Have Your Say - Manchester Cuts
posted: 17/05/2011
People living in Manchester are asked for their views on the future of adult social care services in the city. The council has to save £109m this year, rising to £170m next – 25% of its whole budget.
The council’s plans for making cuts in adult social care are now available and there are 24 local events in May and June where council staff can explain the proposals, answer questions and help fill in questionnaires.
There are four main things the city council is asking residents about
- Supporting people services
- Cuts and changes in voluntary and community sector
- Changes to social care services
- Charges for social care services.
The city plans to change the way it allocates money to the voluntary sector and for supporting people, by assessing the quality and cost of services, and make more use of Telecare and equipment, and change the way it allocates money.
Manchester also proposes to change its charges for social care, for example, by ending its maximum charge so people who can pay more will pay the full cost, whatever that is.
How to have your say
You can read the proposals and then answer questions online, or you can visit one of the 24 events being held over the next three weeks.
Please take part
The more people with HIV living in Manchester who take part the better.
The main proposals and consultation for people with HIV is here. The last public event where you can ask questions is on Friday 3 June and you must send any comments in on this one by Wednesday 6 July.
Some of the documents are PowerPoint presentations that show you what they propose and you will need a computer programme to see this. Here is a link to the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer for you to download and install if you need this.
Councillor Glynn Evans, executive member for adults services at Manchester City Council said: "Manchester looks after a large number of vulnerable and elderly people who need support and care, and we remain committed to ensuring that we provide the best possible services, despite the very challenging circumstances.
"These proposals will affect people’s lives, so it is vitally important that all carers, residents and people who use our services themselves, tell us what they think and have their say.
"The council has to make significant savings to balance our smaller budget and we have seen a massive reduction in our budgets like supporting people. We believe these proposals are the fairest we could draw up in these very difficult times, but this is an open and genuine consultation process and all views and ideas will be considered."
Events across the city now
The adult social care consultation events began on 9 May and the last is on Friday 3 June.
Deadline for public comments varies with each of the consultations, two are on 14 June, another is 6 July, the last is on 8 August:
Social Care Consultations or phone the Contact Service on 0161 234 5001.
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Hospital Complaints and North Manchester
posted: 21/04/2011
Channel 4 TV’s Dispatches programme last week reported long waits and poor care of some people using North Manchester General Hospital’s Accident & Emergency and the associated Medical Assessment wards.
The TV undercover investigation did not look into HIV treatment and care at the hospital, which is a regional centre of HIV care excellence.
The Care Quality Commission has now been asked to investigate the problems in Accident and Emergency and Medical Assessment Unit care. The local NHS watchdog, Manchester LINks say “We would encourage the public to contact their local LINks at any time if they have a concern or to report such instances as seen on the Channel 4 programme last night without delay. Your local LINks will be able to investigate with the help of the Care Quality Commission and local Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees. Your identity will always be protected and all information you provide treated confidentially when going through LINks.”
If you have any experiences you would like to tell Manchester LINks about regarding North Manchester General Hospital or any other Manchester Hospital, please contact Danny on 0161 874 2189 or email him.
Making complaints about the NHS, other hospitals and local social care
Each district has its own NHS LINk watchdog – Find your local LINk here
Manchester LINk
BHA, Democracy House
609/609A Stretford Road
Old Trafford, Manchester
M16 0QA
Contact the Manchester LINk team
Anthony Doggett - LINk Administrator 0161 874 2187
Naheed Akhtar - LINk Manager 0161 874 2188; Mobile:07855 233 462
Danny Gough - Community Engagement Officer 0161 874 2189
Valeska Matziol - Community Engagement Officer 0161 874 2190
Lydia Hurford Cato - Community Engagement Officer 0161 874 2191
email: manchesterlink@theBHA.org.uk
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HIV Teenagers to Adults
posted: 21/02/2011
Older teenagers with HIV are our HIV pioneers because they are the first generation of young people growing up with HIV. Being the first at anything is often exciting, but with HIV it can be much less fun and more of a struggle.
Making the change better
The Children and Young People HIV Network are working to make it easier to move from being a teenager with HIV to being an adult with HIV.
Young people with HIV have two main challenges
- growing up from a child to adult with HIV (e.g. beginnning sex and relationships with HIV)
- moving from children's HIV clinic and education, into adult HIV services and employment or claiming benefits with HIV.
The Children and Young People’s HIV Network have now finished checking all the expert articles and books about changing from child to adult with HIV in a ‘literature review’.
They looked to learn lessons about improving the change from child to adult, including learning from experience with other conditions like diabetes and epilespy.
The HIV child to adult change literature review is here
The review
- has statistics about young people with HIV in the UK
- finds existing policies and guidelines for the child to adult change
- looks for useful lessons from other longterm conditions, like diabetes
- considers the needs of carers and family
- considers rural areas with very low numbers of young people with HIV.
Professionals tell us
Last week we pointed out the useful article where HIV health workers describe helping teenagers to make the change from child to adult with HIV, which is in the 200th issue of HIVTreatment Update.
Teens talking life with HIV
Two young people making these changes talk about their own lives. JD Bailey (20, female) talks about growing up with HIV, and Max, (19, male) talks about telling others about HIV
‘Transition of care from a paediatric to adult setting is not specific to HIV … However there are important differences … with HIV which may make this process more difficult’ Lyall, 2007.
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Social Media - Talking About HIV
posted: 14/02/2011
All is not lost in the world of raising HIV awareness. I Talk Because .... is a cheap-as-chips community HIV awareness social media campaign in the USA. People shoot and upload their own video clips saying why they talk to other people about HIV.
It began in 2009 as a way to put HIV back onto New York people's radars. Going Viral Against HIV and STIs was the first social media conference looking to exploit the potential for HIV of social media and I talk because is just one example.
Dozens of celebrities and others have now uploaded videos with thousands of views. This led Mashable.com, a social media news site, to make ‘I talk because ….’ one of the top five YouTube projects that are ‘making a difference’.
The ‘I Talk because …’ campaign debunks HIV myths and gives the facts, not just amongst peers, but across generations. It encourages conversations within families. And ultimately a willingness to talk is worthwhile because it breaks down boundaries and stigma.
"The stories of real people, and of how HIV has affected their lives, is a powerful way to bring home the message that HIV has not gone away, and that HIV continues its assault every day."
Cheap as chips
Another reason to like this campaign: the cheap-as-chips cost. The recent USA federal government’s campaign It's Never Just HIV cost $726,000 but "I Talk Because ..." is almost free because all the videos are user-generated. And it provides dozens of individual meaningful messages.
We should have more campaigns like this because it helps people realise that it's OK to talk about HIV. Talking encourages testing, and cuts HIV stigma and blame.
Upload vids to I talk because here
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HIV Message to Social Services - Protect Funding
posted: 09/02/2011
Deborah Jack, the chief executive of National AIDS Trust, has now written to every director of adult social services, calling on them to protect spending for people with HIV.
We very recently reported (Disadvantage Affects HIV Futures) how much of a difference support to end people's social disadvantage makes to whether people live well with HIV, or fall ill and die early.
This multinational study showed that social disadvantage - poverty, class, gender, ethnicity - make a critical difference to how long and healthily people live with HIV. People nearer the bottom of the heap – because of low income, poverty and social disadvantages - get ill much sooner, and die much younger.
That’s why spending on HIV social care matters. It makes a clear difference in life and death.
Here’s what Deborah Jack wrote and told all the Social Services directors :
Dear Director
The importance of social care for people with HIV
Our chair, Dame Denise Platt, has asked me to write to you, in your capacity as director of adult social services, to highlight the vital importance of continuing to fund social care services for people living with HIV over the next year.
As you will know, the Aids Support Grant, which funded social care for people with HIV, is now part of councils' overall formula grant. However, AIDS support remains an identifiable allocation specifically calculated to enable you to meet the needs of people with HIV in your area. I am sure you will be aware how much your council has been allocated for 2011-12, We firmly believe that spending this allocation on services that meet the specific needs of people living with HIV will deliver value for money and be a cost-effective investment in the long term.
Social care for people with HIV provides a lifeline for many vulnerable people, enabling them to retain their independence and have as normal as possible life. The government has clearly identified this as a primary aim and has acknowledged the continuing need for HIV social care and the necessity to protect these services through the continued existence of a specific and distinct amount of money with its own allocation formula.
Investing in HIV social care services has long-term benefits both in terms of the council's finances, but also for the health of your local population. Good-quality social care is an essential part of keeping people well and avoiding expensive hospital in-patient care and more complex and costly community support. The closer liaison between yourselves and the local NHS as we go forwards only goes to further increase the benefits of the continued funding of HIV social care.
A reduction in HIV social care services will also have public health implications which, with the council's forthcoming public health role, should be taken into consideration when determining funding now. Research shows that when people with HIV are suffering from depression and other forms of psychological distress they are less likely to adhere to their HIV treatment. Non-adherence not only impacts on the individual's own health but also on the health of others, as they become more infectious and therefore there is a greater risk they will pass the virus on, creating further demands for local health and social care services.
HIV social care provides a wide range of services including counselling, peer support, support for carers, respite care and support for children and young people affected by HIV. Many of these services are provided by small community-based voluntary organisations who deliver value above and beyond the direct cost of the services. As well as delivering support these organisations often provide a voice for people living with HIV at a local level, but a reduction in short-term funding for HIV social care services by the council may well threaten their future viability.
I hope that the issues I have highlighted above will serve to convince you of the importance of using the money allocated to 'HIV/AIDS support' within the formula grant to continue to fund essential social care support for people living with HIV. If you would like to discuss any of these matters further please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours sincerely,
Deborah Jack
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