100 Car Insurance Dodgers Caught Thanks to Staffordshire’s Conservative PCC
Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Archive for June 15th, 2013
Five-Year Plan Launched to Transform Lives of Staffordshire’s Residents
Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Cllr Robbie Marshall, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing
An ambitious five-year plan was officially launched this week (Thursday) by the Conservative controlled County Council to help transform the lives of people who live in Staffordshire.
The “Living Well in Staffordshire” strategy aims to focus on prevention, better care in the community, equal access to quality healthcare and addressing the wider factors, which impact on health.
Cllr Robbie Marshall, Joint Chair of Staffordshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board and Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said the plan would result in a radical overhaul of how care is delivered.
Robbie said, “Our plan sets out how we want to see health and social care delivered in the county between now and 2018. For far too long, we have prioritised spending around people once they need treatment in hospitals, when it would make much better sense to invest in preventing illness in the first place. Helping people to make the right choice to lead healthier lives is essential.
“Wellbeing is influenced by a wide range of factors such as education, jobs, experience of crime and while Staffordshire is “healthier” than many other areas, this plan will help to reduce any inequalities that exist and provide people with appropriate quality care at every stage of their lives.”
The plan covers five key areas from birth to supporting residents continue to live an independent life for as long as possible in their twilight years. This include supporting families to be active and eat well, reducing harm from avoidable causes such as alcohol, offering tailored support to help people live independently in the community and investment in dementia care.
Staffordshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board was set up in April 2013, and brings together partners across the public sector including county borough and district councils, clinical commissioning groups, public health, NHS and Healthwatch – to represent the views of patients.
The board meets today to officially launch the strategy and over the next 12 weeks, residents will have the chance to have their say on the plan. Staffordshire has a population of around 850,000 and in the past decade the county has seen a surge in the number of people aged 65 and over.
If current trends continue, the cost of providing social care and NHS services would rise year on year and by 2018 it forecast that an extra £62m a year would be need to meet the social care bill alone.
Cllr Marshall added, “The issue of funding adult social care is a growing national concern and in Staffordshire we have been quick to react to the challenge with the NHS and the county council working together to provide integrated care.
“We want to support people in the community to live independent, fulfilled lives and believe this plan gives us an unprecedented opportunity to radically overhaul how health and social care is delivered and really transform the lives of people in Staffordshire.”
Have Your Say
Residents can also access a summary and full versions of the plan, find out more and share their views about the “Living Well in Staffordshire” plan by visiting www.engagingcommunitiesstaffordshire.co.uk/conversation-staffordshire
Other ways to ‘Have Your Say’ on the Living Well In Staffordshire Five Year Plan include
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ConversationStaffordshire
Twitter https://twitter.com/convostaffs
Conservative Controlled County Council to Invest Extra £3.8m into Care
Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council is set to invest an extra £3.8 million into residential care to provide older people with a quality service at an affordable price.
A report to its next meeting of Cabinet on 19th June sets out proposals for an increase in fees the County Council pays to local residential care homes. If approved by cabinet those fees, which have not changed since 2010-11, will increase by an average of 13.2 per cent in a bid to balance the need to support local businesses with providing a high quality care to those who need it most and value for money for council taxpayers.
The County Council sets out what it usually expects to pay for care home places before each financial year, something called the usual cost. In light of financial challenges across the entire public sector, Staffordshire set the usual price in 2011/12 at the same level as 2010/11. Care providers sought to challenge this and the County Council subsequently agreed to carry out a review of the fees, including consultation with providers.
Robbie Marshall, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing at Staffordshire County Council, said, “It is essential we provide the right care to our most vulnerable residents in Staffordshire and we expect our residential and nursing care home providers to offer quality services to the residents who need our help.
“The County Council has a duty to assess the care needs of local people. If someone needs residential or nursing care but is unable to pay for it, the Council must make arrangements to provide care, in a place of the person’s choice.
“Our review of fees for care homes for our vulnerable people has taken into account all of the relevant care costs faced by care home providers in Staffordshire. But we expect our care homes to offer the best possible quality of service and value for money to local council taxpayers and we will not be afraid to address this in a robust way if they fall short.”
The increase in fees will apply from the start of the current financial year, and if approved by cabinet, will be backdated to the start of April 2013.
People and businesses in Staffordshire should see real benefits from the proposed new consumer rights laws unveiled today, the Conservative controlled County Council’s communities leader has said.
New planning guidance on wind turbine applications, which would ensure public consultation at the earliest possible stage is good for communities and backs Conservative, controlled Staffordshire County Council’s position, the county’s infrastructure leader has said.
