This Conference notes there is inequality of screening in the the Health Service. Once people reach 70, they are not automatically called for screening, but have to request it. This gives people the assumption that the incidence of diseases goes down, whereas with breast cancer the incidence actually increases after 70. This gives rise to […]
Conference motions
NHS and Local Government leaders have announced a shared commitment to ‘close the gap’ between the health and care systems. A series of pilot projects will begin in the autumn of 2013 to explore new ways of pooling budgets, speeding up discharge from hospital and conducting assessments. This initiative is to be welcomed – if […]
Modern day packaging of many types of medication is becoming increasingly difficult for elderly people to cope with, in particular the ‘bubble strip’ type packaging of tablets. This type of packaging often results in the user suffering finger cuts and sometimes the destruction of the capsule encased in the ‘bubble’. In addition to difficulties with […]
This Conference considers that the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Pensioners’ Committee is not as effective as it could be and that as a result the TUC sometimes fails to gain pensioners’ support for its aims and campaigns etc. Conference considers the committee would be more effective if: 1)Its constitution and purpose were clearer and more […]
Conference notes that the median income of a woman pensioner is less than two thirds that of a man and that two thirds of pensioners living below the poverty line are women. This shocking injustice is the result of lifelong discrimination at work. In general compared to men women earn less so they save less […]
This Conference notes the referendum on Independence for Scotland will be held on 18 September 2014 and if carried it is likely Independence will be gained in 2016 – less than 3 years from now to totally separate the existing integrated financial systems and set up new systems for both Scotland and England/Wales/Northern Ireland. Even […]
On Sunday 7 October 2012, the Prime Minister, David Cameron gave an assurance that he would not cut universal benefits for pensioners such as free bus passes and winter fuel payments. This statement is the exact opposite of that made by his Coalition partner, Nick Clegg who has stated his support for stripping so-called “rich” […]
In the 2011 budget, the Chancellor revealed plans to merge income tax and national insurance, asserting “It is time that we take this historic step to simplify our tax system and make it fit for the modern age”. At present, those who have reached state pension age are exempt from paying any further national insurance […]
The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) has produced a Dignity Code to uphold the rights and maintain the personal dignity of older people, within the context of ensuring the health, safety and well being of those who are increasingly less able to care for themselves or to properly conduct their affairs. Copy attached below. Signatories to […]
This Conference recalls that a motion was submitted by the South East Region to last year’s Retired Members’ Conference agenda, on the above subject, which was ruled non-competent by the Standing Orders’ Committee being ‘Beyond the Remit of the Conference’ since the timetable for all UNISON’s annual reports is set by the National Executive Council. […]
This National Retired Members Conference is concerned that the Basic State Pension (BSP) and Pension Credit (means-tested) are still well below the poverty level. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Minimum Income Standard for 2011 for a single pensioner, excluding rent or mortgage, is £154.62 per week, and for a pensioner couple £232.74 per […]
Osteoporosis (literally meaning porous bones) occurs when the trabecular structure of bones becomes thin causing them to become fragile and break more easily. By far the most likely people to suffer from osteoporosis are older people, and particularly older women. At the end of last year, after many years of campaigning by the National Osteoporosis […]
Conference is concerned to learn that some residents in care homes may not have security of tenure and that due to a number of factors could find themselves being evicted at short notice. Conference condemns the continuing privatisation of the residential care sector which seems largely to be responsible for this alarming new problem and […]
DIGNITY IN CARE Conference welcomes the report of the Commission on Dignity in Care established by the Local Government Association, the National Health Service and AgeUK. However, Conference believes that the report’s recommendations are largely common sense, and would be carried out almost as a matter of course if hospitals and care homes had the […]
DEMENTIA Conference welcomes the PM’s recent announcement that an additional £40 million will be made available for dementia research by 2014, on the basis that “every little helps” and that the main research co-ordinating body, the Alzheimer’s Society, knows well how to exploit the last penny. Cameron’s Dementia Challenge is also a welcome initiative, though […]