again a very busy month which includes some appalling news for existing and future applicants for care funding from the Independent Living Fund and the future costs of powered scooters and wheelchairs purchased in the United Kingdom - see below.

LOCAL COTSWOLDS [GLOUCESTERSHIRE] NEWS IN BRIEF

PARKING CHARGES: The Cotswold District Council have reintroduce their ‘pay and display’ scheme and at the same time increasing the car parking charges from a minimum of 60p to £2.50 for a three hour stay.

FREE NATIONAL BUS PASSES: Under the new concessions, residents over 60 years and disabled people will be able to travel free anywhere in England. The 7000 qualifying receiplements of the passes should be receiving their security chipped passes during March 2008. If yours does not arrive contact the CDC on 1285-623031.

AMBULANCE SERVICE REVIEW: Cotswold District Council has agreed to work hand in hand with other Gloucestershire authorities to try to ensure that rural areas received a better standard of service from the Great Western Ambulance Service who have faced criticism over the last twelve months for ambulance response times resulting in at least one death following a road traffic accident in Cirencester.

DISC VOLUNTARY SERVICES CLOSE: The Cirencester operated Voluntary Bureau DISC are due to close for good on March 31 2008 due to the withdraw of funding by local authorities and support groups. This valuable service for the disabled, elderly and frail will not be replaced or relocated at this time, leaving two dedicated ladies unemployed.

MARKET PLACE CIRENCESTER DISABLED PARKING BAYS: It has been discovered that the four disabled parking bays for holders of Blue Badges in Market Place, Cirencester, opposite the Parish Church, have no Road Traffic Orders in existence, making the four bays a ’free for all’ as the regulations concerning the disabled bays cannot be enforced at this time. The Cotswold Parking Manger is engaged in procuring a Road Traffic Order hopefully as soon as possible. This unbelievable situation has been in existence for at least fourteen years.

CIRENCESTER TOWN CENTRE REVAMP: For the third time in six years, proposals are again being contemplated to re-vamp the Cirencester town centre, including Market Place to reduce traffic flows, improving pedestrian access, reducing through traffic [already tried], better public transport, road safety, etc. We are actively ensuring that [a] disabled parking bays continue to be incorporated in any plans for the Market Place [b] that a local Road Traffic Order is in existence prior to the introduction of the ‘new’ disabled parking bays, along with the full complacence of the recently introduced European Union Regulations governing disabled parking spaces, which includes the road surface inside the marked area being painted in the approved blue colour together with motives, wording and signage and [c] that the town centre becomes more eco friendly with trees, shrubs and plants. Currently the lack of greenery is sadly lacking.

2008 BUDGET NEWS

As part of the 2008 Budget, The Chancellor announced that energy suppliers must give customers who have pre-payment meters to pay for gas and electricity a "fairer deal". There are 2.25 million elderly people struggling to afford heating bills. The government says pre-payment households are charged an average of £144 a year more than those who pay by direct debit. It will also give nine million pensioners a one-off increase in the winter fuel payment this year. Can the government not get it into their heads that a ‘one-off increase’ is not acceptable when by the time April 2009 arrives how much will gas and electricity cost then.

2008 BUDGET IN BRIEF

KEYS POINTS OF THE 2008 BUDGET FOR THOSE ON STATE BENEFITS:

PENSIONERS: Winter fuel allowance will go up from £200 to £250 for the over 60s and from £300 to £400 for the over 80s for one year only.

BENEFITS: Housing & Council Tax benefit: From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.

BENEFITS: Incapacity Benefit: From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

TOBACCO: Cigarettes up 11p a packet'

FUEL DUTY: The 2p increase in fuel duty is postponed until October 2008.

ALCOHOL: Beer up by 4p a pint, wine 14p a bottle, spirits 55p a bottle.

CARS, FUEL AND ROAD PRICING: For environmental reasons, fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms in 2010.

PERSONAL ALLOWANCE: Loss of the ten pence tax allowance.

All in all, yet another disastrous Budget for the elderly, disabled, sick, ill and frail. What have they obtained from Alistair Darling, a one-off increased payment in fuel allowance of £50.00 or 96p per week or 13p a day - hardly enough to boil a full kettle. That’s it score, 0 out 10. He’s nobody’s Darling around our office.

BILLS WATCH

Road Traffic (Prohibition of Anti- Detection Devices) Bill 2007/2008 UK: Summary; A Bill to prohibit the supply of devices and substances designed to impair the recognition of vehicle registration marks by speed cameras and other authorised traffic control devices; and for connected purposes. This means for example the spraying of registration marks with a paint now available on the market in the UK, that prevents the reflection of radar cameras from the index mark.

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE BILL 2007/2008: 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.

CONSULTATION ON DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVEBLUE BADGE [DISABLED PARKING] REFORM STRATEGY

The Department for Transport is committed to publishing a Comprehensive Blue Badge [Disabled Parking] reform Strategy by Spring 2008 - within the next two months. This consultation document is designed to seek public views in order to help for this strategy. The ‘Disability Matters’ and ‘Law and[ Benefit Review’ Group have responded to this consultation #6]

MONTHLY SPECIALS

CUT BACK’S FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING FUND CLIENTS

[1]

When the Prime Minister announced far reaching positive proposals for carers and people in need of care living at home in late in December 2007 and named it ’Putting People First’, followed by the February 2008 announcements that carers in receipt of certain state benefits, will be able to keep them if they worked was all excellent news. The PM was in this instance referring to the services provided by the New Community Adult Services [formerly social services] operated by local authorities.

We at ‘Disability Matters’ asked the question, “where is all the money to pay for this coming from”?. Now we can provide a guess. In a move that will deeply concern all disabled people in receipt of Independent Living Funding for them to enjoy as far as possible ‘independent living’ in their own homes and to employ care staff or personal assistants, the ILF have announced the introduction of severe cut-backs in funding that would normally be available for home personal care support.

The significant changes can be outlined as follows:

[a] The amount that local authorities will have to contribute before a claimant can apply for ILF funding will rise from £200 to £320 a week.

[b] The ILF will not ‘back-date’ claims for funding. The funding, if approved, will commence from the date of application.

[c] The ILF have warned that they may not have the funds available to meet every valid application and will strangely give priority to disabled people working for more than 16 hours a week. We intend to clarify item [c] with the Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, as it appears strange to us at least that disabled people who are capable of working, will be more favourable looked at, then a serious disabled person who needs for instance 24/7 care. May be we have missed the point here? As soon as we obtain some clarification we will bring it to you.

New applicants to the ILF Fund will also now find it very difficult to achieve funding particularly as local authorities say they are short of funding for such matters, and indeed many have already cut back severely on their Community Adult Care funding for ‘critical needs’ only and often withdrawing care from those with substantial needs. Those disabled people with ‘severe’ needs are being still being considered by some local authorities but many thousands of elderly and disabled people who once received some support now receiving nothing. Applicants for ILF funding will not be considered until the local authority funding has been achieved. The ILF’s decision will mean that even more people may go without home care support at all. Keeping within a government budget is the ILF’s problem because this is where the funding originates. Talk about giving it with the one hand and taking it back with the other. Why don’t government keep to their word instead of plenty of positive rhetoric, but when it comes to the crunch its a whole different ball game. We will keeping a very close eye on this matter and report any news at all, if we can find it, to you.

Not only will new applicants be affected by these dragooning changes and new rules, but so will existing clients when their circumstances change such as a deteriorating in their illness or disability requiring more care and/or they need to reply for funding after say staying in respite care for a long period.

These changes have come out of the blue and were ‘quietly’ announced just before Christmas 2007. We certainly saw no reference to the announcement in our data bases, otherwise we would have bought it to you before - typical of government, anything contentious, as indeed this announcement was, is nearly always made public when something else is hitting the headlines.

UPDATE: PRIME MINISTERS CARE REFORM - EXPECT DELAYS: When the PM announced this reform with the issuing of a Green Paper, talk was of an ‘intensive consultation’. The Green Paper was expect around now, but now the language has changed to ‘extensive consultation’ which will now mean October 2008 or later. In the meantime nothing more than delaying tactics prevail with further public consultations before Green Paper or any other colour paper is published. #7

LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE

[2]

On April 7 2008 the new Local Housing Allowance [LHA] will be introduced to calculate the Housing Benefit due to a claimant. The scheme has already been trailed in local authority areas around the country, and will affect only private tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord.

There are five changes that will affect claimants:

[a] At the commencement of the new scheme, only new claimants making application for housing benefit after April 7 and existing claimants who move address or have a period when no housing benefit is paid after April 7 2008 will be affected.

[b] The housing benefit will still be means-tested and there will be a change in the level of rent used when working out a claimants entitlement. It will no longer be necessary to produce a pre-tenancy determination from the Rent Officer prior to signing a tenancy agreement with the landlord. Claimants will have to ask their local authority benefits office for details of the Local Housing Allowance rate for the number of bedrooms the claimant would be entitled to under the new LHA rules.

[c] Once the LHA rate has been obtained, the claimant may
seek a tenancy that matches the LHA rate or lower. If the rent is more than the LHA rate, then the difference must be paid for by the claimant. The good news is that if a claimant finds a rental at a lesser cost than the LHA rate, then the claimant may keep the difference between the rent being paid and the LHA rate up to £15.00 per week.

[d] As now, certain restrictions will still apply to single claimants under 25 and other tenants renting on a single room basis.

[e] As from April 7 2008, housing benefit can no longer be automatically requested to be sent direct to their landlord. All such payments will be paid to all tenants who is subject to the new rules, unless the tenant is classed as being vulnerable.

What affect the new Local Housing Allowance will have a rents only time will tell but we suspect that the level of rent that may be claimed may well be lower than previously. Hopefully, the LHA rate will take into account that the level of private accommodation varies from area to area and from town to town and will be incorporated in the LHA for that area where the claimants wishes to reside.

2008/2009 UK STATE BENEFITS AND PENSIONS

[3]

The Department of Works and Pensions [DWP] have announced the new rates for all UK state pensions and benefits, the majority of which take effect as from April 7 2008. We now bring to you the main proposed basic state benefit rates for the years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. The remaining benefits, pensions and allowances that are applicable to your life by may found by logging onto the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk. Once logged on, click at the top of the centre column with the dark mauve section marked ‘news’ then scroll down to 5/12/07 marked ‘proposed benefit rates 2008/2009’ and ‘click’ again and up will be shown all the state benefits and pensions for the period of April 2008 to April 2009.

BENEFITS UPDATE

EU JUDGEMENT: In a recent judgement by the European Court of Justice, it was ruled on whether UK benefit claimants, taking up permanent residence outside the UK and with the European Economic Area [EEA], are able to maintain their entitlement to Disability Living Allowance [DLA], Attendance Allowance [AA], and the Carers Allowance [CA].

The court ruled that the care component only of DLA, the AA and CA may in certain circumstances be paid to those who move. The UK government is studying the detailed implications of the judgement, which we can find no trace of as yet, and undoubtedly there is likely to be a long wait until before the UK government decides what their proposals will be.

If you wish to add comment to this Judgement and the Government thoughts and have moved from the UK permanently, you may like to write to The Exportability Co-ordinator Warbreak House, Warbreak Hill Road, United Kingdom, FY2 OYE, quoting your national insurance number.

CARE HOME BREAKS: New regulations have been issued in relation to care home residents’ entitlement to Attendance Allowance [AA] or the care component of the Disability Living Allowance [DLA], when taking breaks away from a care home.

Currently, payment of these benefits to residents is withdrawn after 28 days in the home where the cost of accommodation is met in full or part from public funds. From October 28 2008, both the day of arrival and day of departure will be treated as a ‘day out’ of the home, reversing previous arrangements. Penny pinching or what?

So if a resident stays with their family for a Saturday overnight to Sunday weekend, AA would be payable for the two days, whereas it would have not been so previously. The ‘day’ out must include an overnight stay and arrears claimed back in writing from Warbreak House, FY2 OYE.

PERSONALISED CARE: From April 2008, carers and disabled people are to be given more control over how their care funding for the services are to be provided upon which we have reported previously, when the Prime Minister announced his proposals. Qualifying people will be offered their own personal budgets so they may chose the support services they require. Other’s will continue to receive their Direct Payments unchanged.

NEW MINIMUM WAGE

From October 2008, the minimum wage will rise to £5.73 an hour, an increase of £0.21 for about 1 million adult workers. The new hourly rate for 18 to 21 year olds will be £4.77, an increase of 17p and for 16 and 17 year olds an increase of 13p per hour to £3.53.

COUNTRYWIDE BUS PASSES

All qualifying people should have now received their new style bus passes, if not, chase them up by contacting your issuing authority as the passes are in force from April 1 2008 as the old style ones are more than likely no longer valid. Every qualifying person should have received an application form towards the end of last year to complete.

LANDLORD AND TENANTS NEW PROCEDURES

April 2008 starts the changes in the Landlord/Tenant Short Term Tenancy Agreements where deposits no longer have to be paid to Landlords.

ARTICLES

1: HOME AS A WORKPLACE: Following on from article 10 in the February 2008 Law and Benefit Review, several enquiries have received from folks concerning problems which have resulted from employees working as carers or personal assistants, and claiming compensation from employers insurance protection policies for injuries acquired whilst at work, our investigations have opened a can of worms.

A few insurance companies offer employers, who employ carers and personal assistants, protection insurance policies, to protect them against claims from their employees for injury caused whilst at work in the employers own home or within the cartilage thereof.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 does not apply to private homes, only to professional operated & licensed homes and of course factory’s shops, businesses, etc. The old Factory’s Act was repealed on March 1 2006. However, employees, owners and landlords have certain responsibilities to protect their tenants and indeed their relatives and carers/personal assistants if they employ them, as the following will indicate:

Health and safety in rented accommodation: Landlords are generally responsible for the maintenance and major repairs to a property. This includes repairs to the structure and exterior of the property, heating and hot water installations, basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations.

Housing standards: A property should be safe and healthy for occupiers, so responsibility should be taken to ensure that:

• the dwelling is capable of providing adequate heating, which ideally means controllable central heating and insulation, with equipment and the fabric of the building in good repair
• electricity and gas supplies, and the sanitation (drains, basins, sinks, baths and WCs) are in working order
• there are no fall or trip hazards
• water heating equipment is in working order
• the property is free from damp

Gas and electrical safety: Your landlord must ensure that:

• all gas appliances and installations are maintained in good order
• that gas boilers get an annual safety check is carried out by someone who is registered with CORGI (Council for Registered Gas Installers).
• keep a record of the safety checks, and issue it to you within 28 days of each annual check.

The occupier/employer is responsible for maintaining gas appliances which they own, or are entitled to take with them at the end of the letting. By law, your landlord must ensure that the electrical system and any electrical appliances supplied with the let such as cookers, kettles, toasters, washing machines and immersion heaters are safe to use. If your landlord supplies new appliances, he or she should also provide any accompanying instruction booklets.

Fire safety: The 2004 Housing Act requires the landlord to do several things about fire safety:

1. there has to be an adequate means of escape
2. depending on the size of the property, there may have to be smoke alarms and fire extinguishing equipment.

If the property is a considered to be a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) by your council which is subject to licensing, your landlord must also comply with license conditions in relation to fire safety. In such cases the person receiving care may live in an apartment within such a ‘multiple occupation’ property.

By law, your landlord must:

• make sure that all the gas appliances they provide are maintained in good order and that a Corgi-registered plumber carries out a safety check each year
• maintain all electrical installations (i.e. fixed wiring) and any electrical appliances they provide (i.e. cookers, kettles) and make sure they are safe to use
• make sure any furniture and furnishings they provide meet the fire resistance regulations.

Coming back to the first paragraph of this article, insurance company’s providing insurance protection for employers who employ carers and personal assistants, will apparently expect the employers to keep various documents such as:-

1. Accident Book
2. Accident Reports
3. Minutes of an Health & Safety Committee Meetings
4. Training Records
5. Risk Assessments

We are currently trying to ascertain from our legal data bases what exactly some of these forms are and if they apply to employers simply employing people such as carers/PA’s to look after them or not. Whilst such employment is not really a ‘business’ as such, with no profits being made, no VAT registration, no accounts submitted or audited, etc., but it may well be that insofar as insurance companies are concerned in such matters as insurance claims, the employment of carers or personal assistants is a business.

Elderly and disabled people employing carers/personal assistants could go no further than complying with part of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as a general duty to both themselves and their employees. The 1974 Act places a general duty on employers to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees".

Employers [which does not legally involve employers employing care staff themselves] must comply with the Act insofar as they must:

• Provide and maintain safety equipment and safe systems of work.
• Ensure materials used are properly stored, handled, used and transported.
• Provide information, training, instruction and supervision. Ensure staff are aware of instructions provided by manufacturers and suppliers of equipment.
• Provide a safe place of employment.
• Provide a safe working environment.
• Provide a written safety policy/risk assessment.
• Look after health and safety of others, example public.
• Talk to safety representatives.

An employer is forbidden to charge his/her employees for any measures which he/she is required to provide in the interests of health and safety.

Employees to have specific responsibilities too. They must:

• Take care of their own health and safety and that of other persons. Employees may be liable.
• Co-operate with their employers.
• Must not interfere with anything provided in the interest of health and safety.

2: PARKING FINES: Have you ever received a ‘fine’ for parking in an ‘off road’ area where you should not parked or have overstayed a parking time limit in an off street car park, and other retail outlets or even a supermarket? If so, the validly of such a ‘demand’ or ’fine’ may more than likely not be worth the paper it is printed on.

It is being claimed that what are often termed ‘parking charge notices’ are nothing more than ‘invoices’ and the companies or businesses issuing them, sometimes by agents acting on their behalf, may themselves be in breach of the law. The Road Traffic Act dictates that using such terms as ‘parking charge notices’ ]PCN] may only be used by those acting on behalf of local authorities such a parking wardens or attendants. Under 66 of the Administration of Justices Act 1970 it will be found that it is illegal to use such terms or to try to coerce money from anyone by using such tactics as PCN’s.

The issuing of such ‘invoices’ or parking charge notices’ or what ever you wish to call them, is, we are advised, is based on the law of ‘contract’ and as such, common law holds the remedy for breach of contract known as ‘damages’ which has to be proved to constitute the demand, which in this case is the request to pay the fine. No court, if the issuers of the FPN or their employers pursued the matter, would consider that ‘damages’ equal to the fine demanded for say parking a few minutes beyond the time permitted, would be fair or reasonable and dismiss the action. Remember, the issuers would have to prove their case in court - that the driver infringed what boils down to common law. Similarly, ‘trespass’ or ‘tort’ as it is known in legal terms, can be only pursued on the grounds of ‘damages’ such as breaking down a fence, gate or causing other damage such as destroying flowers beds etc. Plaintiffs, the person brining the action, will have to prove the ‘tort’ to be able to claim ‘damages’ which is normally a financial settlement. What ‘damages’ can a vehicle cause parked on a piece of ground?

In matters such as parking on private ground or car parks belonging to companies, businesses or firms and where notices are clearly displayed informing drivers that if vehicles were left there they would be clamped and a fine imposed for the vehicle’s release plus possible other charge. In such matters, the driver of the vehicle will not have any other alternative but to pay for the release of the vehicle unless some transgression can be found concerning the legality of the notices and possible activity of the clamping firm, i.e. a member of the firm gave permission for the vehicle to be parked and when the driver had gone the vehicle was clamped. This is occurred on more than one occasion.

There are other issues in such matters as ensuring that signage were not obscured at the time of the alleged offence, that a Statutory Instrument was in existence authorising the sign in a public place, that it can be proved that the vehicle was where it was alleged to be for the times shown, that the driver of the vehicle has been proven, etc.

3: EUROPEAN UNION LISBON TREATY 2007: The recent Portuguese European Union Treaty signed by the UK Prime Minister and other EU Leaders will no doubt bring further floods of EU legislation affecting all UK citizens. So far, such legislation has brought some relief for disabled air passengers flying out of, and into European airports. There are other European Union directives that we have commented upon during 2007, all of which are protecting UK and EU disabled citizens such as the formation of a European Union Disability Group which sits regularly in Brussels and Strasburg keeping any eye on matters for all of us.

4: HOW MANY CARERS ARE SHORT CHANGED: Thousands of workers are being short-changed by agencies and firms who refuse to pay the national minimum wage, a survey by the Trade Union Congress [TUC] found. Around 150,000 staff are being denied rate of £5.52 an hour for adults and £4.60 for 18 to 21-year-olds, it says. Those in restaurants, hotels, cleaning, hairdressing and care were said to be the most likely to be underpaid. A TUC help-line for staff has been set up. Earlier this month, ministers said firms [and private employees] would face tougher penalties for failing to pay the minimal wag. Companies will now risk unlimited fines, with the most serious cases of non-compliance tried in a criminal Crown Court. The way arrears are calculated will also change, boosting the amount of back pay due to underpaid employees.

5: SCOTTISH DISABLED PROTEST OVER CARE CHARGES: Protest at disabled care charges. Scores of disabled people have been demonstrating against higher charges being introduced for care services. The protestors gathered outside the headquarters of Fife Council as members arrived for the final full meeting on the year. Charges increased in January. 2008. The Campaign Against Charges protest group has said the rise for home care is too much. It is increasing for some from £4-a-week to £11-per-hour. The authority has said the increase is necessary to meet a budget shortfall.

6: DOCTORS TO OPEN LONGER: The Government is providing £100 million to help GPs’ to open their surgeries until 8.0. p.m. during weekday and weekends evenings. The GP’s will be expected to open an average of three hours extra opening times per day each day of the week.

The British Medical Association [BMA] has said that this idea could damage patient relations. One revelation that has been announced is that GP practices with over 6000 patients will be open an extra three hours a week and bigger ones open all night.

There is a developing row between the doctors representatives and the government. A Government backed survey of 2 million people revealed that 84% that patients were happy with current surgery opening hours. Since the increase in GP’s salaries said to be over £100,000 with 300 earning allegedly over £250,000 per annum, the government are flexing their muscles and demanding value for money.

7: NHS LOSSES PATIENTS RECORDS -AGAIN: The NHS can be trusted despite the loss of 168,000 patient records by nine trusts, health bosses have said. NHS chief executive David Nicholson said it was "really important" to have public confidence when dealing with people's confidential data. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has called for a planned national database of 50 million patient records to be reconsidered after the data loss. The Department of Health (DoH) said the system would improve data security.

The nine NHS Trusts affected by the losses are:
City and Hackney
Bolton Royal Hospital
Sutton and Merton
Sefton Merseyside
Mid-Essex Care Trust
Norfolk and Norwich
Gloucester Partnership Foundation Trust
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
East and North Hertfordshire

The NHS Grampian Health Trust has also admitted that they have been losing personal data on a number of occasions over recent years. Is any of our personal, private, confidential and medical details safe in Government and Local Authority Trusts hands - it appears not.

Since this list was compiled, further data basis have been ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’, including part of the NHS Patients records data base used by GP’s to keep patients records and hospitals to obtain medical records of a patients anywhere in the country during cases of emergency. All patients have the right not to be included on this data base NHS. If you feel so, just tell your GP that you do not want your medical records, name, address, telephone number, etc. placed on the Data Base. If it is already there your GP to removed it.

8: MIXED HOSPITAL WARDS TO CONTINUE: The Blair government promised the end of mixed wards in NHS hospital's, but recently there were rumours of this being reneged upon by the Brown regime, so are these mixed wards to close or continue?

Four out of five hospitals have admitted that men and women patients are not segregated on NHS wards. 80 per cent of NHS Trusts say that different sexes are being placed on the same ward, often separated by nothing more than a thin curtain. Figures obtained using the Freedom of Information Act 1998 [FIA] show that 35 out of 112 NHS Trusts who complied to the FIA request [ some 31%] still had no segregated wards whatsoever, with male and female patients mixed together on the same ward. 20 per cent reported that toilet facilities were not separated on all wards and 26 per cent admitted that even the washing facilities were shared. In our view these revelations breach the Human Rights Act .

For over ten years now the Labour government have said that they would bring to an end this antiquated practice and now after ten years plus we find that it continues to flourish unlike very many European Union hospitals where individual rooms is more the norm. Some wards, intensive care, children’s wards and accident and emergency have always been completely segregated, but having said that, in cases of emergency, this situation will take priority over the need for segregation.

One wonders why it is so difficult to achieve complete separation between male and female patients. Surely its a case of erecting a partition wall in the centre of an existing ward with a connecting door and adding a toilet and wash room in the part that requires them and perhaps another small nursing station. The staff would not have to be increased as the same number of beds and patients will be present although perhaps two beds may be lost because of the sub- division, but isn't it worth it for the patients piece of mind? Patients have the right to be treated with dignity and have their own privacy and NHS Trusts are not exempt from ensuring that this is provided.

9: DRUG SIDE-EFFECTS CAUSE PROBLEMS: In 2006, 4,635 people were admitted to hospitals suffering from serious drug side-effects from medication prescribed to them by GP’s and hospitals. In 2004 the figure was 4,420. 964 died in 2007 compared with 861 in 2005. Experts are blaming failures in the training of both doctors and nurses who have recent been provided with ‘prescription powers’ to issue some medication.

Adverse drug reaction may be reported through the Yellow Card Scheme operated by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency and some 200,000 such cases are reported each year so it is essential that if you suffer a side-effect from taking your prescribed medication that you inform your GP immediately by telephone. Last year £592 million was spent by the NHS on dealing with negligence claims.

If you enter hospital, the doctor or consultant who will see you shortly after your admittance will not necessary know what medication you have been prescribed. With each delivery of prescribed medication from your pharmacy you should receive an up-to-date list of all your medication. It is advisable that this list be kept and updated with a new one each month and kept safe and if you are admitted to hospital you will be able to provide exactly what medication you have been prescribed with along with the dosage amount. If you take herbal medication you should also keep a record of this.

Concern is being expressed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, a senior unnamed doctor, a medical Professor from Ulster and the British Medical Association who are saying retrospectively that “patients lives were being put at risk because of poor training”, “hospital staff were taking patients off their regular drugs prescribed for them often with side-effects”, “the decision to allow nurses to prescribe powerful drugs had put patients at risk”, “that the handing out by untrained staff of unsuitable drugs to patients with serious conditions because of their training which was ‘pathetically poor’ and “the extension of prescribing powers to nurses is ‘irresponsible and dangerous’.

All boxed medication must, by law, contain a Patients Information Leaflet [PIL] which includes all known side effects of the medication in the box. If it is not there ask for it as would be the case for tablets in bottles. It is always possible to suffer a ‘side-effect’ which is not indicated on the PIL so if this occurs and it is not normal report the fact to your GP immediately as you may well be allergic to the medication and need to stop it but wait until your having seen or spoken to your GP.

Often when being discharged from hospital, it may be found that certain medications may have been changed to deal with your medical condition for a alternative one, a different one or the strength either raised or lowered. Your GP should be informed of these changes by the hospital but make sure he knows when you go to re-order the medication.

10: COMPLAINING ABOUT NHS HOSPITALS, GP‘s, DENTISTS OR PHARMACISTS TREATMENT: If any of you have been involved in making a complaint to a NHS hospital trust concerning your treatment in hospital, dirty toilets and wards, poor care, being prescribed incorrect medication, surgery problems, etc. will know what a complicated issue it is, but please do not let this put you off complaining. As the heading will indicate, you may also complain against NHS GP’s, Dentists, Pharmacists through the same procedure.

In the case of a hospital complaint, you should first complain to the ward sister in charge of the ward where you are staying whilst still in hospital and an attempt to deal with your complaint. Failing this, find out the full name of the Hospital Trust’s Chief Executive, the name of the Trust and its address. It is always a good idea to write notes whilst in hospital as to what has happened, details of any witnesses, who you spoke to, who was involved, when and where and at what date and time and keep as full notes as you can. It is also a good idea to write to the Chief Executive anyway to let them know what is going on.

On returning home, write to the Chief Executive and inform him/her as fully as possible about your complaint. Be precise in what you say and make sure you get the facts correct. What should happen is that you will receive a reply in which you will be informed of the process of investigating your complaint and also informing you of your other rights which you may also wish to pursue such as making a claim for ‘damages’ again the Hospital Trust. Before making any claims for ‘damages’ it is advisable to wait the result of the investigation of your claims because if the Trust agrees with you or even partly agrees with your claims then this may be used to support any claim for ‘damages’ you may wish to pursue.

If you find that you are not satisfied with the way that your complaint has been dealt with my your hospital trust then you may write to the Healthcare Commission at Freepost NAT 18958, Complaints Investigation Team, Manchester, M1 9XZ who will require copies of all the correspondence that has been exchanged between yourself and the hospital trust. You also have rights under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 to obtain copies of your hospital file from the moment you entered the hospital until you have been discharged. These can be very useful and normally a small charge is made by the hospital trust for providing them. They cannot in law refuse to provide all the documents.

If the Healthcare Commission fails you then write to the Office of the Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP who again will require copies of all the correspondence that has been exchanged between your, the hospital trust and healthcare commission so keep all documents in a file. Lets hope you will not have to run the full course.

A useful booklet to have which outlines the complaints system called ‘Inspecting Informing Improving may be obtained from the Healthcare Commission

The claim for ‘damages’ is a separate issue. To commence with, your claims for ‘damages’ or a financial settlement for your sufferings whilst in hospital, will be dealt with by the hospitals Legal Department at first, and this where the fun starts. Later if matters cannot be settled, your claim will be passed to a government department and perhaps eventually an ‘offer’ of a financial settlement may be made to you to accept or refuse. If you find that such a task is beyond you then you may instruct a solicitor to act for you and there are now specialised solicitors and barristers who only deal with medical claims and they will inform you at the outset if your claim is worth pursuing bearing in mind the costs involved which may be claimed back from the Hospital Trust if you win but if you lose you may be liable for your own legal fees and that of the Hospital Trusts so there is a lot to think about. There are also firms of solicitors who offer a ‘no win no fee service’ for claims but very few of them will accept a medical case.

This is only a very brief résumé of this subject. Like always, a solicitor would be the best person to advice you.

11: CODE FOR SPEEDY MOBILITY SCOOTERS: A local "highway code" has been produced in an attempt to put the brakes on speeding mobility scooters. The booklet is being distributed by the Neath Port Talbot Older Person's Council [NPTOPC] after complaints the scooters were being driven too fast. Based on a similar initiative in Conway, it has advice on speed limits and rules for both road and pavement use.

Disabled rights campaigners welcomed the move and hoped it would persuade users to be more considerate. The revised edition of the official Highway Code, published earlier this year, contained rules governing the use of mobility scooters for the first time and much of the information in the free booklet is drawn from that. Regularly readers may remember that we covered the subject of the new Highway Code and its reference to ‘invalid carriages’ for the first time ever in article 1 of the September ’07 and article 9 of the December ’07 editions of the Law and Benefit Review. The Highway Code basically says:

1. To drive on the road you need a vehicle that can travel 6-8 mph
2. On the road they are subject to the same rules as other traffic
3. Scooters are not allowed in bus lanes or on cycle tracks
4. The maximum speed allowed on pavements is 4 mph
5. On the road, scooters must have headlights, rear lights, indicators and a horn

Source: Highway Code

For a copy of the free ‘highway code’ booklet from the NPTOPC contact 01639-763333.

12: NEW EU O2 CAR EMISSIONS: The European Commission are hell bent on reducing Carbon emissions emitted from new vehicles throughout the whole on the European Union, including the UK.

The new laws propose a new legally-binding maximum of no more than 130 g/km of CO2 by 2012, although these new laws have been drastically cut after months of intense lobbying by European car manufacturers because these new laws propose a threat to their industry unless an agreement can be made without the need for legislation. An emission of 120 g/km should have been agreed two years ago with the EC saying that this figure could be reached by 2012. The current permitted level of emission is 160 g/km having reduced from 185g/km in 1995.

What this will mean however is that new car prices are set to soar by thousands of pounds under a system of ‘green’ fines for gas guzzling vehicles. In 2006, the EU issued other threats to the motor industry whereby new vehicles for the mobility industry would be restricted in number. So far, no further information has been available concerning this, but if implemented, this could serious affect the Motability scheme and vehicle conversion businesses, and for the customer, long waits for a new vehicles.

A knock on effect may be for car manufacturers to produce smaller low emission vehicles which could remove any possible long waiting times for Motability customers and others who would normally choice a smaller vehicle for their mobility problems and not a larger vehicle which produce higher CO2 gases.

The reason why this article has been included in this months LBR is because if you are thinking of purchasing a new vehicle in 2011, which is three years away - the length of a normal Mobility contract - then it would be a wise move to purchase a new vehicle privately in 2011 to perhaps save thousands of pounds. Insofar as Motability is concerned, such proposals as indicated in paragraph two and three above will have to be investigated to save the possibility of delays in waiting for a new vehicle and possibly extending Motability contract’s from 3 to 4 years and 5 to 6 years to help in any delays in delivery dates, but all this is a long way off yet and we will be keeping a watch on the progress of the European Commissioners intentions.

13: DRINK TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT: It’s official, a daily tipple or even two for the over 65’s on a regular basis is good for you and better than abstinence so the doctors are saying. Alcohol in these small quantities can boast functioning of the brain, banish depression and provide a sense of well being. Cheers.

14: 5.2 PER CENT INCREASE IN STATE PENSIONS: Not in the United Kingdom though, but in Spain where Spanish pensioners, who receive more that UK pensioners anyway, have just been given a 5.2% increase in their state pension. This increase will mean that a basis state pension in Spain will be £136.87 per week compared with £90.70 in the UK or £547.48 every four weeks, compared with £362.80 in the UK, some £184.71 per month or £34.21 per week difference.

The Spanish cost of living is still far less overall than in the UK. Petrol is 80p a litre, food shopping a third cheaper than the UK and council tax is no higher than £200 per year in rural areas. The result is that in real terms the Spanish state pension is worth more than £136.87.

On another front or should we say coast in Spain, up to 500,000 non-Spanish people are likely to be effected by the demolition of private and holiday homes. The Spanish Environmental Ministry announced new measures to protect their coast lines from the French/Spanish boarder all the way to the Spanish/Portuguese boarder, from further over-development by knocking down properties that fall between the maritime line and the sea high tide mark, where there are many of them without title to the land, building or Escritura. The Minister has said that there will be no widespread demolition of properties built prior to the reverent laws were passed in 1988. A campaign group already challenging the new moves have said that 20,000 homes are already under the threat of the bull-dozer and a significant number of these will be Britain’s.

The laws governing those moves have been inexistence since 1988. The 1988 Costal Law says that buildings cannot be erected within 330 feet of the shoreline which the highest point an incoming time reaches and is marked with small white and red posts all along the coast lines. Properties built prior to 1988 should be exempt, but the Ministry also appears to be targeting these. Beach bars have often been built on the wrong side of the maritime line along with beech shop and bars, all of which are eventually pulled down unless ownership is proved by those who occupy them. As in England, the sea shore in Spain belongs to the Government and it is the same in every country so many people only have their selves to blame for later problems. Any property in most areas in Spain less than 330 feet from the high-tide mark is suspect. Builders, architects, locals will tell perspective buyers anything to sell the property - do not be taken in my them with your life savings.

STOP PRESS: Harrow Council in North West London have been found by the High Court in London to have acted unlawfully and ignored the rights of disabled people in respect of the provision of community care services because it had breached its duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. This may well be a land-mark decision by the court and which may well affect all other local authorities if they refuse community care to those who qualify. A full copy of the Courts Judgement is not yet available but as soon as it is we will bring as much as we can to you.

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