Our decaying care of the elderly
Posted by Ellee on Sep 13, 2007 in updates | 62 commentsA guest post by fellow former regional press officer Janice Small who is helping 
organise Kent Conservatives’ EU trealy rallies.
This post focuses on a subject close to our hearts – our decaying health service for our elderly to ensure they have dignity at all times, and are allowed the care and medication they need without having to swing through hoops – or being denied it.
As we all become more mobile and lead busier lives, one growing sector of the population, the elderly, have become a forgotten and uncared for burden on society. I’d like to use this platform, kindly offered by Ellie, to highlight some of the policies put forward by the Conservatives and ask you to support two campaigns that campaign for the elderly.
The Conservatives, are prepared to put our money where our mouth is, and are recommending that we nearly DOUBLE Carers Allowances. In addition we aim to allow carers to keep more of their income without losing their entitlement to the Carers Allowance.
Carers UK, the organisation that represents carers across the country warmly welcomed the recommendations made by the Conservative Party’s Social Justice Policy Group on valuing the role of carers and raising the level of financial support carers receive.
Key Facts on Carers under Labour
· If carers earn over £87 per week the benefit is completely withdrawn.
· Those caring for under 35 hours a week are not entitled to Carers Allowance.
· Carers are very understandably angry about the current derisory amount of Carers Allowance.
· It does not reflect either the contribution they make or the hidden costs associated with disability.
· The rules make it very difficult for carers to build up a decent pension to support themselves and their loved-ones in retirement.
Unfortunately in the world’s fifth largest economy there are still a million pensioners living in poverty, they have suffered above inflation council tax rises and some face an inflation rate of 9 per cent, more than three times the official rate. Added to this the cost of fuel has rocketed with gas bills rising by 71 per cent and electricity by 45 per cent, despite falling wholesale prices. These costs are unbearable for many who are on fixed incomes.
I urge you to support the following:
- Support Age Concern’s Hungry to be Heard campaign to highlight the scandal of malnourishment amongst older people in hospital.
- Support for the British Geriatrics Society campaign – Behind Closed Doors – on the right to use the toilet in privacy.
- The system for claiming should be simplified starting with automatic payment of Council Tax Benefit – only claimed by 60% of those entitled. Lobby your MPs and councillors to change this ridiculous bureaucracy.
- 2.1m do not claim pensions credit – this should be an automatic payment. Lobby your MPs, the vulnerable should not have to jump through hoops to get what is rightfully theirs.
Pensioners should be treated with respect, have easy access to transport and information on local amenities together with feeling safe and secure. We’re all going to get there one day.
It is time for a change in how we look after those, who are looking after others.
I agree with you Clive, but I do not know how to get away from the means tested system, because if there is flat allowance for all then we are back to the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, this is an issue that needs to be debated and hope some one has some ideas that we can put forward.
Which goes back to being means tested and forms having to be filled in and pensioners won’t do that because it’s seen as ‘demeaning’
Yes Clive I see how that looks
“and the pressure being applied to solve the whole problem for all the people not just a few�
it is not exactly want I meant we need a full package that can benifit every one but peoples needs have to be assed properly
At the moment it seems that people who have been unable to save or have seen their income disappear are reduced to living below the poverty line, while people who have savings watch them rapidly disappear just to live.
When did growing old become such a crime in this country?
What happened to ‘each according to his needs’?
“and the pressure being applied to solve the whole problem for all the people not just a few”
So a universal benefit/allowance for everyone regardless of their income or savings?
Tony R.
I am NOT saying we should do nothing and just wait.
If you happen not to agree with someone on a quick glance, do you actually bother to read and understand what they said?
I said we should be all out for a for a proper standard of living for pensioners, carers, disabled etc. not asking for and being grateful for handouts.
I am not a charity case and I resent people who want to make me one.
Sorry Charles but as I said I prefer to say things as I see them.
That was said and I couldn’t remember who said it, can’t understand why you object to being called a Carers UK fanatic though?
As for the “bickering harming the cause of Carers” I beg to differ. It has focused Carers UK’s mind as to what Carers REALLY want/need/deserve and slowly they are having to come out of their comfort zone, THAT’S down to US. They have sat on their hands for years because people allowed them to because “they are a charity so they must be doing some good”
They have blocked Carers from taking part in government consultations because “they know best” and they DON’T. People have allowed them to help keep Carers in poverty, if Imelda Redmond had taken our “Live The Life If A Carer” challenge I might have shifted my view of her SLIGHTLY, but she didn’t.
Oh, example? Tony’s regarding charities, people are coming to realise that the money that charities receive doesn’t get spent on the ‘good causes’ they represent, it goes on wages in the main AND THAT’S WHY donations to charities are at an all time low. Charities are businesses that don’t have to prove they are being successful. Charities are now either tools of the government or money making schemes.
I know people don’t like me for my outspoken views and to be honest I don’t really care because I’m NOT going to sit on my backside and wait for change, I’ll get in the faces of as many people or politicians or media as possible to show we (Carers) aren’t feeble people that need others to speak for us, we are damn strong and have minds of our own (most are far smarter mentally than me before anyone thinks I’m referring to myself) Carers need a strong ‘front’ and they now have it and if it unsettles some people then tough, change is WELL overdue
I think Pansy has a very vallied point hand outs do hurt, and a lot off people will not claim them, but also these handouts make it look as the government are doing something when they are not, what is really needed is less pressure being put on for handouts, and the pressure being applied to solve the whole problem for all the people not just a few.
So what your saying pansy is that in the meantime we should not bother to help people, we should just wait and watch all those people suffer without making an effort to change something, wait untill the government gives us what we deserve, if that is the case, should we just not bother with any charities whatsoever?, sadly some people in our society have to rely on the good work of some charitable institutions because otherwise they would not survive.
Your right, the government does have enough money there to pay carers and pensioners what they need, but untill they actually hand over that money i dont see any harm with trying to put pressure on people to try to change things.
Tony Rhodes
Tony R, have only just had time now to come back here and I know things have moved on, but I would like to come back to your petition. Personally I do think that handouts hurt, because the government gets away with giving a little sop to the few, without addressing the needs of the many. The general public then thinks that a good job is being done and we all slip back under the carpet until the next sop. What we want and what we need is a decent level of income for all the vulnerable in our society. The information is all out there, the government knows what needs to be done, but while we campaign for sops, they get away with ignoring the bigger picture.
The treatment of our elderly is indeed scandalous, as is the fact that the general public still has the impression that being a carer means popping in on someone and doing a bit of shopping.
The fact is, the money is there to do all the things that are neccesary, the political will is not.
As usual, where you are concerned, Clive, there is no possibility of constructive debate.
This bickering is harming the cause of carers, so I will withdraw from this, with apologies to the site owner.
Will you do the same?
It was a question Charles, I just couldn’t remember which Carers UK fanatic said it, it’s such a bland place I have difficulty remembering which follower said what so your last line I’ll just ignore…..though it’s good you admitted it was said in the first place (-: