Guidance: Social work: essential to integration

Guidance: Social work: essential to integration The document should be used to support and inform local and regional health and social care integration initiatives. It explains:

• the critical contribution that social workers make to integrated services
• how social work is essential to the whole system
• the necessity of support to ensure integration succeeds in providing the services people need

It also includes ‘top tips’ for directors of adult social services and for principal social workers to assist in progressing the integration agenda.

It was developed in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Principal Social Workers’ Network and the Department of Health.

Public health working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector: new opportunities and sustainable change

Public health working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector: new opportunities and sustainable change The case studies in this report show how public health and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) are working together to make a real difference to people's health and wellbeing. The case studies demonstrate how harnessing the skills, enthusiasm and expertise of VCSE organisations and volunteers can help to improve population health and reduce health inequalities. Local Government Association

Charities' plea over Personal Independence Payments

Charities' plea over Personal Independence Payments The chief executives of more than 30 charities have written to ministers urging them not to restrict access to a disability benefit.

The rules around Personal Independence Payments, which help with the extra costs of a long-term health condition or disability, will change on Thursday.

The charities claim people will be left without vital financial support.

Ministers said they were forced to act after two court judgements made the benefit more generous.

The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) said about 160,000 recipients of Personal Independence Payments would be affected if the changes go ahead. BBC News

See also:

• DWP 'tells disability benefits assessors to discriminate against people with mental health conditions' The Independent

Superbug drug launched to fight growing threat of antibiotic resistance

Superbug drug launched to fight growing threat of antibiotic resistance A new antibiotic designed to fight drug-resistant ‘superbugs’ has become available to patients in the UK.

Doctors are “running out of options” for treating common infections caused by bacteria which mutate to resist regular antibiotics, said microbiologist Matthew Dryden.

“Resistance is increasing, almost exponentially. It's a problem facing every emergency department in this country,” he told The Independent.

But innovative new drugs like Zavicefta, which combines a traditional antibiotic in the same class as penicillin with a brand new drug that attacks resistance mechanisms, are being introduced to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

If we hide our mental health issues, we make it easier for society to ignore us

If we hide our mental health issues, we make it easier for society to ignore us People with mental health issues are being expected to “prove it” as never before. Whether, as individuals, being assessed for disability benefits or, collectively, campaigning for services and adequate welfare provision, the pressure to demonstrate genuine need, to prove that one is “really disabled”, to quote the Tory MP George Freeman, is greater than ever. Continue reading... The Guardian

Public sector workers first to face cut in real pay, says thinktank

Public sector workers first to face cut in real pay, says thinktank Public sector workers have become the first group to suffer a cut in real wages since the recovery of 2014 as forecasters predicted that the rest of the working population would follow suit later this year.

The Resolution Foundation said the situation for 5.4 million public sector workersis expected to worsen over the rest of the decade as pay restraint and high inflation eat into their take-home pay and living standards.

The independent thinktank forecast that median real pay for the average public sector worker would fall below 2004-05 levels by the end of the current parliament in 2020.

UK social care sector in crisis due to staff hortages

On current trends, the average pay of public sector workers will be £1,700 lower in 2020 than its peak in 2010, it said. Continue reading... The Guardian

'Lots of nurses have already left': EU workers head for exit

'Lots of nurses have already left': EU workers head for exit How is the prospect of Brexit affecting different sectors? We asked you whether many EU workers were leaving or had plans to leave. Here are your stories

Since news of the UK’s looming departure from the European Union hit, lots of industries have spoken out about fears of losing European workers. On Monday academics from Oxford University said staff would go if they were not reassured about their future. It comes amid news that EU citizens working in the NHS are thinking of leaving in the next five years.

We asked you about how the loss of European workers may affect, or is already affecting, your sector. We heard from a variety of people, including professors and doctors, who expressed concern that workers are already leaving. Here are a selection of your stories.

European people working for the NHS feel utterly disappointed and disillusioned.

Since then I’ve been taking fewer UK clients knowing I will leave. I just feel sadly unwelcome now.Continue reading... The Guardian

Mental health hospital declared unsafe in damning report

Mental health hospital declared unsafe in damning report Britain's leading private rehab hospital The Priory has been declared unsafe in a damning inspection report.

Patients on suicide watch are not properly monitored and there are not enough staff to provide safe care, the Care Quality Commission said.

Children and teenagers with eating disorders are at particular risk, with 95 incidents recorded among this group in the last six months alone, at least some of them during understaffed shifts, inspectors reported.

The private facility in south west London was ordered to make urgent improvements, with inspectors rating the safety of care as 'inadequate' - the lowest possible ranking.

Overall, the hospital was given a grade of 'requires improvement'. The Daily Mail

Australia to ban children who have not been vaccinated from childcare centres

Australia to ban children who have not been vaccinated from childcare centres Australia plans to ban children who have not been vaccinated from attending preschools and childcare centres following concerns about the influence of the so-called “anti-vax movement”.

In a move that received strong backing from medical experts, Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, said he will push for all states and territories to adopt “no jab, no play” laws.

The laws, which have been adopted in recent years in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, ban the enrollment of unvaccinated children in childcare facilities unless they have a medical exemption. The Daily Telegraph