Social care is a hot agenda item for politicians hoping to gain our vote in next week’s election. Big promises and sudden u-turns have brought social care into the spotlight, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
We’re in the middle of a ‘social care crisis’, and it seems clear that massive problems are being stored up for the future. Chronic loneliness among the over-65s, pension poverty, long-term underfunding, unaffordable care costs and care providers going out of business every day – the picture is grim.
What do YOU think the answer is? What should our new government do? Can we, as a country, solve these deep social and economic issues? We’d really like to hear your views on the Care Community.
I think we almost need a blank sheet of paper and have a look at social care from the beginning.. when you watch the news there are such mixed views - some people think as they have worked hard all of their lives they are entitled to have their care paid for without touching their assets, whereas others believe it isn't down to the state to care for them. Until we can agree on the basic principles it is a hard one to solve.
I think that closing cottage hospitals and convalescent homes was a bad choice, particularly since we hear of so many elderly "bed blockers" in acute wards through no fault of their own.
A friend told me "when you have everything, you get nothing, when you have nothing you get everything"
There is a disparity in care where some people have been reckless with money, new cars, expensive holidays etc in the past but still enjoy a care home for which no provision has been made to pay the fees. Whilst others who have been pretty frugal, doing all the "right" things like paying a mortgage, saving, paying into a pension, always working, are denied the choice to leave their children a suitable inheritance.
I know in some ways this is a generalisation but there needs to be a fairer assessment, otherwise what is the inducement or incentive to save and be self sufficient when you are working age?
My friend's mother and an aunt were in the same care home, one had everything paid for, the other had to sell everything to fund her care. The week she died she became eligible to have her fees paid. That strikes me as being very unfair.
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SO Much For These SO Called Professional’s WITH Headline Like This : Older people dying for want of social care at rate of three an hour
