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Palliative care is finally starting to generate political interest with the first reading of the Palliative Health Care Bill in the House of Lords. It is estimated that there are 355,000 people in need of end of life care in the UK, and this debate is one that simply cannot be ignored any longer. A shift in awareness and attitudes is long overdue.

Palliative care is finally starting to generate political interest with the first reading of the Palliative Health Care Bill in the House of Lords. It is estimated that there are 355,000 people in need of end of life [...]

In our last blog we looked at how the political parties were setting out their ambitions for social care reform ahead of the general election. As the election takes place today against the backdrop of the NHS’ and social care’s finances rapidly spiralling out of control, whoever finds themselves in power may well have to reign in their ambitions for social care revolution.

This week has illustrated the extent of the spending problems that these services are facing, with research showing 98 NHS trusts are projected to have a collective shortfall of £759 million this year. Applied to all 240 trusts, [...]

With the General Election campaign in full swing, the most important issue for many elderly people and their families, is being sidestepped as “too difficult” for politicians to tackle.

According to The Independent, experts at Age UK estimate that around one million elderly people that need basic care, are simply being left to struggle on at home.

Age UK, the leading charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life, says this is the single most important issue for older voters in the Election.  And if it’s important for those experiencing unmet social care needs, you can bet it’s [...]

If he becomes Prime Minister, Ed Miliband says he would curtail the involvement of private suppliers of clinical services to the National Health Service, by reducing the number of contracts awarded.

He’s quoted as saying that this is because the “the money we pay for our health care should be invested for patient care not for excess profits for private firms”.

Mr Miliband has vowed that a Labour government will scrap the Coalition’s market framework for the NHS and stop “the tide of privatisation”. He says a Labour government would impose a “standard rule” five per cent cap on the profit that [...]

The dramatic revelations in the Daily Mail that reveal the scale of bed-blocking in our hospitals is 100 times higher than previously thought, will have shocked many.

But families who’ve experienced elderly or vulnerable relatives being admitted to hospital only to be imprisoned there for weeks after their medical needs have been addressed, and desperate to return home, know only too well what an everyday distressing occurrence this is. According to NHS England, in January 2015 (the most recent month published) patients’ discharge from hospital was delayed for 103,776 days.  This is the first time the figure has topped 100,000 since [...]

Everyone at Prestige Nursing + Care is very excited this week, as we’ve announced that we have acquired Elite Care (Scotland) Ltd.

Elite Care was originally established in St Andrews in Fife over 30 years ago, and also has regional offices in Dundee and Crieff.  The 170 staff and management have worked very hard to build up a great reputation for delivering high quality care services, which is exactly why Elite Care is going to be such a great fit with Prestige, which also prides itself on the quality of its care. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be joining forces [...]