Free personal care food preparation battle won

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
To: News/Health/Community Editors

A survey by Alzheimer Scotland, Age Concern Scotland and Help the Aged has revealed that local authorities are no longer charging for assistance with preparing food. The three charities campaigned last year for new guidance to clarify free personal care rules, after they found evidence that many older people were being charged for services that should be free.

The Scottish Executive issued the new guidance in May 2006, and the charities wrote at the end of last year to local authorities under the Freedom of Information Act, asking detailed information about the circumstances in which help would or would not be charged for.

Kate Fearnley, Policy Director of Alzheimer Scotland said:

“We’re delighted to have won this battle. The overwhelming majority of local authorities are not now charging for services like heating up a frozen meal or cutting up sandwiches for someone who needs that kind of help.
Only a handful of the local authorities who responded would charge for any of the seven different scenarios we asked about, and even they would only charge in a couple of the situations. We will be calling on the Scottish Executive to make the rules absolutely clear in these few remaining cases.”

David Manion, Chief Executive of Age Concern Scotland welcomed Edinburgh’s action in refunding charges to people who had been wrongly charged for assistance with food preparation and called on COSLA to review its position and to advise Scotland’s local authorities to follow Edinburgh’s lead.

“For too long, COSLA has ignored the letter of the law. Their position is untenable and they must now act urgently to ensure that older people who have been wrongly charged are reimbursed.”

Contact details:

Sarah Bromley, Awareness Manager, tel 0131 243 1453, mob 07904 624 696, sbromley@alzscot.org
Kate Fearnley, Policy Director, tel 0131 243 1453, kfearnley@alzscot.org
Age Concern Scotland Media Officer, tel 07801 500663

Note for Editor:

Dementia affects approximately 64,000 people in Scotland.
Alzheimer’s disease is the main form of dementia. The second most common is vascular dementia. As yet there is no cure.

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s foremost voluntary organisation working for people with dementia and their carers. It:

• speaks out for the rights and concerns of people with dementia and their carers;
• operates services on over 60 sites throughout Scotland providing practical services such as day, evening and weekend centres, home care and befriending and carers' support services;
• provides the 24 hour national freephone Dementia Helpline (0808 808 3000);
• provides the website www.alzscot.org;
• supports a network of over 40 carers' support groups;
• provides information to carers, professionals and people with dementia;
• publishes leaflets, booklets, reports and a quarterly newsletter keeping carers and professionals up-to-date
• has a research programme.