Autism

[floo]

deleted

[Harrowby Hall]

If my understanding of the news item is correct, then this is another symptom of underfunding in the NHS. Restricting treatment to only the most severe cases appears to be a reaction by a cash-strapped commissioning group in London, which is dealing with twice the number of referrals its resources are set up to deal with.

At the moment, we have an administration led by a party which believes that "government" is inherently inefficient and must be done more efficiently (ie with less money). It appears indifferent to objections that this will lead to a reduction in effectiveness. The establishment of devices such as "commissioning groups" and "internal markets" allow the politicians to say that operational difficulties are not their business and to pin the blame for the consequences of underfunding onto the hapless individuals trying to run the devolved management operations.

I'm sorry to say, Floo, it will get worse..

[Bubbles]

Sadly, I think it will get worse.

Across the board with all aspects of care and support including the elderly and it will create a huge strain on families.Who will be expected to cope alone.

A lot of things are voluntary now, just had my eyes opened as to how many people volunteer their time, to help others.

The Red Cross for example, and even meals on wheels is driven by volunteers.

Now they have increased the pension age to 66 and intend to raise it higher, I don't know where they think people doing these good deeds are going to come from in the future.

It's staggering how many support services are actually run by volunteers and don't actually have much to do with NHS funding.

The fit who retire at 60 seem to be supporting a lot of the caring needed in the community.

What happens when potential volunteers are working full time, because they don't reach pension age until 66-70?

There are so many good hearted people out there, donating their free time to provide care.