MS Society - grants and criteria

For many people with MS, there will come a time when they need to purchase a piece of equipment or pay for adaptations to their home as a result of their disability, but will not have the necessary funds to do so. Some needs can be met by statutory provision but it is a fact of life that equipments or funds will not necessarily be available. Eligibility criteria are tightening as a result of budget cuts within statutory authorities, and fewer people are being offered help. The MS Society and its branches have always aimed to help people with MS with items they need because of their disability but for which they cannot get statutory help.

The Application Form

Anyone who wishes to apply to the branch for a grant. Must complete one of the Society’s standard application forms these are available from the Branch welfare Team or the National Centre As well as seeking specific information to assist the branch in considering the application, the form also contains sections that aim to identify other possible sources of funding.

After decisions have been made

Branch policy is that all decisions will be notified in writing to the applicant. Nobody has an absolute right to a charitable grant. Appeals against refusals of help are not dealt with in the same way as those for statutory benefits. Payment of grants Grants will not be paid to the applicant. Grants will be paid by cheque directly to the supplier or manufacturer in all cases.

Criteria for applying to the National Welfare Grants Fund

The present criteria are as follows:

1. All grants must be for the benefit of persons with MS, for an item needed as a direct result of their MS.

2. No long-term financial commitments can be entered into by the Society. It follows that top-up grants for residential care or other such requests cannot be considered.

3. All applications must be supported by written evidence of an assessment of need and suitability of the item requested from an Occupational Therapist, social worker etc. and a quote to confirm the cost of the item.

4. Applications from individuals with savings above £15,000 will not be considered. Applicants with savings above £8,000 will need to justify why they are not able to meet the cost of the item requested themselves.

5. A person with MS is limited to applying to the National Welfare Grants Fund once every two years, unless the application relates to respite care.

6. Grants cannot be given for medical equipment, i.e. pressure relief mattresses, treatment - conventional or complementary, legal costs, or insurance.

7. We cannot give help in instances where an item has already been purchased or ordered.

5. Respite care - as per branch policy. Local Authority Social Services Departments have a responsibility for assessing individuals requiring respite care and for arranging for its provision - in the same way as for long-term residential and nursing care. A grant cannot be considered unless the Social Services Department has been approached first.

Prioritising

Due to the quantity of applications and to ensure expenditure is kept within budget, a prioritising system, approved by the MS Services Committee, is used when considering each request.

The priorities are:

1. To facilitate independence
2. To enhance quality of life

Before considering a grant, funding from other sources must be taken into account. The Society’s policy is to identify other possible sources of funding where appropriate.

Appeals procedure

An appeals procedure was introduced in August 1996. Appeals against branch decisions must be dealt with by the branch concerned. In most instances declined applications have the right to appeal. However, it is important to bear in mind that retrospective applications, where there is no justification for the late submission of the application, do not have this right of appeal. Applicants wishing to appeal are instructed to write to the branch explaining their reasons for appealing, within 30 days of receipt of notification.

(MS Society Newsletter, 2008)

Trials and tribulations - NHS to pilot new contactless readers

The NHS will run a series of trials piloting contactless smartcard readers that enable access to IT systems in hospitals without needing to be physically handled – reducing time and helping to prevent the potential spread of disease. The project has been initiated by the Department of Health’s IT service, Connecting for Health (CfH) which came into operation in 2005 and supports the NHS in developing computer systems and services. In conjunction with the 12.7bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT), CfH has issued a tender for smartcard readers requesting the delivery of up to 100,000 devices over a three year period with 20,000 readers to be delivered over the first year, and 50,000 across the second year. The initial 100-reader trial will take place at an undisclosed NHS trust and will not be publicised unless successful, a wise move for NpfIT seeing as another failed IT project would be a significant blow to their reputation.

Since its inception, the risk of IT equipment becoming a vector for infection in the healthcare environment has been a primary concern for the NPfIT. Unfortunately for the NHS the current devices and solutions available have shown limited degrees of success in reducing the risk of obtaining an unwanted virus. In the past, the medium of choice for communicating information within the NHS has been paper which is virtually impossible to disinfect. Furthermore, it’s nigh on impossible to log and trace which patients or member of staff has been in contact with each piece of paper – thereby making it extremely difficult to located the source of any paper-transmitted infection. It’s not surprising that one of the key objectives of the NPfIT is to eliminate much of the paper communication throughout the NHS, from primary care, all the way to pharmacy and secondary care.

The NHS has recently purchased Philips smartcards for all members of staff who work with the existing touch card readers. A CfH spokesman said, “We have been looking to acquire proximity smartcard readers for some time but the appropriate technology has only just become available. A key requirement is ensuring the product we procure is capable of being easily and effectively cleaned to prevent that piece of equipment from transmitting germs and bacteria.”

It’s a case of out the old and in with the new. Previously, the NHS deployed CRS smart cards which required the user to place their smart card on a specially manufactured clean reader. Similar to a chip and PIN debit card, the smart card was printed with a staff member’s name, photograph and unique user identity number. Staff were granted access to confidential patient information based on their work and level of involvement in the care of the individual. While this improved the security of NHS records (allegedly) the risk of transmitting infection was still apparent, as although physical contact has been greatly minimised – sometimes it still occurred when the smartcard was placed on the reader. And that wasn’t the only concern. A recent survey conducted by the GP’s newspaper Pulse revealed that one in six NHS staff flouted the rules regarding confidential medical records, and shared smartcards. Despite CfH warnings that “disciplinary procedures should follow” if smartcards are used improperly, 5% of GP’s also admitted sharing their own smartcard.

Rumours around the Department of Health suggest the Philips SmartMX may be the likely candidate to acquire the tender. But does the SmartMX reader provide the desired solution for the NHS? The signs certainly look good. The reader is the first to have contact and contactless interfaces and is certified for use in the health sector, meaning phase-out of old technology can be gradual. The product can also be integrated into other smart card systems and enables physical and digital signature functionality. CfH will only place an order depending on the outcome of the trial, so it’s in the interests of suppliers to get it right.

While NHS trusts move forward with contactless IT technology there are still a number of obstacles to be faced. There are still password issues with computer systems, as well as a lack of applications provided by NPfIT, many of which are not accessible with certain smart cards. Passport problems have been notoriously difficult to solve for NPfIT, due to the cost of implementation and the fact that local applications vary across each NHS trust in Britain. However, NPfIT has no choice but to push new IT projects and encourage development. Already four years behind initial targets, and rumoured to be over budget, the programme must make progress soon or face the possibility of a major re-evaluation or restructuring process. NHS chief executive David Nicholson told MPs that the NPfIT was at a “pivotal position”. Speaking at a House of Commons Health Select Committee meeting, Nicholson said, “If we don’t make progress soon we are going to have to sit down and think it through again. We can’t go on and on like this.”

The trials announced for contactless smart card readers can only be a good thing for the NHS. If successful, the project will greatly reduce the risk of infection. If unsuccessful, (which is just as likely!) the project could spell the end for NPfIT. It’s a considerable gamble. CfH officials believe it could take up to ten years to get arrangements fully nailed down. This serves as a timely reminder of how difficult the information governance of the health sector remains.


(Smartcard News Ltd, 2008)

Interview with Laura Dennison - MS Researcher at Southampton University.

Why is it important to have treatments to help people to adjust to living with multiple sclerosis?

Laura: “A diagnosis of MS can be difficult to deal with, even devastating. It’s a chronic, unpredictable and potentially disabling disease and can produce unpleasant symptoms and lead to limitations on people’s lives. And unlike a lot of diseases, it tends to hit people when they are fairly young. So it presents a lot of challenges.

Whilst most people manage to cope with MS and continue living a good life, many have significant difficulties at some point. Depression, anxiety, reduced quality of life, reduction of social life, lack of ability to work, and strain on relationships are all common.

Research suggests that people feel that they don’t get enough formal support with the impact of living with MS and the emotional side of things. Many people would like to have some form of psychological support or counselling to help them deal with the diagnosis and the impact it has on their lives”.

Tell me a little about the trial that you are conducting at the university.

Laura: “A few years ago the MS Society invited researchers to submit proposals for research into psychological therapies for helping people in the early stages of MS to cope and adjust. Our research team, headed up by Prof Rona Moss-Morris (Southampton), Prof Trudie Chalder (King’s College London) and Prof Lucy Yardley (Southampton) was awarded funding. We are conducting a trial of two therapies, comparing their effectiveness for helping people to adjust to MS. We’ve called this the saMS trial (Supportive Adjustment for MS). We have almost 100 participants in the trial. They are randomly allocated to have one of the two different treatments; “Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)” or “Supportive Listening”.

We use questionnaires to assess participants’ levels of distress and adjustment before and after therapy. We are also doing some in-depth telephone interviews with people after they have finished the therapy to get their feedback. We’re aiming to find out if the therapies are helpful. We are also trying to get an idea of how and why they work. We’re also looking at whether the treatments are cost effective”.

Tell me about what happens to people in the therapy.

Laura: “Our participants are each having 8 sessions of therapy. Two out of 8 sessions are face-to-face. 6 are done on the telephone, so we can minimise the amount of travelling and disruption to routine. This is really important because when people have symptoms of MS it can make attending appointments stressful and difficult.

The ‘therapist’ who runs the sessions is actually a nurse who has received intensive training in psychological therapies for assisting people with MS. Sarah Morton is the nurse-therapist for the Southampton arm of the trial.”

“In supportive listening people can talk about anything they want- it’s a special, guarded time for the participant to talk and be listened to. I have found that, for example, people have chosen to use the sessions to explore how they feel about their experience of receiving a diagnosis and some of the changes that have occurred and how they`ve managed. Occasionally some have said at first that it felt a bit unusual to have such a free `space` to be listened to and that it seemed a bit unfamiliar but often they end up being able to talk and talk and talk. Sometimes they tell me things that they can’t tell anyone else. It’s all completely private, and I’m there to be supportive. I try and understand what the person is experiencing which helps me to empathise”.

In the CBT sessions we work our way through aspects of a treatment manual, choosing together to experiment with the areas that we agree seem most useful to focus on. In particular we look at how people’s thinking (cognitions) and actions (behaviour) can either help or hinder their attempts to cope with MS.

In Gavin’s case we worked on his difficulties with household chores Gavin had found that his `all or nothing` approach meant he lurched from full on spring clean mode, resulting in total fatigue to the other extreme of “can’t face doing it at all its is simply TOO big a task”. We experimented with developing a consistent, moderate programme of regular slots of the tasks three times a week and he tried it out and adjusted it until it was pitched at a manageable level. Also during this process we began to recognise, test and then revise Gavin’s thoughts about being useless such as `I’m a failure at housework` to `I can do it but I have to approach it in a slightly different way`”.

What are the goals of the therapy?

Laura: “We’re hoping that these two therapies will make people feel less distressed and have a better quality of life. We don’t have the results yet because we’re going to re-assess people 12 months after they started therapy so we can look at both short-term and long-term effects.”

What will happen when you’ve got your results?

Laura: “We’ll be working with the MS Society to make sure that members are informed of the results. We’ll also be publishing in scientific journals and at conferences so that more researchers and health professionals get to know about the study.

If the research shows that either or both therapies are useful for improving adjustment in people with MS we’ll have to start thinking about rolling them out on a larger-scale so that more people can benefit.

(MS Society Newsletter, 2008)

Geyres steps down at Oberthur – but what’s the truth behind his departure?

The news that Philippe Geyres was stepping down from his role as managing director was another twist in an eventful year for Oberthur Technologies. Amid rumours of mergers, strategic re-shuffles and potential acquisitions, the French card giants were hit by Geyres’ decision to end his two year tenure at the helm, with Thomas Savare taking over. The official line from Oberthurs suggested Geyres had ‘completed his duties’. A company statement said, “Philippe has greatly contributed to the strengthening of the Card Systems Division, we are sorry to see him leave.” But was the split as amicable as Oberthur Technologies would have us believe, or was Geyres left with no option but to leave an increasingly unsteady ship?

Throughout 2008, the company undertook a major restructuring process, splitting operations into three separate divisions – card systems, ficudiary, and cash protection. In July the group created an additional new division centralizing all its activities in the identity field that previously had been part of the card and fiduciary divisions. It’s likely the decision to reorganize was a result of companies within the industry having to adapt their strategies to cater for the continuous advances in smart card technology. Some, like Oberthur Technologies, have opted to form separate divisions to address the needs of the new markets, whereas others have chosen to partner with other players.

There were rumblings that Oberthur Technologies were interested in acquiring card activities from Sagem Orga, the world’s fifth largest vendor. This isn’t the first time the two companies have been linked to a possible merger. Since Axalto and Gemplus joined forces in 2005 to form Gemalto, the remainder of the chasing pack were left sweating on their futures. Gemalto commanded 50% of the market share and represented sales of 2 billion euros, in stark contrast Oberthur had sales of just 500 million euros. Unsurprisingly, Oberthur objected to the merger arguing that the creation of a rival four times its size was unsustainable for the industry. While the group have been vague about their plans to respond to any partnership with Sagem Orga since then, it seemed inevitable that local acquisitions of second tier vendors would have to take place. Of course, if this didn’t happen Oberthur wouldn’t have the purchasing power to compete with Gemalto.

Lo and behold, already this year the company has completed the acquisition of XponCard group for a cool 70.4 million euros. The deal meant that Oberthur becomes the owner of more than 85% of total shares. This has already proved fairly fruitful – third quarter financial results showed XponCard-related activities had attained sales of 14.8 million euros, up 13.8% on the previous quarter. The group is also reportedly interested in purchasing the paper division of Arjowiggins, a world leader in banknotes and security papers. The move would make strategic sense, allowing the group to vertically integrate upsteam and compete with its rivals in this sector, Louisenthal and De la Rue. However, there is still some uncertainty as to whether Oberthur could finance such a move. The acquisition of the entity would create a level of debt nearly four times the gross operating surplus. Bad news for Oberthur, but great news for Arjowiggins.

So much activity could have unsettled Geyres, and maybe decisions were made without his full support. But perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back was the recent decision by Oberthur to delist the company shares from Euronext Paris, and run all operations privately. Parent company, François Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire (FCOF) made the offer to Oberthur shareholders to buy back their shares, thus commanding 95% of the group’s share capital and voting rights. FCOF is to spend up to 226 million euros buying out minority shareholders, offering 6.70 euros per share – a premium of 33% over the last traded price of the euro (5.01). Despite this, some shareholders complained the offer was too low and threatened not to propose their shares in the deal. Before the deal, the Savare family (who own parent company FCOF) already commanded 72% of Oberthurs capital and 77% of the voting rights.

According to Oberthur, delisting the company from the French stock exchange will ‘facilitate long-term strategic and industrial investments necessary to its future development.’ One of the objectives of such a move is to give more flexibility to Oberthur management. That’s certainly proved the case already, with a host of chopping and changing in senior management, most notably the departure of Geyres. The group also suggested delisting will ‘shelter the company from market pressure’. In other words – the decision to go private may have had something to do with possible forecasts of deterioration not just in market conditions, but in the group’s profit margins. I’m only speculating – but perhaps Geyres knew something we didn’t ? Watch this space.



(Smartcard News Ltd, 2008)