Comments on: Our decaying care of the elderly

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:02:20 +0000

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.

By: Clivegsd

Clivegsd — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:51:51 +0000

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’

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:35:58 +0000

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

By: Pansy

Pansy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 08:07:21 +0000

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’?

By: clivegsd

clivegsd — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:52:23 +0000

“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?

By: Pansy

Pansy — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:30:08 +0000

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.

By: clivegsd

clivegsd — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:04:59 +0000

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

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:44:36 +0000

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.

By: Tony Rhodes

Tony Rhodes — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:24:58 +0000

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

By: Pansy

Pansy — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:09:55 +0000

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.