Ed Balls Crisis in Care.

Thankyou germanshepherdsmum. Indeed he had always been a very fit and active man and even initially with the vascular dementia was physically healthy. For him to be so dependent would have been awful, but of course he had no choice other than to be reliant on others. I was just glad I had the time and experience to ensure his life was as dignified as possible.
I think it's a horrid dilemma but both my daughter and I watch ambulance on BBC1. Being of a great age and in your home is what we all hope for. Many times we found ourselves being quite comforted by the fact that although residential care may not have been the first choice for our residents they were warm,safe,and had company if they wanted.

I’m afraid my alternative sodapop is a handful of pills (I take pills for epilepsy which would be lethal, no chance of being resuscitated) washed down with something nice. Rather as Terry Pratchett said he would do, though in the event the chance was taken from him. I can’t bear the thought of being dependent on anyone, even my husband, for ‘personal care’ nor of spending vast sums of money which my family could put to good use to sit mouldering away in ‘God’s waiting room’.

PippaZ

I think people stopped letting their elderly relatives go into a home - even when it should have been the best outcome for them - when it became more and more apparent that the hospitals had sent untested and even positive patients back into them or used the home to unblock those beds with untested and/or known positive patients.

I really couldn't blame anyone for making that choice.

Yes, they said that was the reason, PippaZ and I understand whyl.

However, there must be many people in hospital beds who no longer require such a high level of treatment (ie bedblockers) but who cannot go home to the care of relatives but who need short-term convalescent care before going to their own homes. They may not have relatives, family may live away or even overseas or they may not be able to take the time off work etc.

I agree with Germanshepherdsmum but, of course, we may not be sufficiently compos mentis or physically able when the time came to be able to make that choice.

Many years ago i was a home help. One of my lady’s was a retired matron, she had MS. One day I found all these little vials. In my ignorance I asked her what they were: when the time comes, was her reply. It took a few seconds for the penny to drop.
I often drive past her house and wonder if she did.

I cant help but wonder how this issue will be faced by younger generations.
My parents were born in 1920s/ 1930s. Families lived locally and there was more of a tendency for women to be home makers. There also seemed to be a dislike of interference from " officials". My grandfather was cared for by his childeren and my single uncle lived with my paternal grandmother.
Families and housing have changed so much. Those that are lucky enough to be on the housing ladder usually need two incomes.
If things carry on as they are there will be a whole generation who cant afford to buy their own property. Mine might be the last generation whose property can be sold for extortionate care fees.
I think on the whole the care system in UK is viewed with dread. Countries such as Holland have excellent purpose built communities for people with dementia where life is dignified and meaningful.
Of course this takes a willingness to invest and prioritise both by tax payers and government.
The old adage that you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members has never felt more apt or more damning.

Two friends have put their husbands into care homes, they both have dementia and the wives had coped with them at home for a long time and were both suffering from their own health problems. My DH "has said to me "please don't put me in a home," and I have said that I can't promise that. I'm sure it's a very hard decision for people to make.

i am a former home care worker (now retired) and the way not only the clients but also the carers are treated is beyond belief, i more than once had to call for a doctor or ambulance to some one i was with and on phoning manger to say i was with ill person and waiting for medical care to arrive and would be late to next client and more than once told oh just leave them and go to next person which i never did i always waited

Granny's you are correct: although we know full well that dementia is a disease of the brain, when it comes to funding, sufferers are classed as needing social care for which they have to self fund, whereas, for example, a cancer suffer would be funded as needing health care.
I think that this programme, the first in a series, was excellent and the above point was clearly spelled out along with many other issues. Like others here I was already aware of the many issues raised but lots of folk aren't. Let's hope that they didn't just turn over to another channel.

This crisis is not new. Its been going on for years. The Care Workers are under paid and under valued. There's not enough public money being used to make it work. Most of all its totally unfair that people who work hard to provide for their old age have to lose it all whereas people who haven't get it all for nothing.

Boris got his headlines about 'fixing' social care and has now moved on (or tripped over the Paterson shambles) to talk up climate change for more headlines so I wouldn't expect any further social care improvements, not until the cows come home.

elderly care should be under the wings of the state,at such a vulnerable stage in life people need protection and care,Im aware that no system is perfect, but the care system does not do too well privatised. How we treat our vulnerable must be a sign of a civilised society, but then i am not so sure i live in one.......

Germanshepherdsmum

I’m afraid my alternative sodapop is a handful of pills (I take pills for epilepsy which would be lethal, no chance of being resuscitated) washed down with something nice. Rather as Terry Pratchett said he would do, though in the event the chance was taken from him. I can’t bear the thought of being dependent on anyone, even my husband, for ‘personal care’ nor of spending vast sums of money which my family could put to good use to sit mouldering away in ‘God’s waiting room’.

My sentiments exactly..

grannysyb

Two friends have put their husbands into care homes, they both have dementia and the wives had coped with them at home for a long time and were both suffering from their own health problems. My DH "has said to me "please don't put me in a home," and I have said that I can't promise that. I'm sure it's a very hard decision for people to make.

I am for sure glad I live currently in a country where the choice will be ours as and when this time comes. We have made a pact.

I intend to plan well in advance Callistemon! Each month's prescription is more than adequate but I am lacking the something really nice. Maybe I could treat myself to Dom Perignon!!! Unless robbed of the ability to do so of course, for instance by a catastrophic stroke, in which case my clear instructions are not to resuscitate or feed me. I only hope it's my husband who would be carrying out the instructions as I fear my son would not be able to. Hopefully a long way ahead but it pays to be prepared and in my personal opinion not let the horrors of full-on dementia take hold. I do not advocate my chosen action nor wish to influence anyone else. It is a purely personal choice.

I used to work in care homes & thought it a true representation, we used to get 15mins to get someone up, washed and dressed and this programme showed how impossible this is with some people who are too ill to co-operate, we need to look after older folk better, this was one of the better homes & like Ed said, we need a career progression. I thought Ed was great & so hope Labour get in next time cos they care about people not profits

It was interesting and upsetting. I hope that the Department of Health pay attention and do something to raise the level of careworkers into the same system as NHS staff and to improve the reputation and working conditions for them. They do a wonderful job and need better structures and support.

Frankly, the older DH and I get, the more I fear what is ahead, both my parents died from Alzheimer's. I just hope for a swift end in my own bed.

Kali2

grannysyb

Two friends have put their husbands into care homes, they both have dementia and the wives had coped with them at home for a long time and were both suffering from their own health problems. My DH "has said to me "please don't put me in a home," and I have said that I can't promise that. I'm sure it's a very hard decision for people to make.

I am for sure glad I live currently in a country where the choice will be ours as and when this time comes. We have made a pact.

I think this country needs to face the reality of this.

DH just phoned to see how an elderly friend is; he is nearly 90, has had strokes, vascular dementia and just existing with carers calling in, his elderly wife trying her best and occasional respite care. He got taken into hospital with pneumonia where he has been treated for weeks and is due out today - and I have to ask why? Pneumonia is known as 'The Old People's Friend' as it is supposedly a gentle way to go.

My dear husband had Alzheimers and I nursed him as long as I could. Then he suffered a vascular stroke and was admitted to our local hospital when he stayed for several months. I visited him for 5 hours every day and then his bed was needed and he was moved, without telling me, to a care home 26 miles away. By then he did not know anybody, was barely eating, lost weight every day, was blind, and could not communicate at all. I drove to the care home every day and stayed with him for 5 hours. I fed him his meals, shaved him, gave him a bottle for toileting, and tried to communicate with him, etc. After several months he died and I was then sent a bill for social care. I refused to pay as he was not a social care person but a very sick person entitled to NHS care which is supposed to be from cradle to grave. I researched the internet and found that an East Devon (where I live) court had ruled that a patient like my husband was not a social care patient but a person in need of and deserving of free NHS care. That lady was in much better shape than my husband and I quoted her case to the Social Services who were pursuing me for money month after month. In the end I won my case and did not have to pay.

I’ve recorded it and will be better able to comment afterwards.
I like Ed Balls a lot, he seems a genuine chap.

One comment not related to the programme. I wish another name could be found rather than ‘carer’ which doesn’t sound particularly professional to me. It conjures up an image of a dead end, low paid job and it’s very far from that, low paid yes, but it’s a highly trained and dedicated job and should be recognised as such.

I should mention that the case I quoted to Social Services was that of Pamela Caughlan.
Also see the case of Maureen Groghan.

These are famous cases and if quoted may help you to get NHS care for your relative.

GermanShepherdsMum I'm with you there - my intentions exactly. The thought of being helpless but aware is a nightmare for me - having strangers doing personal things would be my idea of hell.

I had never dreamt that my OH would one day need to be in a NH - even when I knew he had Parkinsons I had assumed that I would just be able to look after him to the end. But in the end I was ground down by it and could not go on.

I worked so hard to make sure he was in an excellent home, but it cost me dear in every way. .......emotionally, financially, lifestyle .... everything.

This is why I hate the phrase "put him into a home" - I know only too well that this is seldom a decision taken lightly.

I just don’t get it! It is the RIGHT of elderly people to be looked after superbly in their old age! They have paid into a society that promised this! I know how difficult the so called ‘care’ system is; both my parents needed care, my mother with complex physical needs and my father with dementia. Many of the care homes we looked at (especially the council run ones) were substandard despite the CQC. Now the pension triple lock is under threat. I ask myself why this country gives very little respect or dignity to older people when it spends so VERY much money on placating more strident (and often minority) lobby groups and various causes du jour. Yes it IS political and yes, we should be angry!