The Government has said in an announcement recently that they plan for greater use of home adaptations as a way of allowing people to stay in their homes for much longer. We at One Stop Mobility believe this could be a way of saving the Government millions of pounds on elderly care costs, and more importantly, improve quality of life for a generation who are living longer and want to stay at home.

The new Government’s pledge could dramatically change the way we think about long term care for the elderly. We believe better use of assisitive technology and equipment could transform people’s homes. Stairlifts, bathing aids, beds, pressure area care products and hoists, along with wheel chairs, hand rails and many simple aids to daily living can make a real difference and can give independence to individuals.

Liverpool’s city council is considering a proposal to spend almost £1.5 million to help transform social care in the city. The council is looking to provide six new ‘Health and Well Being Super Centres’ in different neighbourhoods throughout the city.

Three of these super centres will be 24 hour facilities, providing a total of 85 intermediate care and crisis beds. The other three will be community ‘Hubs’, These will provide intensive Health and Social care support and advice on employment and housing.

The first two proposals are for Sedgemoor Care Home in Noris Green, which is set to become a 24 hour care centre, which will also focus on providing support for people with Dementia and their families. The second proposal is for Lime Cort Day Centre in Kensington, which will become the first of the community ‘Hubs’ and is open 12 hours per day, 7 days a week.

With these new proposals there will be a significant increase in the amount of people being supported raising from 1756 to 2606.

An event, orginised by the chief executive of Brighton Hove and Portslade Age concern, Jim Baker, is due to be held in Brighton.

The event entitled ‘The Wheelie Great Scooter Rally’ will be on the 11th of September, and aims to help promotoe Road safety for users of mobility scooters. The event also aims ro raise awareness of road safety for other street users such as those with wheelchairs, skateboards, and bicycles.

The Occasion will take place in Hove Lawns and will include performances by mobility scooter display teams including The Red Tarts!

Here’s to hoping that in the next few years a similar event will be held in the Liverpool or Cheshire area !!!

 A pensioner caused chaos on the A27 when he decided to go for a drive along the road on a mobility scooter after getting lost on his way to the bank. The man was spotted on the Shoreham flyover at 10:20am, and was reported to the Sussex police.

 

Luckily a van driver pulled up behind the pensioner and put his hazard lights on to warn other motorists of the elderly man until the police arrived.

 

Both the man and his scooter remained unscratched after the police safely loaded them into the van. The OAP was the dropped of at the bank with a few words of advice about staying of the main roads.

The 2010 Health Investor Awards have named Lifeways Community Care as the Specials Care Provider of the year.

 The awards which were established to recognise outstanding achievements in healthcare, have always had Lifeways as a strong competitor in the category, winning year after year, placing higher against strong competition. The judging panel said: “The winner’s rapid growth has been underpinned by outstanding quality of delivery.”

 Paul Marriner, Chief Executive, collected the award on behalf of the organisation at the prestigious award ceremony in London which was attended by over 950 leading industry figures.

He said: “This is a fantastic achievement and one that the Executive Team and Board are all delighted with. It acknowledges just how far the organisation has come since its inception, in particular over the last couple of years. I would like to especially thank all of our amazing staff who work so hard every day to ensure Lifeways provides services to enable some of the most vulnerable users in society to have an excellent quality of life.”

Knowsley council’s children’s services, adult services and NHS held a special ‘moving on’ event for the parents of young people with disabilities or special/ additional needs.

Over 40 families attended the events at the Kirkby suite where professionals from Knowsley agencies were there to offer information and answer any questions about the support available for children ‘moving on’ from children’s services to adult services support.

The sessions were so successful that there are now plans to make in an annual event. Meanwhile, Knowsley’s Aiming High for Disabled Children programme has achieved some great things in its first 12 months.

There is now a tailor-made swimming and activity programme for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which will soon be available in all Knowsley leisure centres. The programme has funded specialist equipment and facilities in playgrounds around the borough, and bought an adapted caravan for holidays in Wales.

 Over the next year the programme, along with the Adult Health and Adult Social Care, is contributing funding for a centre for independent living, which will provide specialist equipment and storage facilities. The programme will also provide exclusive changing facilities for disabled children and adults across the borough.

Don Pratt, 65, has sold his taxi firm and retired this week as he was left a very generous tip of £250, 000 in the will of Ms Mary Watson, who he drove to and from the shops, to the doctors and on other errands around Newquay where she lived.

Don’s Cabs was the firm Mrs Watson used every day to get around the Cornish seaside resort, becoming a regular customer 20 years ago after Mr Pratt offered to help take her shopping into her home.

Mr Pratt said: “I always try to help old people because one day you will be needing that help yourself.””It should be the same for everyone.”

Mr Pratt said Mrs Watson was always a good tipper and about 12 years ago she asked him to be best man at her remarriage.

Mrs Watson moved to Northampton 10 years ago, but Mr and Mrs Pratt kept in touch with her until about two years before she died.

“Her solicitor called to tell us she had remembered us in her will, I couldn’t believe it when we found out she had left us everything, I’m not sure how her family feel about it, but the solicitor was clear that she wanted me to have what she left.”

Mr Pratt has now sold his taxi firm to a friend and is looking forward to a relaxing retirement.

When 69-year-old Anthony Gaskell crossed the London Marathon finishing line in a mere three hours and five minutes, he found himself in the record books.
His was the fastest time ever recorded by anyone over 65 and he was due to receive a plaque marking his achievement.
Observers questioned, however, how a previously unknown veteran could have performed so well.

And analysis of the race revealed that he must have completed the second half in way under an hour – a pace that even the world record holder could not match.
Six weeks after the event, Mr Gaskell has been stripped of his ‘fastest pensioner’ title after admitting that he took a short cut.
He appears to have used a part of the course just after Tower Bridge – where the marathon doubles back on itself – to cut from the outward leg to the home leg, taking around ten miles off the course.

Mr Gaskell, a grandfather from the Wirral, Merseyside, said: ‘I have been called a cheat and disqualified from a race I never claimed to have won.’

He claimed he was injured after falling over a runner ahead of him who had tripped on a safety barrier. ‘I couldn’t possibly continue.’
He insists he never claimed to have run the last part of the course and that he did not try to pass off the winning time as his own.
‘I simply walked through a short cut to the end of the course where my belongings were waiting for me. I had no idea that anyone thought I’d won.
‘I didn’t bother to check the website for the final standings because I knew I had dropped out.’

The warning comes after the elderly victim was deprived of £40 by a couple of bogus workmen.

The two conmen bluffed their way into the pensioner’s Halton View home by showing a phoney ID card.

The crooks left a business card which gave their name, address and telephone number as PJ Platt, FS Community Installation Service, 14 Gloucester Avenue, Blackpool, 07880 992353 – details which turned out to be false.

Cllr Marie Wright (community) said: ‘I think this is deplorable. It is really important that people keep safe by only opening the door when it is someone you know, or someone who carries credible identification.’

Anyone who receives a similar approach should contact Halton Consumer Protection on 0151 471 7515.

MERSEYSIDE pensioners will continue to get free travel despite a national rule change. The Department for Transport announcement means over the next 10 years the age at which people are entitled to their free bus pass will gradually rise from 60 to 65. But Merseytravel said the change will not affect Merseyside. Chairman Mark Dowd said: “We will continue to provide free travel on buses, trains and ferries after 9.30am for everyone over the age of 60 or who meets the disability criteria, a policy we initially introduced 22 years ago. “The additional costs because of changes to the English national bus scheme will be negligible. “We estimate it would mean providing a maximum additional 3,000 passes a year if everyone who is eligible applies and we have provided for this cost.”