VAT Relief for the Disabled or Chronically ill - when buying Mobility Aids.

If you are chronically sick or disabled and suffer a long term chronic illness (such as Diabetes, Arthritis or Stroke) some items on our www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk website are available to buy VAT free. This is available to you, if you are buying them for personal and domestic use, and that they are relevant to your condition or illness. Some of these conditions are shown below:

Stroke - The UK’s largest cause of disability and in 80% of all cases there are NO prior warning signs.
For more information, please click on: http://www.stroke.org.uk/

For more information, please click on: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stroke/Pages/Introduction.aspx

 

Heart Disease - This is the UK’s No 1 Killer and again shows no signs or symptoms.
For more information, please click on: http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/cardiovascular-disease.aspx

For more information, please click on: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

 

Diabetes - Approximately 2.8 million people in the UK have Diabetes. If left untreated, it can lead to Heart disease, Stroke, Nerve damage and even Blindness.

For more information, please click on: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/

For more information, please click on: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-type2/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Chronic Kidney disease - Causes no symptoms at all in the early stages. If you have CKD you are also at a higher risk of Heart attack or Stroke. 

For more information, please click on: http://www.kidney.org.uk/         

For more information, please click on:http://www.kidneyresearchuk.org/home.php

For more information, please click on: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Kidney-disease-chronic/Pages/Introduction.aspx

To claim VAT relief, the individual or individuals living at the delivery address you provide, must have a relevant disability such as: Diabetes, Arthritis or Stroke for example.

This provides the opportunity for relief to be claimed even if you are buying a product on behalf of someone that is entitled to VAT exemption.

If you would like to find out if you are eligible or are in any doubt as to your status, please check with your local Customs and Excise VAT office (Their Helpine is: 0845 302 0203) who will be able to confirm your eligibility or visit the following Government website:  www.hmrc.gov.uk

VAT relief for charities

In some circumstances, UK charities do not have to pay VAT.

If you are buying on behalf of a registered charity and want to claim tax relief, please complete the declaration upon checkout, as you make your purchase via www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk

For more help and information on this area, please visit the following Government website pages:

www.hmrc.gov.uk

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/vat/supplies.htm

Additionally, should you require any further help or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you have any questions whatsoever about VAT relief, we will be happy to assist and help you further.

Buying at Zero Rate VAT via www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk

 

www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk are very happy and pleased to offer hundreds of products at 0% zero rate VAT.

The eligible products are indicated as such within the product description and upon checkout.

If you are able to claim VAT relief because you (or the person for whom you are buying the product) are either chronically ill, disabled or buying on behalf of a charity, you will be given the opportunity to adjust the tax as you checkout from the www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk website. This is very clear and straightforward and requires you to simply check a box upon checkout.

Please note that a small amount of VAT will remain on your order even if you have claimed relief.

This is because of the handling and carriage for delivery, on which we are not allowed to remove tax from.

Should you want to find out further information on zero rate tax, please click here to read more on VAT relief.

Additionally, should you require any further help or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you have any questions whatsoever about VAT relief, we will be happy to assist you further.

Do I Qualify for Zero Rate VAT ?

The disabled and chronically sick qualify to buy certain products in the UK without paying VAT at the standard rate.

Many products available via www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk  are available without paying VAT.

These products are highlighted within the product description and marked clearly upon checkout. And can be found by typing and entering "VAT EXEMPT" within the home page search bar.

Disabled or chronically sick people do not have to pay VAT when they buy any product or equipment that has been designed solely for people with a disability or on the adaptation of equipment so they can use it.

The goods that are bought in this way are described as 'zero-rated' or 'eligible for VAT relief'.

However please note that, not everything that is supplied to disabled people is zero-rated for VAT.

VAT law states that you must be ‘chronically sick or disabled’ to buy at zero rate VAT.

A person is only deemed to be chronically sick or disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment/condition that has a long-term and severe effect on their ability to undertake and carry out their day-to-day lives.

The condition must also be one that doctors treat as a chronic sickness or illness. The terminally ill also qualify.

A person with a temporary injury like a broken arm or leg would not qualify for VAT relief. Neither would a frail elderly person who is able bodied.

A product or service must also be supplied for the individual's 'personal and domestic use'.

This means you cannot buy at zero rate if the products are or will be used for business purposes, or if the end user is staying/living in a hospital or nursing home, as part of their medical or surgical treatment or with any form of care they are receiving.

VAT Exemption is for most people who are chronically ill, but if you are at any point unsure, then please call your local Customs and Excise VAT office (Their Helpine is: 0845 302 0203) or us during the hours of 9am-7pm Monday-Friday. 

MobilityCareAids Co Uk in your home can transform how you live your life, making it easier for you to get on with day-to-day life. Whether you have mobility issues because you are elderly, or if you are wheelchair bound because of a disability. MobilityCareAids.Co.Uk in your Home has a wide range of independent mobility aids, from walking sticks and frames to rollators, bathing aids to a whole variety of clever and helpful mobility aids.  Our product range can be viewed by clicking on any of the following webpages:

Mobility Aids: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/mobility-aids-1.html  

  

Age UK: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/age-uk-1.html  

Household: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/household.html  

Bedroom/Dressing: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/bedroom%20and%20dressing.html   

Toilet: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/toilet.html   

Security: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/security.html  

Telecoms: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/telecoms.html  

Kitchen: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/kitchen.html  

Eating & Drinking: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/eating-drinking.html  

Kitchen Tools: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/kitchen-tools.html  

Bathroom: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/bathroom.html  

Shower Chair/Stools: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/shower-chairstools.html  

Bath Boards/Seats: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/bath-boards.html   

Grab Rails: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/grab-rails.html  

Bathroom Accessories: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/bathroom-accessories.html   

  

Orthopaedic: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/orthopaedic.html  

Crutches/Rollators: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/crutchesrollators.html

 

Moving & Handling: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/moving-handling.html

 

Wheelchair:  http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/wheelchair.html  

Leisure:  http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/leisure.html

 

Exercise/Therapy: http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/therapy.html

 

Gardening:  http://www.mobilitycareaids.co.uk/gardening.html

A new test could fast-track diagnosis of Dementia

Diagnosis times for dementia could be cut to a few weeks as a new test could fast-track diagnosis of Dementia.

The pilot project based in Sussex will use high tech memory tests and brain scans to spot the condition at a specialist clinic.

Currently, it can take months or perhaps even years for Alzheimer’s to be spotted and diagnosed via GP tests. And that is in order to get a specialist referral.

The newly announced pilot project based in Sussex will adopt and use a series of high tech memory tests and brain scans to spot the condition.

If all this proves successful, then it could see such 'high tech centres' rolled out nationwide to identify and spot dementia early on. So that patients can receive the right drugs and help when coping and dealing with the condition. GPs will also be given iPad apps in order to test a patient’s memory.

Additionally, a mobile diagnosis vehicle will also be trialled to provide dementia assessments outside local GP surgeries, so that people get the most up to date treatment on their doorstep. Apparently, there are more than 350,000 people currently living with undiagnosed dementia and who are left without any care or support.

It is estimated that by the year 2020 there will be almost 1 million people who have dementia. That is an increase of almost 50% based on the current level of 670,000.

This new pilot project is part of the Government backed “Biomedical Catalyst” that has been awarded to a number of businesses and universities to help find new ways of tackling health issues and problems.

Britain's biggest Care Home owners 'have £5 billion debts'

I read last week that Britain's biggest Care Home owners 'have £5 billion debts'

Some of the biggest private Care Home owners in the UK have combined debts of almost £5 billion.

And I read again days later, that this had led to concerns from residents families about the financial viability of the companies that are looking after literally thousands of elderly and disabled people.

This investigation established that the debts of 3 of the firms, which apparently own almost 800 homes, have been rated as risky by credit companies. This is over concerns on how they could pay off the money in a tough economic climate.

But forgive me if I sound a preacher, but I do recall the news last year about how care homes would now be forced to be more clear and transparent about all their finances. This of course was after the Southern Cross collapse and fallout.

Apparently this investigation was partly created by the NfP body Corporate Watch. So I ask myself, if it weren’t for this NfP body called Corporate Watch making the findings, how easy is it exactly for local authorities and resident’s families to get a clear, proper understanding and assessment of the underlying risks that some leading Care Home providers are facing. Because I can now see from this report that they have some pretty hefty loan arrangements.

This report also discovered that 5 of the Care Home firms are in fact owned by parent companies based in secretive offshore tax havens.

And of course within recent years there has been significant expansion of large private companies within this sector, whilst council-run Care Homes have decreased.

This is what others had to say on the subject:

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “It is absolutely essential that individuals have access to clear information about the strengths and liabilities of organisations looking after their mums and dads.

“The Government said it will legislate soon on social care and it is essential that it learns the lessons of Southern Cross, puts some stability into this market as the current high-rolling, high-risk economics we see is not compatible with the care of elderly people.”

Michelle Mitchell of Age UK said: “This is a major concern and we are calling on the Government to ensure that Monitor, the NHS Financial Regulator, is given a duty to assess the financial viability of care providers and, where necessary, the powers to ensure compliance.”

The Department of Health announced that a public consultation about financial regulation would begin soon.

True or not? The Willis Commission report says NHS patients get 'unacceptable' care from nursing assistants.

NHS patients are receiving an "unacceptable" level of care from unqualified healthcare assistants who are now responsible for nursing tasks in care homes, an independent commission reported.

Healthcare assistants are employed in order to carry out simple tasks such as keeping patients fed and hydrated and taking a temperature. But these healthcare assistants are not currently trained to identify and spot warning signs such as dehydration or changes in body heat.

The Willis Commission led by Lord Willis of Knaresborough, a Liberal Democrat peer, published these findings in the report in early November.

One of the report’s findings is that patients families do not always recognise the difference between nurses and unqualified healthcare staff and sometimes follow the advice of healthcare assistants without even realising they have no nursing expertise. The report also recommended that all healthcare assistants should be trained to at least NVQ level 3 in order to help deal with the issues and concerns on wards and in care homes.

The commission also announced in the report that it was unacceptable that staff whose competence is not regulated or monitored are caring for vulnerable citizens. And that it was equally unacceptable that registered nurses must take responsibility for supervising colleagues on whose competency they cannot rely. In 2011, the NHS in England employed more than 53,000 Healthcare Assistants, and numbers are increasing by 6% each year.

Figures released in October 2012 revealed that 43 hospital patients had starved to death and 11 died of thirst due to failures in the most basic levels of care on hospital wards, whilst 78 died from bedsores.

The report also calls for measures to improve the quality of placements undertaken by student nurses, and for newly qualified nurses to be given extra support during their first year.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Public confidence is really important, however in the case of healthcare assistants, there is no evidence that compulsory regulation would lead to higher standards.

"They are supervised by professionally qualified staff, and often by experienced nurses. Regulation does not, in itself, change culture and is no substitute for proper performance management, good leadership and day to day high quality patient care."

It was also announced that a code of conduct and minimum training standards for healthcare support workers will be drawn up and created by January 2013.

The UK’s army of unpaid carers are left isolated, depressed and physically exhausted.

A poll recently undertaken by the Carers Trust has revealed that almost 60% of adult carers reported suffering mental health problems due to the strain of caring and other responsibilities they had.

Just over 25% experienced both physical and mental health problems, with muscular strains, insomnia and exhaustion also common complaints they had. Almost 60% said caring had damaged their careers.

The findings, sourced from a YouGov poll of 500 adults, will add further pressure on the Government to provide universal access to support services for Britain's 6 million unpaid Carers. The survey also found that almost 66% had never accessed counselling, respite  or even welfare support.

More than 1.5 million carers are aged over 60, and are often relied upon to move or lift immobile people and bathe, clothe and medicate their sick relatives.

It is also expected that by the year 2037, the number of carers is expected to rise to 9 million as a result of our ever increasing aging population and as a result of better survival rates from medical conditions etc.

Carer numbers

6m: 1 in 8 adults (around 6 million people) are Carers; this is expected to rise to 9 million by 2037

58% of Carers are women and 42% are men

3m: More than 3 million people juggle care with work and 20% are forced to give up work

50: 1.25 million people provide more than 50 hours of care each week

The 5 expensive obstacles encountered when finding a Care Home place

Many people are being let down on elderly care, as there are 5 expensive obstacles when finding a Care Home place

People have to overcome 5 expensive obstacles when they need to find a place for a family loved one in a care home, according to a recent report by the charity Independent Age.

The warning from the charity comes amid growing concern over how long-term care is funded.

Independent Age warns that families are let down in the following ways:

·         The care home means test, which says that anyone with savings or a home worth more than £23,250 must pay all their own fees, currently averaging £524 a week. The report called this ‘the worst means test in the welfare state’.

·         A failure of councils to give any help or advice to the families of people with more than £23,250 in assets. This can lead to damaging and expensive mistakes in choosing a care home.

·         Top-up fees. Councils pay an average of £452 a week for care home places. People in care homes which charge more are asked for top-ups, often unlawfully because councils try to pay less than their legal duty. In some cases better-off families are asked to pay top-ups of more than £300 a week. In all 55,000 families are paying top-ups.

·         Different costs in different places. For example, one Council pays no more than £451 a week for care home bills. But another council will cover costs of £952.50. The varying policies mean families in the wrong place can end up paying hundreds of pounds a week more in top-ups.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families.

People whose fees are paid by the council are allowed to keep no more than £23.50 a week to pay for extras to brighten up their life in a care home. This is inadequate.

For many, the tiny allowance means they have to rely on families to pay for much of the cost of new clothes, hairdressing, books and magazines, dry cleaning, toiletries, dental care and spectacles, and even treats like sweets and chocolates.

Last year a report commissioned by David Cameron from economist Andrew Dilnot recommended that the care home means test threshold should be set at £100,000, and no one with less wealth should be made to pay their own fees.

It also said that there should be a cap on the amount that anyone should have to pay for their care, possibly set at £50,000. However the Prime Minister, has delayed making a decision on the report.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families and leaving many of them confused over how the system operates.

Elderly should be treated at home instead of hospital.

Elderly patients could be treated at home rather than in hospital.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said that doctors should only admit the most seriously ill patients who would benefit from the highest levels of care. These proposals were made in late 2011 and were made amid fears that elderly people were routinely being ignored on NHS wards

The plans were unveiled as part of the NHS’s Operating Framework, which sets out the Government’s plans for the health service during 2012.

In these plans he promised to make the elderly the NHS’s utmost priority following a series of reports exposing harrowing neglect in hospitals. In one study by the Care Quality Commission it revealed that 20% of NHS trusts were treating older patients so bad they were breaking the law.

And that half of these hospitals weren’t meeting basic nutritional standards, as staff did not do enough to ensure the elderly didn’t go hungry or thirsty.

The plans also focussed on dementia patients, as they are often neglected by nurses who do not realise their illness can leave them incapable of eating, drinking or going to the toilet. Additionally, every patient with dementia must be looked after by at least one doctor or nurse who is properly trained in treating the condition.

Mr Lansley said: ‘We must see improvements for people with dementia, particularly in the care they get in hospitals. It will often be in their best interests to be treated at home.