1. NHS patients' priorities

Coinciding with the general election, and hoping to point the way for the new government, the Patients Association has carried out a survey to discover the key priorities amongst NHS patients.

They also looked at peoples' experiences of accessing healthcare, or failing to do so.

We have more about the findings here

2. Changing Places Awareness Day

Every year on the 19th July, Changing Places toilets are celebrated - and awareness increased, hopefully!

There are now 2463 fully accessible public toilets registered across the UK: at least 250,000 people need such facilities, and without them are excluded from going out and about in a way that others just take for granted.

We have a great article from Independent Living subscriber Closomat sharing facts and dispelling myths in equal measure!

Check it out here

3. Biggest ever Paralympic coverage

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games is set to be the biggest ever broadcast on Channel 4 with over 1,300 hours of live sport airing for free across Channel 4, More4, Channel 4 Streaming and Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube.

From the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday 28 August to the final seconds of the Closing Ceremony on Sunday 8 September, viewers will have all the action, medals and must-see moments from every Paralympic venue across Paris.

The hugely popular "Last Leg" is relocating across the channel for the duration

More details here

4. WashPod double winner

Independent Living's friends at Dignity Access have pulled off a great double at the recent Occupational Therapy Excellence Awards in Birmingham. 

They were outright winners in both the Gold category Best Equipment Provider and the Excellence in Equipment Innovation category for the WashPod range of modular, temporary, disabled wetrooms.

Read more here

5. Limit of Ombudsman's powers

We are all familiar with the idea that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is our last resort if we have a serious complaint which can't be resolved with the service provider.

But occasionally, we are reminded that their powers are actually quite limited, if the provider in question decides to ignore them.

Priory Mews Healthcare in Gravesend, Kent has done just that.

So what next?

6. Annual ADASS report

The latest annual survey from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) highlights a growing mismatch between Council budgets and the number of people with complex care needs due to illness and disability.

The problem is attributed in part to the pressures on the NHS: patients are discharged sooner and therefore require more support at home. And cases where complex care needs would have been met through NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) are now being pushed towards local authorities or the patients themselves for payment.

More from the report here