Social care improves in Liverpool

ADULT social care in Liverpool is becoming excellent, according to the latest inspection from a government watchdog.  For the 1st time ever, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has graded the city as ‘excellent’ in 4 out of the 9 judgement areas, with every other area classed as ‘good’.

It says the last year has been one of “significant improvement, resulting in a better experience for people using services.” On a scale of 0 to 3, it has graded Liverpool overall as a strong performing ‘2 star’ council with ‘promising’ prospects for improvement.  The council scored top marks for:

Improved quality of life – This includes reducing admissions to hospital and long term care; helping more people live at home by using Telecare technology to keep them safe; the support provided for carers, and providing equipment and minor adaptations

Making a positive contribution – By engaging and including people in the planning, design and delivery of service, targeting groups that are hard to reach and commissioning services based upon priorities

Freedom from discrimination and harassment – By making sure people get equal access to care, providing culturally specific services and publishing a disability equality scheme

There is also praise for the leadership of the service, which is graded as excellent and described as “strong and effective.”

The report notes the success of work to reduce health inequalities such as smoking cessation programmes, the introduction of more meaningful leisure activities and social inclusion, as well as the development of more services for people with dementia.

Councillor Ron Gould, Liverpool’s executive member for health, care and safeguarding, said:- “I am pleased with this report, which shows we are on track and delivering top quality services which meet the needs of the local population.  We are providing care to more people than we have ever done before, and, crucially, it is of a higher standard than ever before.  The strong co-operation with our partners in the Primary Care Trust is enabling us to commission joint services which meet the needs of local people and avoids duplication and confusion.  We are now in a strong position to implement the government’s personalised care agenda which will give people far more control and choice over the services they receive.”

The CSCI report also highlights a number of areas to develop, such as further implementation of a single assessment process and improving employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues.

One of the thousands of people who receive social care support is 70 year old Rhona Asbury, who has multiple sclerosis and lives with her husband Derek in Allerton.  She receives a twice daily service from Home Carers Limited to help her get up and about in the morning, and then get ready for bed at night.

Rhone said:- “My carer Melissa comes every morning and helps me to have a shower and get dressed, and has made my life an awful lot easier. 

We get on extremely well and she recognises when I am not feeling well nor need more assistance than usual.  It has been a really good service and relieves my husband of the stress because he is older than me, and just isn’t able to help me as much as he used to. 

It took me a few months to accept that I needed assistance, but it is one of the best things that I have ever done. Melissa’s kind and caring nature really helps make all the difference.”

 ‘5-minute-memory’ costs Brits £1.6 billion

THE pressure of modern life has halved our attention span in a decade, causing a surge in domestic accidents.

A new behavioural study, commissioned by Lloyds TSB Insurance, reveals that the average attention span is now just 5 minutes and 7 seconds, compared to more than 12 minutes a decade ago.

The study put 1,000 people through a series of tests to judge their awareness and ability to recall everyday events.

The over-50s outperform younger groups, suggesting that impaired attention is not age-related but caused by external factors such as lifestyle and workload.  This was confirmed by participants, who cite stress (18%) and ‘decision overload’ (17%) as the main reasons for poor short-term memory and flagging attention span.

The increasing attention deficit has serious consequences, according to psychologists, because it is one of the main causes of ‘unforced’ accidents in the home.

More than £1.6 billion worth of damage was caused this year due to incidents ranging from lost door keys to burnt-out pans and the insurer estimates that nearly a million baths have been left to overflow in 20081, contributing to more than 37,000 water-related claims for Lloyds TSB Insurance.

Using a series of psychometric measures, psychologists were also able to pinpoint 7.55am as the point in the day when one of these incidents is most likely to occur, coinciding with getting ready for work and the rush of the school run.

This collective memory failure isn’t just causing costly domestic accidents but also has some bizarre consequences in our everyday lives. More than 11 million people (25%) admit that they have momentarily forgotten the name of a close friend or relative, and 3 million (7%) have even failed to recall their own birthday.

David Moxon, the Social Psychologist who led the study said:- “More than ever, research is highlighting a trend in reduced attention and concentration spans, and as our experiment suggests, the younger generation appear to be the worst afflicted.

Lack of attention has a serious impact on task performance and increases the risk of accidents.”

Paula Whiskerd, Senior Marketing Manager at Lloyds TSB Insurance, which commissioned the study said:- “We’re facing longer hours and more pressure at work than ever before, and it’s having severe consequences on our home lives.