Disabled people must not be overlooked in social care debate

Commenting on Shaping the Future of Care Together, Su Sayer, Chief Executive of United Response, said:

"There needs to be a proper public debate on the future of social care, which is why the publication of this green paper is so important. The demand for social care continues to rise, partly as a result of demographic changes and increasing life expectancy, and we need to work out as a society how to fund it in the years to come, a question made even more pressing by the current economic situation."

Read the full press release on our website

London Recruitment day - calling support staff!

We are holding a recruitment day at our Putney offices in London on 11th February.

If you live in the London area and fancy working for us, come along to our recruitment day!

We have several senior support worker and support worker vacancies we are looking to fill.

All you need to do is to register online, answer some questions and then you could either qualify for an interview on the recruitment day or at a later stage.

Go to the page on our jobs site to register and find out more

You can find out more about working for United Response and some of the benefits you will receive on our own site. Go to the jobs home page on our site at www.unitedresponse.org.uk/jobs

CSCI report

CSCI (Commission for Social Care) has written a report about the state of social care.

Our Chief Executive, Su Sayer, has said this in response:

"An evaluation of our social care system and its capacity to meet the needs of those with learning disabilities and others is long overdue. Therefore, we welcome today's CSCI report and the Government's announcement that it will be undertaking its own review of provision.

"Anyone who works in social care is aware of the demographic pressures central Government and local authorities are facing, with a rapidly ageing population and reduced availability of informal care. Those of us providing services are realistic about financial costs and aware of our responsibility to ensure best value for money. One way of achieving this may be more flexible and cost effective approaches to support, such as greater use of Supported Living as an alternative to residential care and the use of new technology alongside traditional methods. Indeed, people with learning disabilities are demanding these changes themselves, as they seek more independence.

"We have come a long way over the last 30 years. People with learning disabilities not only have a right to expect an adequate level of support and care, but are gaining confidence in demanding that right. As a society we cannot allow funding to be cut back to only "critical" services. If we do, the clock will be wound back and people will lose the independence they fought so hard to gain."

New Jobs site!!

We've got a new jobs website! It allows you to search all our jobs by specialism or geographical area. You can create job alerts so you know about new jobs you are interested in, once they are posted.

And the whole application process can now be done online.

It couldn't be easier to work for us!

Go to www.unitedresponse.org.uk/jobs and sign up now!