Getting Old in England
When will there be justice in Athens?
When those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are and when growing old is decriminalized in England.
Someone once said that the degree to which a country might be considered civilized could be judged by the number of people it had in prison. A better measure would be the way a country treats its elderly citizens. Oh, dear!
The state of elderly care in England is in Crisis.
The number of elderly care places has been falling for several years. There are now 70,000 fewer places available than there were when ZaNu Labour came to power in 1997.
11 million of the UK population are pensioners, 1 million are over 85 years old.
About 5% of pensioners need a care home. On present numbers, by 2020, three quarters of those in need will not be able to find a place in a care home. Translating the numbers into something meaningful; half a million elderly people will be left in their own homes to rot quietly - ZaNu Labour had a new idea in response to this crisis - qualtity care in your own home.
ZaNu Labour's plans for the elderly into the future, notwithstanding bleating about "it's better for old people to be cared for in their own homes", are an acknowledgement that they have no intention of properly funding local authority elderly care. All very worrying when you consider that one in twenty people over 65 has dementia. Will the ConDem coalition respond differently - there big idea is that citizens cough up £8000 on retirement to secure quality care in the future.
CQC Report
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its published report (2009) highlighted the deep failing in elderly care in Britain in this the 21st Century. Yes, much good work is being done but up to 25% of local authorities are deemed to be failing in their duty of care for the elderly. Failing, here means, providing 'poor' or 'just adequate' care.
The biggest crimes highlighted by the CQC report are lack of respect and having no regard for personal dignity.
Good intentions
Beware talk of schemes to care for the elderly at home. Local authorities have been cooking the books for years in their assessments of individual elderly care needs in order to make the till balance. Councils have become very clever at under-estimating individual care needs, so that no intervention is called for.
Why should we believe that anything is likely to change unless there is a massive increase in funding. Indeed, Help the Aged have suggested that some people could end up in care homes earlier than needed because it will be cheaper for Local Authorities. Now, with the ConDem cuts to Council grants it's clear that councils will follow one or two paths on elderly care, ignore the problem or find the cheapest provider.
You can read the full report and associated documents on the Care Quality Commission's website - it's a jolly good read, enjoy. Also see the Queen's speech, 2009 for an outline of the care in the home Bill. Which, by the way, will kick in next October (2010) after ZaNu Labour have crossed the floor to sit on the other side of the Parliamentary gravy train.
Care Homes: Waiting Rooms for Death
Michael Parkinson, acting as ZaNu's 'dignity czar' described 'care' homes for elderly citizens "as little more than waiting rooms for death".
Parkinson's report makes you wonder why people bother with this waiting room system and don't just go straight to the undertaker. Picture the scene, up and down every high street throughout the land, old duffers, well passed their sell by date, sleeping rough outside the Co-Op Funeral Directors.
Of course, becoming a death squatter requires an element of free will, unlikely when your nerves get all tangled up like rats' tails. Fact is, when you or those close to you begin to sense that some of your responses are becoming a little odd, nothing will happen. You're getting old, forgetful; the medics wont want to know. Come back when you are completely ga ga and then they will start prescribing. By then it will be too late and your fate will be out of your hands. You never did take out that 'lasting power of attorney', now those who care about you don't have much of a say about what happens to you either.
Neglect for the elderly, in 'third world' Britain
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Every older person is entitled to high quality, safe and dignified care, whether it is provided in their own home or anywhere else. Anything less is unacceptable."
"The new Care Quality Commission has tough powers to penalise or close down providers who offer substandard care. We expect CQC to use these powers to crack down on cases such as those highlighted by Panorama."
So, the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) are able to crack down on sub-standard care providers. Well, no, not exactly because Local Authorities are able to 'interpret' the required care standards in their areas. Penny pinching councils are only offering critical care, meaning that those with moderate needs are overlooked. The CQC pops in and inspects the councils good work and says, well done, you're meeting your stated care targets. The CQC says itself, "the current system of assessing eligibility for care lacks clarity, transparency and fairness."
Stating the bleeding obvious wont disguise the signal fact that the elderly are being neglected - not cared for - in third world Britain.
The Truth About Elderly Care
The truth about elderly care is that nothing happens until it's too late to help and so-called care homes are nothing of the sort. Government knows the scale of the problem but instead of treating it like a national emergency it chooses to make the problem disappear within a maze of bureaucracy.
Needless use of anti-psychotic drugs is widespread in dementia care and contributes to the death of many patients, an official Government sponsored review suggests. Anti-psychotic drugs do not benefit many dementia patients. About 180,000 patients a year are given the drugs but estimates suggest that only 36,000 benefit from their use.
The government in England has agreed to take steps to reduce use of the drugs. These include: Improving access to other types of therapy, such as counselling, better monitoring of prescribing practices and the appointment of a new national director for dementia to oversee the measures.
There are currently 700,000 people in the UK with the condition, but this is expected to rise to one million in the next 10 years because of the ageing population.
This review reveals that over the past 30 years doctors have been prescribing anti-psychotic drugs for dementia just to keep them quiet.
Cuts - the new challenge of caring for the elderly and vulnerable
It's estimated that 370,000 more people will need care in next four years.
The £14.4bn allocated by government for adult social care spending by English councils is right in the firing line for cuts, this is local authorities' single biggest controllable budget.
And you don't need a crystal ball to guess that the Rolls Royce of care packages, the Independent Living Allowance will be drastically cut. This type of package can cost upwards of £100,000 per person.
Ministers have said that there will not be big cuts to Adult Social Services (Adass) and have hinted at additional funding in this area. However, these sound biters overlook even the £1 billion suggested increase will not be enough to cater for the increasing numbers requiring care.
The president of Adass has said he expects real cuts of the order of 40% over the next four years.
The blunt reality is that people in need of social care will in future get less State help. Individuals will have to do more for themselves and take part in Cameron's "big society".
Care Homes, not badly managed, just not managed!
There are more than 500 different operators running care homes and they must appoint a registered manager by April 2011.
Almost 1,000 care homes across England have no registered manager, a watchdog said.
While there is no direct risk to residents, care homes without a registered head may be less able to spot problems, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.
The new Health and Social Care Act 2008, which came into force on the 1st October 2009, makes it a requirement for all care homes to have a registered manager. The old legislation, brought in in 2000, also carried the same stipulation.
Yet, despite this, almost 1,000 care homes have no registered manager.
The CQC said it had placed conditions on those care homes without a registered qualified manager, requiring operators to appoint one.
If they fail to do so, they will be breaking the law, yes, but they were all ready breaking the law?
Another 200 care home providers have had conditions placed on their registration for other "compliance issues," the CQC said.
Chief executive, Cynthia Bower, said: "It has been recognised in the care sector for some time that there is a shortage of experienced and qualified managers. While we have been undertaking the enormous task of re-registering thousands of care services, the scale of this has become clearer."
In other words, who ever did the earlier registering, did the job badly.
The new ConDem Imperative
The shortage of so-called 'social' housing for families will be sovled at a stroke, no pun intended, by moving the elderly out of their homes into one bedroom flats and bed and breakfast establishments.
The case of 83 year old Edward Meakins highlights the ConDem's solution to the shortage of 'social' housing. Mr Meakins has been resident in his three bedroom Barnet home for 74 years but not for much longer.
Last month Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, warned that pensioners may be forced to move out of their “under-occupied” council houses to free them up for struggling families.
This month, Think Tank Man's musings have become the new local authority imperative. Unfortunately for Mr Meakins he lives in Barnet, the home of zealotry, whoever's in Government.
A spokesman for Barnet homes, the LA's housing contractor said:
“We have to balance our sympathy for his position against the needs of the large number of people on the housing register who are desperate for a good quality family home.”
They plan to evict (re-house) Mr Meakins within the next three months.
Perhaps IDS will send a couple of squadies round from his 'army of compassion' to make Mr Meakins a nice cup of tea.
(ED. Army of Compassion?) Yes, that's what volunteers are now being called. You really should visit IDS's website - the Centre for Social Justice.
Take control of your life... before 'they' do.
Feeling alright are you? That may not last beyond tomorrow and you may need someone to take decisions on your behalf. Choose someone you trust now.
Act now, before the Office of the Public Guardian steps in to steal your money. Then your relatives will have to prostrate themselves before the odious Court of Protection to regain some measure of control over your affairs, in order to care for you properly.
To date, the Court of Protection has stolen £3.2 billion from individuals who have lost control due to mental illness or dementia. The role of the Office of the Public Guardian is to vet relatives wishing to access funds to care for those mentally impaired and then charge these relatives a supervision fee (£800 a year).
Find out about registering someone as your Lasting Power of Attorney, you can get the forms and register at the web address below.
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/index.htm
You could invalidate your 'life cover'?
It's anti-social to kill yourself (according to the compassion lobby), far better to suffer intolerable pain and indignity. Far better to be doped beyond the reach of feeling anything, beyond the power to rage about anything; beyond feeling human any more. No, you'd be better off dead, if that's what you decide.
However, be aware that this course of action could invalidate your life cover - so nothing for the relatives then, should you decide to selfishly end your life. And remember that according to the bishops we are not autonomous beings and must wait for their God to release us.
Also be aware that suicide is an illegal act, well, it's illegal if you're unsuccessful; so make a good job of it. Of course, you could travel to Switzerland and pay Dignitas to slip you a mickey finn but leave the relatives at home or they'll get arrested for assisting you.
Clearly, leaving the world is far more complicated than arriving, we suggest that you plan well in advance of your eventual departure.
By the way, in case you were wondering why suicide is illegal, well, it's because the bishops have the whip hand in the House of Lords.
Know Your Rights
- Under the NHS constitution, you have the right to have your complaint dealt with efficiently and properly investigated
- You should be told the outcome of any investigation into your complaint
- You can complain either to the service you are unhappy with or the PCT that commissioned it
- Complaints should be made as soon as possible - normally within 12 months
- If you are not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
A matrix of vultures preying on the elderly
On Monday, HSBC was fined a record £10.5million and ordered to repay £29.3million – after one of its subsidiaries the Nursing Home Fees Agency – was found to have mis-sold investments to 2,485 pensioners between 2005 and 2010. The average age of these pensioners was 83 years.
The Financial Services Agency failed to take any action over the activities of NHFA. The FSA investigated NHFA in 2004 and found no fault with its activities and in subsequent years ignored what the company was doing.
HSBC participated fully in the activities by incentivising its own staff to alert NHFA to elderly customers with large balances and by directing customers for investment advice.
NHFA investing practices tide up money for years and entailed harsh penalties for withdrawing funds early.
NHFA were also assisted in their unethical dealing by Help the Aged, who advised pensioners to seek advice on paying for home care to NHFA. And Direct.gov, even today is still pointing people in the direction of NHFA.
Many of the individual's responsible for scamming the elderly have now departed NHFA to enjoy their gains and to set up other companies to fleece a new crop of elderly. One to watch out for in particular is FirstStop Advice, a so-called charity set up by NHFA founder Philip Spiers. FirstStop Advice receives funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government and provides advice on care home fees.
Mr Spiers may have turned over a new leaf but then again perhaps the FSA should investigate his advice giving - just to reassure everyone.
Just to indicate the size of this racket, salesman were being paid £8000 for each mugging, Age UK and Sage has repaid £13,000 per customer that it received for referrals, the average investment was in excess of £100,000.
HSBC might tread a bit more carefully for five minutes, until the FSA goes to sleep again but a large number of other sharks are following the smell of elderly blood. No apologies, the people being encouraged to buy these investments are as close to death as it's possible to be without actually being dead. Why can't the FSA seek out ethical investment advisors and point people in their direction, instead of always reacting disappointingly.