Elderly and disabled people in England are increasingly being denied social services, a report says. The Commission for Social Care Inspection said councils were tightening their criteria which determines who is eligible for care. The watchdog said the situation meant there were 281,000 people in need of help receiving none while another 450,000 suffered shortfalls in care.
A boy who has been partially deaf for nine years was suddenly cured - when a cotton wool bud popped out of his ear. Jerome Bartens was diagnosed as deaf in his right ear when he was just two and has struggled at school ever since.
With the number of people over 65 predicted to rise from just under 10m to almost 17m in the next 50 years, experts are predicting a crisis in social care. To what extent can technology be used to bridge the gap?
Scottish factories will play a major role in a £6.6m Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract to provide protective equipment for British troops. Remploy sites in Dundee, Cowdenbeath, Stirling and Clydebank will help produce 44,000 suits to guard against nuclear, biological or chemical attack. The suits are designed to seal around a respirator and come in woodland and desert material.
The rules governing which elderly and disabled people in England are entitled to social care have been criticised. A Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) report says there are inconsistencies in how councils decide who gets help and how much they get. Social care minister Ivan Lewis has ordered a fundamental review of the rules on eligibility.
Disability campaigners in Devon are warning changes in concessionary fares will make life worse for some people in the county. The local-run Devon-wide pass, which allows disabled travellers' carers free travel on off-peak buses with the person they care for, ends in April. A new national scheme starts on 1 April, but carers are not covered. Campaigners say the change will hit the county's disabled severely if they have to pay carers' fares too.
