Monday 7 September 2009

More Cutbacks for the Elderly

More Cutbacks for the Elderly

Sheltered and warden controlled elderly flats are now losing their live in wardens/overnight support and instead will have offsite answering services. The councils say this is due to the 11 hour working directive more info can be found on the 11 hour directive here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4536891.stm

Many councils state that it would be too expensive to have wake night cover in sheltered housing, So really it’s not just about the 11 hour directive it all boils down to money and budgets, Are our elderly worth so little?

Is it safe to leave vulnerable people at the mercy of an out of hours answer center, with wardens/staff onsite help can arrive in minutes and it is not just that, when you are frightened or worried you need someone familiar, not an automated reply from a stranger, what if there are lots of calls? How does the call center decide on urgency? They don`t know these people or their ailments.

Panarama ran a programme on this called Gimme Shelter you can watch it below http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mbvn3

The councils have this wonderful idea on supported housing 'a home for life', with social services cutbacks there are very few residential care places for the most vulnerable/unable. Many people also don`t want to live in residential care, they want their own home, their own front door, privacy and dignity which is their right!.

So what do we do? These are people that have worked all of their lives, whether it be in a paid job or bringing up their children, looking after grandchildren and parents. A lot of these people have fought for our country and helped with the war effort, lived through the blitz and extremely hard times.

Are our elderly just fit for the scrap heap and second rate services? Or are they worth far more, the councils don`t seem to think so.

Will it take a tragedy before they have a rethink? I do hope not.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really genuinely don’t care about the plight of other families older relatives.

I cannot understand why family units feel that it is the job of the British taxpayer to look after their elderly parents - especially when in a lot of these cases they are trying to preserve their inheritance and get the state to pay.

The fact that we will get old is not something one discovers by surprise, you will have had all your working life to plan for it and if your plan is to depend on local council care then I do not think that care should be equal to any care that one would get who has worked hard and saved for this unsurprising event in life. The whole welfare state system was not setup as an alternative to self reliance. It was made to provide care at a subsistence level only for those people who can’t / wont afford it. Subsistence levels do not mean that the local council has to provide a babysitting service 'just in case'.

If you are that worried about your elderly relatives, instead of berating the local FREE services, go and look after them yourself and stop expecting the taxpayer to be responsible for your responsibilities.

Anonymous said...

I think the mark of a civilzed society is the way in which it looks after its vulnerable people. Many tend to forget that it was this very elderly generation who went through World War 11 on our behalf and that we owe them so very much. Where would we be without them?
In answer to the previous commentI make the following observations.
1.many old people do not want to live with their offspring and they do not want to live in care homes either. They want to be as independent as they can be.
2. Family structures and patterns have altered. This is partly because the local authorites now allocate their housing in terms of "need" instead of in terms of "time on the waiting list" like they used to. This has led to the old working class family and communities breaking up. In days gone by families were able to live within the same neighbourhoods.The grandparent would have lots of support.Now they are scattered to the four winds.
Middle class families tend to be more mobile as well and go to live where the work is, often to other parts of the country. So it just is not possible to offer physical support to parents.
3. Society is changing too in that we are hearing more and more horror stories about criminals targeting vulnerable old people.
4. It is in the middle of the night when the body is at its lowest peak that illnesses and deaths occur. Someone on call 24 hours a day would be so reassuring to our elderly.
So I think we need to pull out all the stops to keep warden services going.It is not about the elderly not having saved money. It is about society putting a bit of money where it is needed.

Anonymous said...

"Many tend to forget that it was this very elderly generation who went through World War 11 on our behalf "

Yes, the very very eldery may have done. This is not a high proportion of aged overall.

Re 2. If you dont local authorities to allocate housing need - dont depend on them. Do some work and be in charge of your own destiny.

And if middle income off spring go and live in other parts of the country then dont moan that the local council is not doing a very good job of mopping up after you.

Re 3. Yes, society of changing that we are HEARING more and more horror stories. But the actual number hasnt increased but the reporting has. If you want your elderly relatives to be safe then go and look after them and dont expect some carer on minimum wage to do your duties for you. If you arent that bothered or it doesnt suit your lifestyle then, as before, dont complain that the taxpayer is not doing a good job of providing on call family care.

Re 4. Yes, someone on call 24 hours a day would be good. Be sure to give your eldery relatives a few telephone numbers for you and dont hope that the local council will save you from being awoken in the night.

We need to pull out all the stops to start getting people to acknowledge their duties towards their family unit again and not to try and force councils to replace this care.

Anonymous said...

I know elderly people who have put their homes in their childrens names so when the time comes they will not have to pay for their own care.
I think there are two different types of elderly, the ones who need genuine help, maybe because of heath issues and no family, and the others who just think they have a right and know how to play the system, claim all kinds of benefits and jump the queue for housing and so on.

Anonymous said...

Some folks seem to care more about chickens than they care about people!

Anonymous said...

"I think there are two different types of elderly,"

Very true, and when society enables us to properly differentiate maybe the people in genuine need can get the help. (* I also dont recognise anyone as being in genuine need if they have not worked or saved for this unsurprising event)

"I know elderly people who have put their homes in their childrens names"

Yes, and these will be the people screaming when the local council doesnt come and change their bed pan.

Anonymous said...

Many elderly people have worked hard and saved for their retirement but have you not read recently about what has happened to their hard earned savings and private pensions?
We have been paying out money hand over fist to workshy and irresponsible younger people who have NEVER contributed anything....

Anonymous said...

"Many elderly people have worked hard and saved for their retirement but have you not read recently about what has happened to their hard earned savings and private pensions?"

Yes, i have read this, if they fall into the genuine category then that is okay. But just because a very small fraction of people have lost their pensions does not mean that we should reward the excess/lazy lifestyle choices of all the rest.

As in all debates of this kind, it is not unusual to find people drag up exceptions and present them as the norm. So less of the extraordinary circumstances ( war heros / pensions lost ) and more of the realistic portraits would show an ability to view the whole picture.

On the other blog about towns losing their shops to big shopping centres I am sure it is the same people posting about how terrible the loss of community is. If you cant see the correlation between looking after your family unit and community ties then you need to brush up on your thinking skills.

Anonymous said...

Times have changed,people no longer look after elderly relatives,although they don`t turn down free babysitting and cash handouts.
As with all ages you have those who will milk the system and those that don`t.
I do believe that our elderly are well off, as those that have not provided for their old age receive benefits,they also receive a winter fuel allowance and get their rent paid if they live in social housing.
The main problem with the changes in sheltered housing is that people don`t like change,especially the elderly and it is also the fear of the unknown.
As for Taxpayers footing the bill at least they are our own scroungers who at some point have paid taxes and not so called assylum seekers who just come here for a free for all.