Labour will call time on clock-watch care

Liz Kendall said:

"Care workers do an incredibly important job, looking after our loved ones when they are at their most vulnerable. Yet thousands are not even paid the minimum wage, let alone a living wage.

"The news that half of all providers inspected by HMRC have failed to pay ...

New analysis published today by Labour shows that the equivalent of 7.5 million patients think their GP surgery opening hours are inconvenient. 

The findings reveal that the percentage of people who find the hours inconvenient is generally higher for people living in the South East, East of England and ...

David Cameron is not being straight with elderly people and their families about the Government's plans for social care, Labour said today. A new analysis shows the proposals in the Queens Speech which come into force in 2016:
 
1. Won't stop people from having to sell their homes ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to today’s statement on the Care Bill, said:

“Labour set up the review of adult social care legislation which led to this Bill and we will work hard to make sure older and disabled people and ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the Care Quality Commission’s ‘Dignity and Nutrition Inspection Programme’ findings, said:
 
“It is completely unacceptable for any older person in a hospital or care home not to get help with eating, drinking or going to ...

Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to George Osborne's comments on a cap on social care costs, said:

"George Osborne is still failing older people and their families. Today's minor adjustments to the Government's plan will still leave far too many ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the House of Lords report "Ready for Ageing?", said:

“1 in 4 babies born today are set to live to 100 years old.

“Our ageing population has profound implications for government, public services, businesses and society ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to the Care Quality Commission’s Update Report on dementia care failings, said: 

“Too many older people with dementia are ending up in hospital when they could be getting care and support at home or in ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on today's report from the Care Quality Commission that a quarter of home care services in England are failing to meet quality and safety standards, said:

“This report is a reminder of the desperate daily struggle ...

Labour today reveals that a third of local councils cannot guarantee they will have a fully functioning local Healthwatch in place by April 1st

Local Healthwatch are new bodies, created under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which are supposed to give patients and the public a stronger voice ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to a report from disability charities claiming there is a funding gap in social care support, said:
 
“This devastating report is absolutely right to say people too often think about the crisis in social care as affecting ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to today's reports of Jeremy Hunt's comments on dementia, said:

"The Government is in complete denial about the impact their cuts to social care are having on the ground. David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt must ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, speaking in the House of Commons in response to the Government’s Commons statement on the grant to help thalidomide survivors, said:   

"Thalidomide survivors waited far too long for governments over many years to address the appalling physical and emotional difficulties they ...

Funding for cancer networks slashed by a quarter, Labour survey finds 

NHS Check 5: Broken promises on clinical networks 

A survey of all Cancer, Heart and Stroke Networks in England, published today by Labour, reveals deep budget and staffing cuts. 

Despite Ministers’ repeated promises that funding for these vital groups ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to today's survey from Age UK and the College of Social Work, said:

"These findings from social workers on the frontline of Britain's care system make for very worrying reading.

"More and more older ...

Liz Kendall calls for robust proposals from government and warns that funding has reached "breaking point" 

Labour's shadow healthminister Liz Kendall MP said today:

The collapse of Southern Cross caused huge concern for residents and their families and the Government is right to say action should be taken to ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on the Patients Association’s ‘Patient Stories’report, said:
 
"This report reveals some appalling examples of vulnerable patients being denied basic standards of care that we would all expect for our families and loved ones. Such treatment ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the launch of the Dementia Friends scheme, said:

“This is a good initiative which could help increase understanding about dementia and how it affects people's daily lives.

“But the Government has failed to understand that ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to today's reports of cuts to cancer networks, said:

"Ministers promised they would protect cancer networks and that funding was guaranteed.

"Yet we now know these vital groups of expert clinicians, who have helped drive ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the Nuffield Trust's report on wide variation in end of life care, said:

"At the end of someone’s life, care should be available in the place of their choosing. Yet the postcode lottery running ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Health Minister, in response to expert warnings on cuts to clinical networks in today's Guardian, said:

“Cancer, stroke and heart networks have played a crucial role in improving patient care, helping to save more lives and reduce disabilities.

“Since June, Labour has been ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to comments made by former Care Minister Paul Burstow on long term care funding, said:

“Labour has been warning for months that the Government is kicking long-term care funding into the long grass.

“This issue has ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said following David Cameron's comments about cancer on LBC today:

"David Cameron told listeners that he's increased NHS spending but the truth is he's cut the budget in each of the last two years.

"The ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on the Winterbourne View review report, said:

"There are extremely important lessons that must be learnt from this terrible case.

"The review into Winterbourne View has revealed appalling and unacceptable failings in the company Castlebeck, in the ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the UK Home Care Association’s report “Care is not a commodity”, said:

"This alarming report provides yet more evidence that our care system is in crisis, and needs urgent reform.

“15-minute home visits are completely ...

The Government is planning sweeping cuts to the funding of England’s 28 Cancer Networks, which play a vital role in improving the quality of care for cancer patients.

This was revealed today, in a Parliamentary debate on cancer care.

In response to a question from Liz Kendall MP, Labour ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to a budget survey conducted by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) published today, said:

"The results of the ADASS survey provide yet more evidence that our care system is in crisis and has ...

98% of residential home care providers do not believe they are paid enough by local councils to be able to meet public expectations of quality, a new survey by Labour has found.

92% say that pressure on residential care providers because of low council fees is creating a two-tier market ...

Ensuring a better, fairer system for social care - Liz Kendall MP speech to National Care Forum Annual Conference

- CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY -

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, at the National Care Forum Annual Conference today, said:

The National Care Forum plays an absolutely critical ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Care Minister, said on Mencap's survey, "Stuck at home: the impact of day service cuts on people with a learning disability":

"Mencap's survey provides yet more evidence that our care system is in crisis and has now reached breaking point.
 
"Day services ...

A new survey of local authorities, published today by Labour, reveals big increases and wide variations in council charges for home care services, which help frail and vulnerable older and disabled people get up, washed, dressed and fed.
 
The survey found:

• The average charge for an hour of home care ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said in response to the Queen's Speech:

"David Cameron and Nick Clegg made a clear promise they would legislate on social care.

"But today we see them only committing to publish draft legislation on reform of ...

Responding to the Care and Support Alliance letter on the crisis in social care, Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People said:

“The Government is completely out of touch with the scale or urgency of the crisis in care.

“They refuse to acknowledge that their ...

New figures from the Department of Health show there has been a big increase in delayed discharges from hospitals, with the number of delayed days up more than 10% in the last month alone, and a staggering 29% over the last 19 months.

The figures, released Friday, show there were ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the letter from local government leaders on social care funding, said:

"The Local Government Association is absolutely right to say we cannot afford to delay vital decisions about how we fund a decent system of care ...

Twenty residential care providers are today attending a summit hosted by Labour in Westminster, to discuss the growing crisis in England’s residential care system.
 
Organisations attending the summit include small and large charity, not-for-profit and private residential care providers, as well as the national representative bodies – the National Care ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, speaking ahead of David Cameron's speech on dementia, said:

"The crisis in dementia cannot be addressed without tackling the crisis in care. More than £1 billion has been cut from local council budgets for older people's ...

On Tuesday 6th March, the Care and Support Alliance will be organising a mass lobby of Parliament. Over 1000 campaigners from charities and organisations that work with older and disabled people are expected to attend.
 
Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, who will be meeting campaigners ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, welcoming the draft report of the Commission on Dignity in Care for Older People, said:
 
“Ensuring older people are treated with dignity and respect must be a top priority for the NHS and local council services - on every ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said in response to AgeUK's report on increasing costs for self funders in residential care:

"Older people who pay for residential care themselves are facing huge increases in care home charges, because the Government's cuts are ...

--Check against delivery--

Thank you for inviting me to give this speech about reforming support and care for older people.


I want to begin by paying tribute to IPPR’s work.


From the Commission on Social Justice in the mid 1990s, to your work on globalisation and climate change, on ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to the Health Select Committee Report on Social Care, said:

"Today’s report is clear that we need far more closely integrated health and social care services to improve care for older people and deliver better value ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said in response to Age UK's 'Care in Crisis 2012' report:

"This report provides yet more evidence that there is a growing crisis in care for older people.

"Despite the Government's claims, services are being cut ...

A new survey of care provided by local councils, published today by Labour, reveals shocking increases and wide disparities in charges for services for vulnerable elderly and disabled people.

Councils are increasing charges for:
- home care: the average hourly charge is now £13.49, a rise of 6% since 2009 ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on the National Audit of Dementia, said:

“One million people will be living with dementia by 2021 but the Tory-led Government has so far failed to give dementia care the priority it deserves.

“None of the 60 ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, responding to Government plans to allow older people and their families to rate care homes and providers online, said:

"Older people and their families are desperate for more information about the care that’s available, especially from a ...

New figures show the number of delayed discharges from hospital has increased by 16% in the last 15 months, at a total bill of almost quarter of a billion pounds.

Department of Health figures for October show there are now more than 64,000 days of delayed discharges every month ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on today's report from the Patients Association, said:

"This report reveals yet more examples of vulnerable patients being denied basic standards of care that we would all expect for our elderly relatives. Such appalling treatment is ...

Liz Kendall MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, in response to a report from the Care Quality Commission on hospital care of elderly patients, said:

“This is a very important report from the Care Quality Commission. Everyone who works for the NHS should read and reflect ...