Emily Place, Woking's new respite centre, opens for family breaks
Mr Oliver said: "My wife and I know from personal experience how challenging it can be when a loved one has disabilities and additional needs, and the level of commitment that takes from parents and carers."It's about the right support, in the right place, at the right time – that's absolutely what we're trying to achieve."Sinead Mooney, cabinet member for adult social care, said: "I can see how people coming to use the facility will be very settled and very happy here, and the location is great – you've got facilities right on the doorstep that people can use and access."It's fantastic to see this place up and running."
Jean, whose daughter has used the centre, said she had been able to drop her at Emily Lodge and "not panic"."The life of having a young adult with disabilities – or abilities, whichever way you want to go – is absolutely exhausting, so to have a few hours, a few days, a few nights, is irreplaceable" she said.Places in the centre will be allocated by the authority.
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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Public urged to continue to seek NHS care during five-day doctor strike
The public are being urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during a five-day strike by resident doctors. NHS England said hospitals and local teams have been preparing before the strike, which begins at 7am on Friday, and have plans in place to 'minimise disruption to patient care and ensure life-saving care continues'. Thousands of resident doctors are expected to join the strike, which is the 12th by resident doctors since March 2023. New NHS England boss Sir Jim Mackey has urged hospital leaders to keep routine operations and appointments going if possible and to only cancel if there is a risk to patient safety. The British Medical Association (BMA) has said NHS England's plan to carry on with business as usual poses a risk to patients. During the strike, GP surgeries will open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available for those who need them, NHS England said. It urged the public to use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues. Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: 'There is no doubt this industrial action will take a toll on patients and NHS staff, and it is disappointing it is going ahead. 'While it will mean some appointments won't be able to go ahead as planned, we are doing all we can to limit this, and patients should continue to use NHS services in the usual way. 'The public should dial 999 in an emergency, and otherwise use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP, and patients should attend NHS appointments unless told otherwise.' BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin said: 'It's worrying that NHS England appears intent on telling hospitals to continue providing non-urgent planned care on strike days, despite our warnings that this will leave staffing levels unsafe across the board. 'At best this will leave hospital managers and senior doctors confused over what they should be planning for this week, resulting in last-minute cancellations, and at worst puts patients at risk in both emergency and planned care settings. 'Senior doctors cannot simultaneously cover for striking resident doctors in emergency departments, while also continuing routine work, and NHS England is being irresponsible by suggesting they can do both. 'The priority on strike days must be emergency and urgent care.' Strikes by resident doctors last June led to 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments being rescheduled. Since the end of 2022, almost 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The BMA said on Tuesday that talks with the Government aimed at averting the strike had collapsed over the core issue of pay. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said in a statement: 'We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government. 'We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today. 'Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges. 'While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors' finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting said 'we cannot move on pay after a 28.9% pay rise' but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors' working lives. He said there was an opportunity for the union 'to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors' working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression. 'Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.' He added: 'All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work. 'After a 28.9% pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning. A YouGov poll showed about half (52%) of people in the UK 'somewhat oppose' (20%) or 'strongly oppose' (32%) resident doctors going on strike over pay. A third (34%) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23%) or 'strongly support' (11%) doctor strikes. YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48% opposed the strikes and 39% supported them. Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the decision for strikes to go ahead 'is a crushing blow for patients and for the NHS'. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Disabled could be helped back into work with new right similar to maternity law
People with disabilities could be helped back into work with similar protections as those for women returning from maternity leave, a new report has suggested. A new right to reintegration for workers on sick leave could see firms prevented from dismissing someone unless it is shown the employer has made sufficient efforts at reintegrating the person, the Resolution Foundation think tank said. They said such a right would 'would clarify and strengthen existing legal protections' under the the Equality Act and 'provide a much stronger message to workers about what they are entitled to'. The report warned that the Government risks failing to meet its aim to raise the employment rate to 80% without a 'serious strategy to shift employer behaviour' and argues employers must be incentivised to reintegrate existing workers back into jobs. The report comes in the same week as the Universal Credit Bill cleared the House of Lords, aimed at rebalancing the benefit 'to remove work disincentives', according to a Government minister, while giving existing claimants 'the security and certainty they need'. Separately during the debate, Paralympic champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who sits in the Lords, said disabled people have been portrayed as 'benefit scroungers and a drain on society' in the conversation on welfare reform. In its report, the Resolution Foundation said around 12% of disabled staff leave work each year – consistently 1.5-times the rate of non-disabled workers. It added that twice as many people move from work into inactivity due to ill health – around 304,000 each year – than those moving the other way (around 151,000). But the think tank said despite there being 'strong' legal obligations in place already on employers, they are 'simply not doing enough to retain existing workers', with fewer than half of disabled workers who request a reasonable adjustment – which can include a change to working arrangements or provision of equipment, services or support – having this granted in full. With 15% of disabled people reporting workplace discrimination relating to their disability in 2022, the report said this remains a 'pressing issue'. The think tank said: 'Boosting disability employment is not straightforward: it will involve improvements to the health system, benefits system and world of work. But action to incentivise and support employers is a vital piece of the puzzle.' Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'The Government should do more to incentivise firms to employ disabled people – especially those who have been out of work for long periods – but employers need to do more in return. 'A new right to reintegration could help disabled workers back into work in the same way that maternity rights transformed women's employment prospects a generation ago.' The foundation said the new right could be enforced through employment tribunals, but urged the Government to also consider 'more proactive enforcement mechanisms, whether via the Equalities and Human Rights Commission or connected to a new system of caseworkers that are expected to be covered in the forthcoming Mayfield Review'. Former John Lewis boss, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is undertaking a review to investigate how Government and businesses can work together to support ill and disabled people into work, with a report expected in autumn. The Government has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Streeting tells hospitals ‘we have your backs' ahead of strikes
Wes Streeting has told hospital leaders 'we have your backs' ahead of a five-day strike by resident doctors, according to a report. The public are being urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during the walkout, set to begin on Friday, NHS England said hospitals and local teams have been preparing before the strike, which begins at 7am on Friday, and have plans in place to 'minimise disruption to patient care and ensure life-saving care continues'. Thousands of resident doctors are expected to join the strike, which is the 12th by resident doctors since March 2023. According to the Times newspaper, the Health Secretary told hospital leaders in a call on Wednesday that 'we have your backs' if they need to make decisions on staffing, while new NHS England boss Sir Jim Mackey said the service would be 'much more resistant' to the demands of the British Medical Association (BMA). 'We and you make decisions about safety, not the BMA. Do what you do best, make sensible decisions and we'll stick together,' Sir Jim is reported to have said. It comes as Sir Jim has urged hospital leaders to keep routine operations and appointments going if possible and to only cancel if there is a risk to patient safety. During the strike, GP surgeries will open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available for those who need them, NHS England said. It urged the public to use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues. Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: 'There is no doubt this industrial action will take a toll on patients and NHS staff, and it is disappointing it is going ahead. 'While it will mean some appointments won't be able to go ahead as planned, we are doing all we can to limit this, and patients should continue to use NHS services in the usual way. 'The public should dial 999 in an emergency, and otherwise use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP, and patients should attend NHS appointments unless told otherwise.' The BMA has said NHS England's plan to carry on with business as usual poses a risk to patients. BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin said: 'It's worrying that NHS England appears intent on telling hospitals to continue providing non-urgent planned care on strike days, despite our warnings that this will leave staffing levels unsafe across the board. 'At best this will leave hospital managers and senior doctors confused over what they should be planning for this week, resulting in last-minute cancellations, and at worst puts patients at risk in both emergency and planned care settings. 'Senior doctors cannot simultaneously cover for striking resident doctors in emergency departments, while also continuing routine work, and NHS England is being irresponsible by suggesting they can do both. 'The priority on strike days must be emergency and urgent care.' Strikes by resident doctors last June led to 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments being rescheduled. Since the end of 2022, almost 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The BMA said on Tuesday that talks with the Government aimed at averting the strike had collapsed over the core issue of pay. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said in a statement: 'We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government. 'We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today. 'Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges. 'While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors' finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.' Mr Streeting said 'we cannot move on pay after a 28.9% pay rise', but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors' working lives. He said there was an opportunity for the union 'to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors' working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression. 'Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.' He added: 'All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work. 'After a 28.9% pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning. A YouGov poll showed about half (52%) of people in the UK 'somewhat oppose' (20%) or 'strongly oppose' (32%) resident doctors going on strike over pay. A third (34%) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23%) or 'strongly support' (11%) doctor strikes. YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48% opposed the strikes and 39% supported them. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.
