The BBC’s Health Correspondent, Nick Triggle, reports on plans to ease the pressure on hospitals by providing vulnerable patients with better support in the community. Social care workers and NHS staff will be available seven days a week when the new scheme comes into play. It is part of the government’s strategy to combine the NHS and council-run social care systems: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29823763

This guide, Commissioning independent advocacy, produced by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), is aimed at commissioners charged with meeting the new duties to provide advocacy under the #CareAct2014. It will help commissioning officers in local authorities think through their new duties and understand what they are required to do to comply with the new requirements of the Act.

http://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/advocacy-services/commissioning-independent-advocacy/

Skills for Care and the National Skills Academy for Social Care, in partnership with The College of Social Work, have produced free learning materials for the adult social care workforce in preparation for the changes required by the Care Act 2014: http://goo.gl/2pGU9C

Embrace-learning and Carers UK have also produced a course about the #careact, entitled The Care Act: Unpacked. For more information, please click here: http://goo.gl/njSiat

James Gallagher, the BBC's Health Editor reports that dementia is the leading cause of death for women: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29815518

Apparently flavanols derived from cocoa beans can enhance cognitive function in middle aged people.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2217

Far more people in their 30's and 40's are living with early stage dementia than had previously been thought. Now that doctors are to receive a £50 bonus for each diagnosis, perhaps earlier interventions can be made to help delay progression.

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-2810200/It-hits-thousands-30s-40s-50s-written-menopause-stress-depression-s-not-just-old-risk-dementia.html

Embrace-learning has partnered with Carers UK to provide a full e-learning Care Act training course designed for frontline practitioners and carers.

The Care Act Unpacked can be delivered at any pace and scale required and is suitable for all social care employers.

To view a free demo, please click here: http://goo.gl/WqICKX

To find out more about the course, please click here: http://goo.gl/njSiat

Researchers at Dundee University, led by Emanuele Trucco, are to carry out a three-year study to find out whether eye tests can reveal the early warning signs of Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-29758311

A report from the U.S. about Berna Huebner and her mother Hilda, who has Alzheimer’s. “She had been uncommunicative for some time, looked at her daughter and had an astonishing reply: ‘Yes, I remember better when I paint’.” 

http://ireneonthescene.weebly.com/blog/october-26th-2014

Later stage dementia: Bruce and Jan's story

Alzheimer’s Society: “During the later stages of dementia most people will become increasingly frail due to the progression of the illness. They will also gradually become dependent on others for all of their care. Knowing what to expect can help everyone to prepare. Watch Bruce give a brave and moving account of his experience caring for his wife, Jan.”

(Some people might find parts of this film upsetting.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chgshB6LCyc

Sophie Borland reports on the attitudes people still have about dementia and compares the situation to the stigma that surrounded HIV and Aids in the 1980s.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2808888/Thousands-ashamed-tell-family-doctors-dementia-Report-compares-stigma-HIV-1980s.html

If you are interested in receiving online training about caring for people with dementia, you can find out about our specialist e-learning course by clicking here.
http://www.embrace-learning.co.uk/Website/Pages/Courses/Course_Information.php?course_id=90

We have a Tumblr blog; a roundup of the week’s news and announcements relating to the health and social care sector:

http://goo.gl/AFvpKZ.

You can follow us on Twitter. Join in discussions, have your say, read the latest news, and find out more about our courses and bespoke services:

https://twitter.com/embracelearnuk

The BBC's Health Editor, Hugh Pym, on the Five Year Forward View. He argues that the most radical proposals are:

- the stripping of out-patient care away from hospitals and into GP practices/clinics.

- the employment of consultants and senior nurses at GP practices

- small hospitals to share administration/HR staff

- hospitals to establish their own GP practices

- developing Accountable Care Organisations (likely from within existing NHS trusts) with

  over-reaching responsibility for local care.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29731646

Two British academics have produced a guide to 'sensory rooms' designed for people with dementia. The main advantages of these rooms are:

- enhanced comfort and well-being

- the relief of stress and pain

- maximising a person's potential to focus

All the above help toward improving communication and memory.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-10-highlights-ways-boost-multi-sensory-environments.html

The first two independent hospitals are in the process of inspection by the commission. Spire Southampton in Hampshire, and London Welbeck are the two in question.

The inspectors will require the same information on performance as it receives from NHS hospitals.

Where failures in care are identified, centres will be required to put in place a plan of improvement. This would be likely to involve further staff training. 

http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/first-two-independent-hospitals-inspected-under-new-approach

A Health think tank has published a report on the future of the NHS. Entitled NHS Forward View, it has a twin focus on the need for more funding and radical reorganisation.

A range of measures are suggested, all with the aim of curbing hospital admissions, as well as dealing with the pressure of an ageing population.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29726934

GPs to be paid £55 cash bonus for diagnosing patients with dementia

“Health chiefs say they have identified a gap of 90,000 people who could benefit from a quicker diagnosis in plans costing an additional £5 million.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/gps-to-be-paid-50-cash-bonus-for-diagnosing-patients-with-dementia-9809608.html

Whilst the Care Act is introducing laudable provisions such as the duty of candour and the fit and proper persons test for directors, it is also eradicating a number of well established principles. We are set to lose the following obligations on health care providers:

- informing residents of complaints procedures

- offering a choice of food

- a requirement to plan for and to have in place emergency procedures

This is all done in the name of 'light-touch' regulation. Unnecessary bureaucracy is indeed a costly burden, but these changes would suggest a degrading of the standards in care.  

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/21/dilute-care-home-rules-law-abuse

The only Welsh Professor of Geriatrics, Anthony Bayer, has told the BBC's Week In Week Out programme that the NHS in Wales is being ground to a halt due to dementia patients. He argues that it is a lack of community resources that is the root of the problem.

The situation is made worse by the huge number of sufferers who have yet to receive a formal diagnosis. It is essential, he says, that better care and support packages are put in place so that people with dementia can remain in their homes as long as possible.

An essential component in such support packages must be to ensure that carers understand better how to deliver high quality care. An understanding of dementia is fundamental to this.

Embrace e-learning provide a variety of cost-effective, high quality courses tailored specifically to those who care for people with dementia.

If you are interested in receiving online training about caring for people with dementia, you can find out about our specialist e-learning course by clicking here or call us today on 0161 928 9987.

At Embrace-learning, our team of educationalists, designers and software developers are passionate about what they do. Our strength lies in how we work to provide our clients with e-learning that is cost-efficient, engaging and effective.

To join us online, visit us at http://www.embrace-learning.co.uk and follow the links below to join our discussions:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/embrace.elearning

Tumblr: http://embrace-learning-blog.tumblr.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/embracelearnuk

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/embrace-learning/52/b65/184

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113314450272872501672/posts

The only Welsh Professor of Geriatrics, Anthony Bayer, has told the BBC's Week In Week Out programme that the NHS in Wales is being ground to a halt due to dementia patients. He argues that it is a lack of community resources that is the root of the problem.

The situation is made worse by the huge number of sufferers who have yet to receive a formal diagnosis. It is essential, he says, that better care and support packages are put in place so that people with dementia can remain in their homes as long as possible.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2212

Nick Temple, Business and Enterprise Director at Social Enterprise UK, asks how social enterprises can help deliver the future of health and social care. Social enterprises and charities have a long history of helping to influence support and deliver services across health and social care, including by doing so in partnership.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/oct/21/social-enterprises-future-health-social-care

Carol Jagger of the Independent discusses the consequences of increased life expectancy: “How we care for the older people in our society needs a radical rethink.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/we-need-a-completely-new-approach-to-caring-for-older-people-9806124.html

You can find out about our e-learning course, Caring for People with Dementia here: http://goo.gl/QQlq41 or by giving us a call on 0161 928 9987.

It is suitable for anyone currently involved in caring for someone with dementia, whether within the family or as a professional; either at home or as part of a team in a residential facility.

The Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, Jeremy Hughes, said:

“It is excellent leadership that all the Cabinet will be joining David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Jeremy Hunt in becoming Dementia Friends. They join Ed Milliband and many other Parliamentarians ...”

http://www.careroadshows.co.uk/m-news/view/cabinet-to-become-%E2%80%98dementia-friends%E2%80%99%284187%29.htm

In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, The British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) has produced two Easy Read factsheets about dementia for people with learning disabilities. They explained that they “... believe it is important that people with a learning disability have access to up to date and accessible information about dementia given that most people know someone with the condition ...”

http://www.bild.org.uk/information/ageingwell/dementiafactsheets/

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, led by Rudolph E. Tanzi, have discovered a new method of studying Alzheimer’s disease and searching for drugs to treat it. They have succeeded in creating ‘Alzheimer’s in a Dish’ — a petri dish with human brain cells that develop the telltale structures of Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/science/researchers-replicate-alzheimers-brain-cells-in-a-petri-dish.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

Improving Quality Handbooks produced by the NHS. They aim to provide a combination of guidance, tools and resources that support programme and project delivery from beginning to end in core areas of knowledge management.

http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/capacity-capability/knowledge-and-intelligence/iq-handbooks.aspx

You can find out about our range of courses to help carers in their everyday work, and with their own well-being, by clicking on the link below. For example, our e-learning course About Me: Building Resilience for Caring was developed and produced in conjunction with Carers UK: http://goo.gl/FmFKy6

At 19.30 this evening, October 13th, on Inside Out North West, Sally Magnusson investigates new concerns about poor standards of care for people with dementia, while Dianne Oxberry reveals how a growing number of younger people living with dementia are being misdiagnosed with depression or stress.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lcs03

Our e-learning course Compassion and Dignity in Care is designed to help carers to carry out everyday tasks compassionately and in ways that protect and promote the dignity of the people they support. To find out more, please follow this link: http://goo.gl/UQTmT5

The Telegraph’s Social Affairs Editor, John Bingham, also explores the depressing news about the future of dementia care. “Every dementia sufferer in England can expect to receive unacceptably poor standards of care in hospitals or care homes.” The findings reveal, among other shortfalls, the lack of quality training in the sector.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/11157549/Dementia-sufferers-will-experience-poor-care.html

You can find out about our e-learning course, Caring for People with Dementia here: http://goo.gl/QQlq41 or by giving us a call on 0161 928 9987.

It is suitable for anyone currently involved in caring for someone with dementia, whether within the family or as a professional; either at home or as part of a team in a residential facility.

Ben Spencer, Science Reporter for the Daily Mail, reveals the damning findings of a CQC review: nine in ten care homes and hospitals fail patients. The nationwide review of care homes uncovered widespread neglect, lack of care and a lack of quality training.

http://goo.gl/eHIL3p

Carers from a national agency were asked to provide tips to help others who support people with dementia. Here are ten of them, based on their hands-on long-term experiences.

http://www.myageingparent.com/top-ten-tips-help-relatives-dementia/

Our e-learning course Compassion and Dignity in Care is designed to help carers to carry out everyday tasks compassionately and in ways that protect and promote the dignity of the people they support. To find out more, please follow this link: http://goo.gl/UQTmT5

Paula Span (author of “When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions.”) discusses the pros and cons of placing video cameras in care homes with Cindy King: http://goo.gl/QIOh5q

Mike Padgham, Chair of the Independent Care Group, stresses that social care must be a general election issue next May. He wants to hear politicians set out real pledges rather than churning out endless reports and statistics, and pointing to commissions.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/oct/09/social-care-general-election-political-parties

Care, Work, Sleep, Repeat - a very moving programme about young people who care for parents or relatives - is available on iPlayer now. David Matthews, who looks after his Mum, is one of the carers featured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kfgct

Are you ready for the new Care Act?

Carers UK and Embrace-learning have joined forces to develop this key learning resource on The Care Act. With three easy-to-follow study units you will learn about the changes to practice that will happen when the new Care Act comes into force in April 2015.

http://www.embrace-learning.com/the_care_act_2014_e-learning.php

We work with you to design, develop, host and deliver your own online training course(s). Our approach is designed to bring you a highly cost-effective return on your investment in e-learning.

http://www.embrace-learning.co.uk/Website/Pages/Guest/bespoke.php

Respondents ignorant to Simon Stevens’ role and a third believe he has had a negative impact on health service.

http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2014/oct/09/nhs-health-service-simon-stevens-survey

Andrea Sutcliffe, the Care Quality Commission's Chief Inspector of adult social care, has told the BBC that standards in care homes are "not good enough" and in too many cases "awful".

The commission is trying to drive up standards (and its own reputation) by introducing a new rating system, similar to the OFSTED model. Care homes will be ranked as either:

- outstanding

- good

- requiring improvement, or

- inadequate.

A necessary first step towards attaining a high standard is to ensure that ALL staff are working competently and efficiently. Training levels should be reassessed and, where necessary, staff should be given good quality, cost-effective training. #elearning #embracelearning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29547598

Click below to find out about our Carers UK e-learning Training Pack, which includes 4 course titles:

About me: building resilience for caring

Carer Awareness: supporting frontline practice

Supporting Carers at Work: a line managers' guide, and

The Care Act Unpacked: frontline support for carers.

http://www.embrace-learning.co.uk/Website/Pages/Guest/subscription_offer.php

Following the recent announcement about the use of surveillance cameras in care homes, Stephen Burke asks: “ Why is the CQC doing this? Isn’t it a bit like bolting the stable door well and truly after the horse has fled? Surely the regulator should be about raising the bar for the quality of care and exposing, and then tackling, poor care where it exists.”

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/oct/08/cctv-care-homes-secret-cameras-improve-care

We round up daily news, reports, and announcements relating to health and social care on our Tumblr blog. Click http://embrace-learning-blog.tumblr.com to follow us and post your comments!

The University of Huddersfield have invited the Az2B theatre company to perform the highly acclaimed play "Grandma Remember Me". This is part of the University's initiative to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease.

http://goo.gl/09OSxs

You can find out about our e-learning course, Caring for People with Dementia here: http://goo.gl/uIg041 or by giving us a call on 0161 928 9987.

Nobel prize winning scientists have discovered spatial awareness brain cells that are the first to be degraded by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

Explaining how these cells work, and how they malfunction, will be a significant step towards developing effective treatments and even possible cures for these conditions. A work in progress.

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014-10/07/content_18701006.htm