Fighting Fuel Poverty

The impact of fuel poverty goes beyond financial consequences. Living in fuel poverty can affect people’s health, increasing the risk of common ailments such as colds, flu and respiratory infections including bronchitis. This has resulted in worryingly high excess winter death levels in Wales, with older people particularly susceptible.

There are indirect effects: stress in children and adults, long-term depression and anxiety, social exclusion, damaged health and life chances for families and individuals and reduced educational attainment.

Moreover, there are broader budget implications for education, employment and health services in Wales.

You are in fuel poverty if 10% or more of your household income is spent on energy.

The causes of fuel poverty are equally complex, requiring a person centred approach alongside energy efficiency measures.

In 2012, 30% of households in Wales were living in fuel poverty, equating to 386,000 homes. Nearly 85% of these are vulnerable households, containing a child, older person or someone with a disability or chronic illness.

Energy efficiency is not the only way of helping fuel poor households and further opportunities exist, including helping people to find the best energy deal and to maximise their income.

True partnership working is key to finding those who are hardest to reach, ensuring that they receive all the help they are entitled to and developing solutions to meet their needs and situation.

No one agency can provide all the solutions to a complex problem affecting people with diverse circumstances. However, a central movement such as Care & Repair Cymru can guide people in the right direction to obtain the help they need.

Last year, Care & Repair agencies gave energy advice to 1,800 older people and 1,000 older people who had damp in their home. Amongst other things, they can advise on whether you are eligible for a £140 Warm Home Discount on your electricity bill and how, as a pensioner, you can join your energy supplier’s Priority Services Register.

If you require help or are unsure about the help you can receive, then contact Care & Repair for free advice on 0300 111 3333.

Mark Isherwood AM 

Chair of the Cross Party Group on Fuel Poverty sponsored by NEA Cymru and Citizens Advice Cymru 

Is service integration the cure for an ailing NHS?

This year marks the 65^th anniversary of the NHS in Wales and, despite being a hallmark of ‘Great Britain’, it is possibly facing the most challenging time in its entire history. With increasing demand for services, higher expectations and pressure to cut spending, finances couldn’t be any tighter. Or could they?    

Unscheduled care, in particular, is under extreme pressure as more and more people present a t A and E and choose to bypass GP out of hours surgeries.  Hospitals are also struggling to meet existing targets and delayed transfers of care and waiting list times continue to rise.  

Reconfiguration is one solution that’s being offered; however, it’s not just secondary care which is under pressure.  Patients in Wales come into contact with the NHS some 20 million times each year, with 80% of contacts taking place outside of a hospital. On average, people visit their GP seven times a year and we expect this to rise rapidly as welfare reform impacts on wellbeing with more people suffering from depression.  

So, put simply, finances could be and are likely to get tighter!  The good news is that housing associations and Care & Repair agencies can help.  Housing associations and Care & Repair agencies already work closely with social care partners to deliver critical services that contribute to prevention and re-enablement. They are also key players in supporting better community health and staff can be a key contact for older people living alone.    

The Older Persons Commissioner is passionate about ‘Older people wanting to stay safe, healthy and secure’ and that the key requirement for those returning home form hospital is ‘food in the refrigerator, a warm home and continuity of care.’ Housing associations already fulfil this role and they can and want to do more.  

Some housing associations also have their own dementia and extra care homes and provide specialist care and support throughout Welsh communities.  Others employ staff in hospices to reduce pressure on A and E by providing support to homeless people who are often repeat presenters at A and E. Despite this work, the role of housing associations is barely recognised in the new Health, Social Care and Wellbeing bill.
 

As the NHS grapples with how best to simultaneously cut costs, meet demand and improve services, more Local Health Boards have been developing projects with housing associations to provide more integrated/holistic services focused on the needs of the individual. While this might not be a total cure, results so far show that it certainly drives improvement.

We will be celebrating some of these projects during Health & Housing week from 15-19 July and we’re inviting you to engage in this week. Tell us your story, either as a service provide or as a customer, about how integrated services across housing and health have helped you! 

Amanda Oliver
Head of Policy and Research, CHC 

'Deep Study' of Tredegar - CREW Regeneration Wales

This is a busy time for CREW Regeneration Wales. We have an active work programme lined up for the next three years, and details of our ongoing work, together with our continually expanding resources, can always be found on our website: www.regenwales.org

Amongst our other work, for each of the next three years we are committed to undertaking a major research project. This year we are undertaking a 'Deep Study' of Tredegar. Our goal is to develop a holistic understanding of Tredegar as an area of significant deprivation. We are also seeking to identify what opportunities exist and what actions need to be taken over the next ten years to create a sustainable community by 2030.

In this initial phase of the project we are establishing partnerships between professionals across the policy fields, and breaking down the silos so that professionals from different areas of public life can work together.  Our Steering Group includes professionals from housing, economic development, transport and health fields, as well as people with particular expertise in community food and energy production, sustainability and community engagement.

We will be posting project updates to our website as we progress, and will also making use of Twitter: @CREWRegenWales.

Dr Mark Lang, Senior Researcher
CREW Regeneration Wales