Kate Garroway-Care at home costs

Germanshepherdsmum

Well how do you suggest it’s funded? How much extra tax are you willing to pay? Genuine question.

I don't need to pay any extra tax because its already getting funded ......I never saw one of those young people turned down for nhs chc funding ......to be fair a lot of these young people don't live that long .....but often 20 to 30 years of full funding from birth ...I got CHC funding for my nan but I'm sure its only because I knew how it works... her care needs were unpredictable .....thats often crucial with chc funding ..... then there all the people who get all care needs paid at home as 117 aftercare ( if you've ever been sectioned ) .....again...this has been happening for years
..paid for by yours and my taxes ....it is what it is .....I don't makes the rules ...but I make sure I fully understand them when it comes to claiming for my own family

LOUISA1523

Germanshepherdsmum

Well how do you suggest it’s funded? How much extra tax are you willing to pay? Genuine question.

I don't need to pay any extra tax because its already getting funded ......I never saw one of those young people turned down for nhs chc funding ......to be fair a lot of these young people don't live that long .....but often 20 to 30 years of full funding from birth ...I got CHC funding for my nan but I'm sure its only because I knew how it works... her care needs were unpredictable .....thats often crucial with chc funding ..... then there all the people who get all care needs paid at home as 117 aftercare ( if you've ever been sectioned ) .....again...this has been happening for years
..paid for by yours and my taxes ....it is what it is .....I don't makes the rules ...but I make sure I fully understand them when it comes to claiming for my own family

My school friend had a severely disabled younger sister. Her Mum looked after her at home until she was about 10 but it got too much for her. She went into a home and is still alive and in the same dreadful state aged 65. Her care costs run into millions.

Germanshepherdsmum

Well how do you suggest it’s funded? How much extra tax are you willing to pay? Genuine question.

There is no question that doing what is morally right us very very expensive. No-one is doubting that.
But ...
Firstly, whatever system is decided on should be honest and transparent ... not what we now have, which is deeply dishonest and distressing.
Secondly, it could be afforded if a government had different priorities. That is for the electorate to decide.

It also has to be said that a great deal of the rise in care costs relates to privatisation and the need for profit.

Germanshepherdsmum

If care in a care or nursing home is cheaper than care at home, we cannot expect the NHS to pay extra for care at home because that is what someone wants.

It is not cheaper. That is the point.
Cost wise they are broadly similar.

Indeed, many care homes and care agencies are owned by big businesses, and profits and shareholders are king.

If Kate Garraway's husband couldn't get Continuing Health Care, then it shows how flawed the system is. If she wanted to care for him at home, they should have paid her the sum of money it would cost to keep him in a nursing home. If you think that that it would have been very much cheaper for Derek's level of need, you would be surprised at the cost of high level care in a home. We pay over £9000 per month for a low level of nursing care by comparison but the fees are determined by how much individual care you need.

The whole care system must be reviewed..an example I know of:
My aunt was in residential home for years, and had to fund herself as she' did not have nursing care needs'. Even though she couldn't get out of bed or bath without z hoist, and at times needed feeding ,toileting etc. She was deaf and at times very confused. She used all her assets in fees .
On the other side, friend's mother is eligible for paid for [ by state] in a top of range care home , like a hotel because she was MHA,sectioned aged 17 . She has been stable and mentally well for 60+ years, and the family are millionaires!! I believe that because she was sectioned once she falls under Section 117 of MHAct which means she is funded ongoing.

My husband (65 years old) is currently receiving NHS Fast Track Continuing Health Care in a nursing home for his palliative / end of life care. His care needs are complex as besides his primary cancers he suffers from very severe aphasia and is paralysed down his right side after one of his cancers caused a massive brain haemorrhage. I couldn't have attempted to care for him at home as it would have been both mentally and physically too much both for me and any carer to look after him at home. But I suspect my husband wishes he was at home, but I was already exhausted from having to drive 3 hours a day to visit him when he was still in hospital for over six weeks.

Germanshepherdsmum

There is another thread on this subject. Whilst I can understand KG wanting her husband to be cared for at home, and that that would have been his preference, the state can’t afford to fund such complex care needs on an individual basis rather than in fully equipped and staffed nursing homes.

Surely, these complex care needs should have entitled him to Continued Healthcare Funding from the NHS which is also free at the point of use, and I do hope that she can represent all those that are struggling to get it.

It is awful to lose someone obviously, however, if a person in her position with TV appearances and book deals can't find it, then what about your average person. Or she could perhaps ask her mate Elton, or many of the rich guests at the funeral, they wouldn't miss it.

CHC is VERY difficult to get - nowhere is there a definitive eligibility criteria and the fight is very long and very hard - it's basically the NHS and Social Care fighting amongst each other as to who is going to foot the bill, and then if it is Social Care, they will expect it back. I get an increase in my disability benefits in April, it's usually enough to get a few loaves in, yet even before I have received it, the Council has grabbed that increase back (or is trying to, but I will refuse to pay until I receive and agree to a copy of my Care Act Assessment from last June, a legal requirement that just isn't happening in most local authorities) no care about whether people on benefits still need that increase to pay for the increased cost of living obviously ...

The whole thing is a lottery, and can be a relief for those whose relatives are funded, but it is no means a fair system at all.

The problem being with public spending, social justice never enters into the equation, and somehow a skewed system of economics has taken over (neoliberal). Profit is everything and the fact that public spending is an investment in people and things is ignored.

Modern economics is about power, which decides how the allocation of resources is run, to the benefit of those who run it.

I bet the government has never heard of Gransnet!

I have every sympathy for the family in their grief and for her late husband having to endure a very gruelling illness and the ensuing effects. However, I admit to struggling to understand how Kate Garroway sees herself as a self-appointed champion of unpaid carers - given she's never been one herself. Paying qualified people to care for a loved one while retaining a very well paid job, frequently attending showbiz events in expensive clothes and being surrounded by a network of wealthy and influential people is about as far removed from the life of an unpaid carer as you could possible get. Yes, to some degree I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, but I am genuinely baffled as to how she could possibly understand what it's like to be real, unpaid carer.

Perhaps I will send this thread to my MP (Tory).

I bet they have, GN is an offshoot of MN, and pretty much every political party has appeared on MN at one time or the other.

It was a very moving documentary. I have nothing but admiration for Kate and so glad they had their last few years together at home as a family. The reason for filming appears to be to highlight the unfair care system and may be Derek’s lasting legacy. He was passionate about social justice in life.

I would gladly pay higher taxes if it resulted in a fair system. No one chooses to be dependent on others for care and it should be treated as a health issue and therefore society should share the cost.

In my opinion, the provision of care should never be run as a business with shareholders creaming the profits.

She may be in debt, but she is fortunate enough to own a second home.

Marie Curie have praised Gate Garroway for highlighting this problem, and throwing a spotlight on the many who are in poverty due to care costs. MC estimate those living in poverty paying for care, theirs or a relative, numbers 90,000.

Farzanah

Perhaps I will send this thread to my MP (Tory).

It’s copyright of GN - and although our individual posts can easily be found on Google, I for one wouldn’t want my posts forwarded to anyone.

Spencer2009

She may be in debt, but she is fortunate enough to own a second home.

And have a lucrative career.

I am not sure passionate about social justice is a phrase I would associate with him. This is my concern about famous people highlighting complex issues, their lives are very removed from the general public and the complexities often tend to get lost.

ferry23

I have every sympathy for the family in their grief and for her late husband having to endure a very gruelling illness and the ensuing effects. However, I admit to struggling to understand how Kate Garroway sees herself as a self-appointed champion of unpaid carers - given she's never been one herself. Paying qualified people to care for a loved one while retaining a very well paid job, frequently attending showbiz events in expensive clothes and being surrounded by a network of wealthy and influential people is about as far removed from the life of an unpaid carer as you could possible get. Yes, to some degree I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, but I am genuinely baffled as to how she could possibly understand what it's like to be real, unpaid carer.

Quite.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

What because some of us think it's a complex issue?

Germanshepherdsmum

Farzanah

Perhaps I will send this thread to my MP (Tory).

It’s copyright of GN - and although our individual posts can easily be found on Google, I for one wouldn’t want my posts forwarded to anyone.

Whoops. Fair enough.

How do we know 😈 isn’t here Anniebach?