A midwife who devoted 40 years of her life to the NHS has been let down by the long-term care system.
June Birch now is in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, living in a nursing home in Lancashire. She may finally be receiving the care she needs, but it has been a costly four-year battle to get there.
In summer 2007, June started to develop signs of dementia and, after a series of distressing incidents, was admitted to Southport Hospital. Discharged in November that year, the local authority told June's family that she could not return to her flat but, instead, required round-the-clock care from an EMI (elderly mentally infirm) home. Daren Birch, June's nephew, began researching local care homes, and placed her in the care of what he was told was a suitable residence.
Over the course of the following year, June became increasingly confused and, as a result, aggressive, frequently lashing out at other residents and staff. Daren noticed the deterioration in her condition and questioned the type of care that she was receiving.
"She lost a considerable amount of weight and it was not very long before she no longer recognised us. She was doubly incontinent and her general health became significantly worse," he said.
During this time, Daren applied to the Court of Protection to gain control of June's estate, while the care-home fees mounted to the tune of 40,000.
June's worsening condition and daunting debts prompted Daren to contact Paladin Advocates, legal specialists in continuing health care. Continuing care patients receive full funding and 24-hour nursing care.
"I had never even heard of continuing care," said Daren. "But once it was explained it became clear that June was eligible."
It was only when Paladin became involved that June underwent an assessment, and it was found that she was not in a care home that met her needs.
"We had stated from the beginning that we wanted an EMI care home – as the hospital had told us to request," said Daren.
"The place we had been told was an EMI establishment was only a residential care home, and did not provide the level of care June required. Luckily, our request was on record so once the mistake was brought to our attention June was moved straight away."
Unfortunately, although June was recommended by the nurses who assessed her as eligible for continuing care, the primary care trust refused to accept the recommendation. Anne Reed of Paladin appealed against the decision on behalf of the Birches and took it to review – twice.
The assessment was finally accepted in August this year, but Ms Reed's plea was reassessed last month. The primary care trust has yet to reach a decision on whether it will accept the recommendation.
Ms Reed is now fighting to have the total cost of June's care repaid, arguing that she should never have had to pay for her care.
"I cannot believe that no one ever thought initially to give June a care assessment. She was clearly eligible for continuing care from November 2007, when she was first discharged from the hospital, yet her first assessment was not until February 2010 – prompted by us," said Ms Reed.
Daren said the emotional costs had been far greater than the financial ones. "I can't understand how she fell through the cracks in the system," he said.
"I can't help thinking that if she had received the correct level of care from the beginning her condition would not have deteriorated so quickly."
2011年11月20日星期日
2011年11月3日星期四
Parking Guidance System Approved at Garden State Plaza
Shoppers at Garden State Plaza will be able to see how many spots are available in one of the mall's parking garages and where, after the Planning Board approved plans for a parking guidance system Thursday.
One of the mall's parking garages will have a sign telling shoppers how many spots are available at each level within.
Inside, cameras above every other parking space will be able to tell whether a spot is occupied. If a spot is free, a green light will go on above the space. A red light will go on if the space is occupied.
Civil engineer William Page said the system will improve the traffic flow at the mall, since drivers will know exactly which level to go, or whether to even enter the garage if it's full.
The board also approved the mall's plans to straighten out the ring road surrounding Garden State Plaza. Currently, the ring road has an inward kink between Old Navy and Capital Grille.
Page said straightening the road would improve safety in that area and give Capital Grille more space for valet parking.
The mall's plans for improvements to three of its entrances also received approval. The mall plans new signs and lighting for the entrances between the Grand Lux Cafe and Legal Seafood, Legal Seafood and Macy's, and Capital Grille and Old Navy.
One of the mall's parking garages will have a sign telling shoppers how many spots are available at each level within.
Inside, cameras above every other parking space will be able to tell whether a spot is occupied. If a spot is free, a green light will go on above the space. A red light will go on if the space is occupied.
Civil engineer William Page said the system will improve the traffic flow at the mall, since drivers will know exactly which level to go, or whether to even enter the garage if it's full.
The board also approved the mall's plans to straighten out the ring road surrounding Garden State Plaza. Currently, the ring road has an inward kink between Old Navy and Capital Grille.
Page said straightening the road would improve safety in that area and give Capital Grille more space for valet parking.
The mall's plans for improvements to three of its entrances also received approval. The mall plans new signs and lighting for the entrances between the Grand Lux Cafe and Legal Seafood, Legal Seafood and Macy's, and Capital Grille and Old Navy.
2011年9月12日星期一
Union declares 'war' on paid parking plan
A retail union is leading the fight against plans by Westfield to charge customers and staff to park at Brisbane's Chermside Shopping Centre from next month.
The shopping centre's management confirmed today retail staff would be charged a daily fee to park at a designated roof top car park, as well as shoppers who would be charged to park at the northside centre for more than three hours.
"Retailers will pay a small daily flat fee which will cover the security and management of the dedicated roof top car park," a Westfield Chermside spokeswoman said.
"This dedicated roof top car park will ensure that the most convenient car spots are available for our shoppers.
"Parking rates for retailers will be confirmed by the end of September and controlled parking will be introduced in October."
On the weekend, more than 1000 people signed a Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association's petition condemning the impending charges.
Members of the association mounted a small protest outside the centre on Saturday, where they garnered 150 signatures from shoppers in 15 minutes.
Chris Ketter, the secretary of the union's Queensland branch, said he understood staff would be charged about $3 per day to park at the centre.
He said staff would also be charged about $10 for a swipe card to access the designated parking area, although the fee would be refunded when their employment at the centre ended.
“We've declared war on Westfield Chermside's push to introduce paid parking for both staff and customers," Mr Ketter said.
“Making staff to pay to work is unfair and unAustralian and I imagine shoppers are against the move as well.
“This money grabbing push could see thousands of Queenslanders forced to pay a daily toll just to do their jobs," Mr Ketter said.
“Many of these staff are young people and parents already doing it tough in today's economic climate. It's unfair for them to have to pay up to $15 per week to park at work.
“The suggestion they should pay to work is an outrage and we want it wiped out."
Mr Ketter said the union intended to present the petition to Lord Mayor Graham Quirk.
In 2008, Westfield sought council approval to install boom gates and charge anyone using its carparks for more than three hours.
But the council rejected the proposal 12 months later.
As owner of the land at Chermside, Westfield can introduce paid parking on its site without the green light from council.
According to Westfield, the introduction of "controlled parking" is necessary to stop commuters who use the bus interchange outside the shopping centre taking shoppers' car spaces.
"The primary objective of introducing controlled parking is to ensure maximum car spaces are available for shoppers," the spokeswoman said.
"Currently up to 25 per cent of car spaces are taken up by commuters which reduces valuable sales and traffic for our retailers."
Westfield estimates that 96 per cent of shoppers spend no longer than three hours at the centre and would therefore not have to pay for parking.
Westfield has not commented on suggestions it is planning to introduce paid parking at Carindale Shopping Centre once a parking guidance system, which would direct customers to vacant car spaces, is installed.
The shopping centre's management confirmed today retail staff would be charged a daily fee to park at a designated roof top car park, as well as shoppers who would be charged to park at the northside centre for more than three hours.
"Retailers will pay a small daily flat fee which will cover the security and management of the dedicated roof top car park," a Westfield Chermside spokeswoman said.
"This dedicated roof top car park will ensure that the most convenient car spots are available for our shoppers.
"Parking rates for retailers will be confirmed by the end of September and controlled parking will be introduced in October."
On the weekend, more than 1000 people signed a Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association's petition condemning the impending charges.
Members of the association mounted a small protest outside the centre on Saturday, where they garnered 150 signatures from shoppers in 15 minutes.
Chris Ketter, the secretary of the union's Queensland branch, said he understood staff would be charged about $3 per day to park at the centre.
He said staff would also be charged about $10 for a swipe card to access the designated parking area, although the fee would be refunded when their employment at the centre ended.
“We've declared war on Westfield Chermside's push to introduce paid parking for both staff and customers," Mr Ketter said.
“Making staff to pay to work is unfair and unAustralian and I imagine shoppers are against the move as well.
“This money grabbing push could see thousands of Queenslanders forced to pay a daily toll just to do their jobs," Mr Ketter said.
“Many of these staff are young people and parents already doing it tough in today's economic climate. It's unfair for them to have to pay up to $15 per week to park at work.
“The suggestion they should pay to work is an outrage and we want it wiped out."
Mr Ketter said the union intended to present the petition to Lord Mayor Graham Quirk.
In 2008, Westfield sought council approval to install boom gates and charge anyone using its carparks for more than three hours.
But the council rejected the proposal 12 months later.
As owner of the land at Chermside, Westfield can introduce paid parking on its site without the green light from council.
According to Westfield, the introduction of "controlled parking" is necessary to stop commuters who use the bus interchange outside the shopping centre taking shoppers' car spaces.
"The primary objective of introducing controlled parking is to ensure maximum car spaces are available for shoppers," the spokeswoman said.
"Currently up to 25 per cent of car spaces are taken up by commuters which reduces valuable sales and traffic for our retailers."
Westfield estimates that 96 per cent of shoppers spend no longer than three hours at the centre and would therefore not have to pay for parking.
Westfield has not commented on suggestions it is planning to introduce paid parking at Carindale Shopping Centre once a parking guidance system, which would direct customers to vacant car spaces, is installed.
2011年7月6日星期三
McCain's ATC Compliant 2070LXN2 NEMA Controller Exemplifies Interoperability
McCain Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of intelligent transportation systems, traffic control equipment and parking guidance solutions, today announced a contract award from the City of San Francisco for their 2070LXN2 NEMA traffic controllers.
McCain's 2070LXN2 NEMA controller is part of McCain's next generation of traffic equipment offering open architecture solutions that meet the latest Advanced Transportation Controller (ATC) standards. Participation in this project, which involved collaboration with Fourth Dimension to port their "D4" traffic signal software package to McCain's ATC controller, not only demonstrates McCain's propensity for building interoperable products but also highlights the technological advantages of ATC compliant traffic controllers. The porting process, including verification and field testing took less than three months.
Open architecture presents both buyers and manufacturers with cost benefits. In this instance, the combination of McCain's 2070LXN2 NEMA controller hardware and "D4" software permitted the City of San Francisco to migrate their existing 2070 software to an ATC platform. The software migration allowed them to extend the life of their original software and reduce the projects possible replacement costs. Solutions manufacturers have the added advantage of reduction in "time to market" that gets realized by adhering to standards when developing products.
"Offering interoperable products will help foster a competitive market where buyers get quick access to the latest product offerings at the best possible price," said Kleinjan Deetlefs, vice president of engineering at McCain Inc. "We're pleased to have been selected as the hardware provider on this project, which has given us the opportunity to display the extent of our interoperable solutions capabilities."
The 2070LXN2 NEMA controller's Linux operating system supports a variety of applications based on the software control package used, including: intersection control, ramp metering, variable message signs and changeable lane control. The controller's design is based on three major assemblies, the 2070 Controller, 2070 ATC CPU, and the 2070-2N Field I/O module.
McCain's 2070LXN2 NEMA controller is part of McCain's next generation of traffic equipment offering open architecture solutions that meet the latest Advanced Transportation Controller (ATC) standards. Participation in this project, which involved collaboration with Fourth Dimension to port their "D4" traffic signal software package to McCain's ATC controller, not only demonstrates McCain's propensity for building interoperable products but also highlights the technological advantages of ATC compliant traffic controllers. The porting process, including verification and field testing took less than three months.
Open architecture presents both buyers and manufacturers with cost benefits. In this instance, the combination of McCain's 2070LXN2 NEMA controller hardware and "D4" software permitted the City of San Francisco to migrate their existing 2070 software to an ATC platform. The software migration allowed them to extend the life of their original software and reduce the projects possible replacement costs. Solutions manufacturers have the added advantage of reduction in "time to market" that gets realized by adhering to standards when developing products.
"Offering interoperable products will help foster a competitive market where buyers get quick access to the latest product offerings at the best possible price," said Kleinjan Deetlefs, vice president of engineering at McCain Inc. "We're pleased to have been selected as the hardware provider on this project, which has given us the opportunity to display the extent of our interoperable solutions capabilities."
The 2070LXN2 NEMA controller's Linux operating system supports a variety of applications based on the software control package used, including: intersection control, ramp metering, variable message signs and changeable lane control. The controller's design is based on three major assemblies, the 2070 Controller, 2070 ATC CPU, and the 2070-2N Field I/O module.
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