Personal health budgets, Funding circle, Talking ATMs

Available for over a year

People entitled personal care budgets are missing out because no one is telling them there's a pot of cash they can access to help them pay for services to manage their care. The revelation comes from a freedom of information request submitted by former care minister Norman Lamb. He says in some parts of the country 99 per cent of patients who are entitled to claim a personal care payment aren't because they don't know that they can. In the financial world a Unicorn is slang for a web based company that is worth a Billion pounds. There are 40 Unicorns in Europe and 17 in the UK. This week we will be looking at four unicorns who have harnessed the power of the web to change the consumer experience. Today its Funding Circle who match savers with businesses in need of loans. The NHS could soon introduce a new pre natal screening test for Down's Syndrome. Expectant Mums would have the option of a blood test, rather than taking fluid from around the foetus, which can lead to miscarriage.Some experts say the new test is much safer, and helps families to make better informed decisions. But some Down's Syndrome campaign groups argue that if the move goes ahead, it will inevitably lead to more terminations, and that there needs to be a wider ethical debate before it's introduced. Last year the people who run RBS banks promised this programme it would install Talking ATMs by the end of 2015. Talking ATMs are useful for people who are visually impaired, because they allow you to follow cash machine prompts through headphones instead of having to memorise the prompts, or asking a member of the public to help. But RBS are yet to make good on their promise.