News bits
In the news: digital NHS finds care home places faster and opens patient online access to X-rays and scan; initiatives see more GP appointments available; TSB signs up to fraud refund charter; equity release debated; care home news; plans for living longer at home with dementia.
Care home place availability
This sounds like great news, if it works. The NHS in England is rolling out a tool to care homes, councils and hospitals to enable social services staff to check available care homes online. The tool allows homes to update availability on any device. This should save hours of phoning around looking for beds, not to mention freeing up hospital space as people are released more quickly into homes.
Your pension
People who continue to work past state pension age, but fail to defer their state pension payments, risk having their state pension taxed.
Fraud
In a huge step forward for an industry that has no consistent approach to fraud, the TSB has become the first bank to sign up to the ‘fraud refund guarantee’, pledging to refund customers who fall victim to any type of fraud.
Meanwhile a small study has suggested that a low level of scam awareness could be an indication of a higher risk of Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment.
Equity release
Equity release schemes are growing in popularity as a way of releasing the value in a home to deliver a regular monthly income. Which? explains the basics, but The Guardian publishes a cautionary tale about how it can all go wrong after death. And a survey suggests that the ‘over 55s’ are often confused about the terms and conditions around equity release. The UK Care Guide has a useful equity release calculator.
Freeing up GP appointments
A pilot scheme encouraging GP practices to explore innovative ways to cut bureaucracy to make more appointments available faster has been deemed a success. NHS England now wants to roll the scheme out to three-quarters of practices by 2022.
Easier access to imaging results in the NHS
Hospitals across England have started providing patients with online images relating to x-rays, ultrasound, CT and MRI scans, helping those wanting to share their images with physicians for second opinions or specialist treatment.
Outstanding rating for in-home care provider
The Good Care Group, which provides care at home, has received an outstanding rating across all categories from the regulator in England, the Care Quality Commission. Owned by Sodexho, the group provides services across England and Scotland.
At-home care for Central Scotland
A new in-home care service for Central Scotland has been launched by two entrepreneurs who include consulting for global charities in their career histories.
Living at home longer with dementia
The Alzheimer’s Society is part-funding a new £20 million research facility, which will focus on developing technologies to create dementia-friendly homes
Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay
