Do we think that the Government trying to get us over 50’s back to work might actually herald a review in our favour?

[TiggerMe]

Perhaps they’ll take a little more interest in us chronic cases? 😀

Let’s start with optimism in our hearts 🤗

[Greybeard]

No

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Greybeard]

🤣🤣🤣😩

[tattybogle]

i suspect they'll find that most over 50's who have become 'economically inactive' have done so because they 'had to' ....due to health limitations and / or because the stress / working conditions of their former line of work work had become intolerable .... not because they 'just fancied stopping at home' .

if so, most of them will be more or less 'unemployable', unless somebody comes up with a bunch of job's for them with REALLY flexible working conditions .

i imagine there might be a big push to look at long covid due to the huge numbers of people involved , which might well help us all in the long term, IF they do proper clinical research not just psychology 'cures'.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to tattybogle]

I was thinking they might have to turn things around and revert to being a health service designed to keep people fit for work rather than an emergency and crisis service?

They might look at the surely ever rising numbers of dysfunctional thyroid drop outs and wonder if they couldn't do something better to keep us in harness, as we end up being a terrible drain on the system by being mistreated?

[Hidden in reply to TiggerMe]

I think there are probably hundreds of conditions in which people are poorly treated.

My belief is that the only way to fix the problems are to pour money into them.

Imagine what an NHS looks like, fully staffed and fully stocked.

Imagine what youth detention centres look like when families are given adequate support at the early stages of trouble.

It just baffles me that any sane person can see a system isnt working and decides the way to fix that is to give it LESS funding.

Bonkers.

Once you have an NHS that isn't on its knees then we can discuss over 50's re-entering the work force!

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

I actually saw a GP last week as my reaction to histamine had upped its game and I rapidly became wheezy, congested and itchy, messaged them asking for non urgent advice.... next thing I get a call to come in, so haul myself out of bed... her response... well your breathing seems ok now, if it happens again go to A & E or call 111...

No advice offered to tackle root cause or even acknowledgement that some replacement DAO enzymes could help to stop this escalating, just the prize of an Epi-pen if I qualified by having a worse reaction?!

[SarahJane1471 in reply to tattybogle]

well said tattybogle 👏

[Sparklingsunshine]

We've lost thousands of the over 50's from the workforce since Covid, stress, furlough, staff burnout, people realising there's more to life than work, particularly those with high powered jobs which involved long hours and long commutes. I think the growth in home working allowed many to see they dont need the daily grind of being chained to their desk 9 to 5. They want flexible working hours to fit in to their lifestyles. Plus there were those who took early retirement.

Then there are those who are sick, disabled or who have caring responsibilities. Many over 50's are helping out ageing parents or caring for grandchildren. Employers were already very reluctant to employ someone who wasn't in good health, particularly those with fluctuating conditions. They want able bodied motivated staff, not people whose health is unreliable and who might need time off or medical apointments, sick leave.

Add to that the 7 milion plus waiting list for NHS treatment and its not hard to see why many who would like to return to the workforce just can't. If you're waiting for tests, for a diagnosis, for surgery then you aren't going to necessarily be looking for work.

Of course this is a panic reaction from the government because we've lost a lot of foreign staff due to Brexit. And unless we have much more investment in occupational health, more flexible working patterns, understanding employers and a functional NHS that can treat people quickly and effectively, all of which require lots of cash, then its just the usual rhetoric from politicans.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

They are desperate for more tax payers else they will be looking to raise money elsewhere or make more cuts, the system is imploding 😮 like you say a lot of key workers have gone home and won't be coming back

[humanbean]

No.

Particularly since many of the jobs that are short of staff are ...

Really hard because they are one or more of the following - boring, dirty, exhausting, smelly, unpleasant, dangerous, paid a pittance. E.g dustmen, fruit and vegetable pickers, retail workers, waiters and waitresses, fast food workers, food delivery companies etc. Few people want to do these jobs.

Or

Really hard because they require degrees, years of training, certificates, exams, expensive registration etc. e.g. doctors and nurses.

Be aware that the government cooks the books a lot.

E.g. did you know that, according to the government the numbers of doctors in the UK have increased a lot. They've increased because the government has put lots of retired, sick, and old doctors and nurses back on their respective registers (without consultation!) even though the people concerned can either not work, have left medicine, or don't want to work or can't work for other reasons. Just because someone is on the registers doesn't mean they are working.

25/3/2021 - gov.uk/government/news/reco...

11/4/2022 - theguardian.com/society/202...

30/10/2022 - drmalcolmkendrick.org/2022/...

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to humanbean]

The lack of accountability just keeps things spiralling, there seems to be no unity for the greater good

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to humanbean]

And not forgetting many of the jobs you mention in your first paragraph are not only unpleasant and unpopular but poorly paid to boot. No wond3r they cant fill them.

My son started work as a HCA several years ago at 18. He was interested in becoming a Physiotherapist but wanted to get some hands on medical experience first.

It didnt take long for the disillusionment to set in, my son was a caring lad who liked his patients but hated the stress, long hours, overwork and poor staff morale. As I pointed out on several occasions he could earn better money with less stress and responsibility at Aldi. In fact the NHS dreads it if an Aldi or Lidl opens up near to a hospital as they lose staff.

[Christabel in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

What a shame. I hope he finds something fulfilling.

[mrskiki in reply to humanbean]

Yes they really haven't matched the early retirees etc up with the actual job vacancies have they.I'm considering adding to the numbers and leaving, if I can get by, i won't miss all day in a badly lit and badly air conditioned open plan office with people openly coughing and sneezing everywhere. And those conditions are much better than most of the low paid jobs they are looking to fill.

[DippyDame]

No!

If healthcare provision and working conditions had been better then perhaps fewer people over 50 would be unfit for work!

They've spent too long penny-pinching and papering over the cracks...without massive investment it's too late!

Hard to be optimistic with reality such as it is....thyroid disease ( and much more) is way down their list!

[serenfach]

Never apply logic to governments...

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to serenfach]

I was thinking desperation might kick some sense into them?

[Rapunzel]

No

There will be a lot of brown trousered muppets in government of whatever political colour if more of us 50> choose to stop working for the man. This little cry for those in this situation to return to work is a bat's squeak next to what will happen if this call to return to work is ignored.

The government needs the tax dollars of these 'economically inactive' people, most especially as 'government funding' - in other words, our taxation revenue - has so far to stretch these days.

We are fortunate that we live in a democracy and can't be forced to work. My own solution has been to embrace self-employment in the sure and certain knowledge that, in charge of my own destiny, I can work when I feel well and pull up the drawbridge when I don't. Middle finger to the man. You had enough of my vigour, mateys. This sister is doing it for herself.

My economic situation affords me the opportunity to do this. Mortgage paid off, various pensions starting to trickle thru, blah blah blah. Many of these 'Covid retirees' who appear to number around 400K don't especially want to put their feet up, they're just sick of working in roles that pay peanuts, managed by fear, subject to outrageous sexism, offered little job satisfaction or opportunity to perform or progress, whilst board members and shareholders take all the glory and way too much of the reward.

Governments are rarely ever benign. They are little more than tax collectors sitting in a money pit, their arms raised for more...