Have your say on the Big Care Debate

Errata

I think homes run by St Dunstans and possibly the Legion, and those run by occupational and professional bodies' charities are charities and not for profit.

scotsbob

lynzpower wrote: »

I dont know if it is simplistioc. ultimatelywhat you have to look at is the profit that many cmpanies are making. It is not unusual to see care homes for sale with huge operating profits.

http://www.businessesforsale.com/accountingweb/1327601-1/browse.aspx

Do you think its OK for a care home to be making 250k profit per year? I personally dont and find it all rather distasteful.

FWIW, there is in fact a cost to the taxpayer of having these services provided outseide of the LA.

Commissioning staff, investigations, chasing up carers who hadnt attended, reviews of car packages- all paid for by the state to manage the at times, poor qality home care that people are payin a fortune for - is it OKto pay 18ph for someone to go to tescos for you? If it takes 1 hour 10 then it costs £36- sometimes more than your food budget! if the care gets stuck on a bus- and it tips over into 2 hours, is that the older persons problem?

An ex colleague of mine, who is now disabled, asked his carer if she would mind popping a letter in the postbox on her way home.

Imagine his surprise to get a bill at the end of the month for £10!!

Why £10? Because half an hour was the minimum time segment.

I mean she had to pass pillar box on the way out, it was only 50 metres outside his home.

missychrissy

That's outrageous scotsbob. Doesn't say much for our present day society!

cathsara

petersandyglen wrote: »

Actually, once your savings are down to £13,500? The state pays the full cost of looking after you in a nursing home. What is the point in having extra money to spend per week when everything is provided for you by the nursing home?
Sat. T.V. shopping , doesn't come into it. Peter.

As someone who is guardian to a dementia patient in a nursing home.
You still need money for clothing, toiletries, razors, snacks (chocolate etc), newspapers, hairdresser, chiropodist and outings. The nursing home don't provide these.

Gavin83

kittie wrote: »

Doh, thanks button instead of quoted again.

Where from? We will pay for us from our savings but no way on earth are we going to contribute into a national pot to pay for all the people who spent instead of saved. There is a lot not being said by the government ie who IS going to pay for the workshy, serial, scroungers who have never done a days work in their lives or the inadequate mothers who have 14 children on the state

I think thats reasonable, people shouldn't be expected to pay into a central pot. Are you suggesting the the current system is infact the best option then?

It's a touchy subject regarding those who cannot afford their own care. There are two choices, either they are supported by the state or they don't receive the care they require. Since we live in what effectively is a welfare state where no one in theory goes without, then they will always be supported. An unfortunate reality of this is that the tax payer will support these people but I guess thats the price we pay to give in the UK.

I guess the other option is for the state to support everyone, regardless of wealth. However, I resent paying my taxes to support those workshy people enough, let alone supporting people who can actually afford to pay for themselves.

scotsbob wrote: »

For the first three or four years of my life I couldn't feed/toilet/dress myself without help form my parents. I think it very fair that I should do the same for them in the last few years of their lives.

Thats very noble of you but unfortunately not everyone either wants or can do this. If you have a good job, a mortgage to pay and a family of your own it's hard to give this up to care for your parent. Many people would also choose not to regardless of circumstances.

I was just suggesting that elderly people shouldn't presume that their children will look after them when the time comes as this isn't always the case. Even those who do choose to look after their parents often have to place them in the care home eventually due to their constantly increasing needs. Even the most loving children will find it difficult to care for their once loving parent when they are being verbally and physically abused on a regular basis.

All Im suggesting is that anyone may one day end up in a nursing home, you won't necessarily get a choice in the matter regardless of how supporting your children are. The vast majority of people in care didn't really want to be there.

missychrissy

It can be incredibly draining to look after a parent who is physically or mentally compromised or both and unable to look after themselves. I work in nursing homes and I have seen many a 'child' at the end of their tether bring a parent to a care home as a last resort and feeling extrememely guilty about it, but left with absolutely no choice.

I have seen partners and children who have become ill because of the stress of caring for someone close. The carer sometimes ends up dying before the cared for.

I stayed with my 80 yr old mother for 10 days last year when my father was in hospital. She gets very mixed up, loses things, has very marked short term memory loss. I thought she might have coped for a few days but the police rang me to say that she had telephoned them to say she was locked in her house. I therefore cancelled 8 night shifts and went to stay. She was horrible to me, reduced me to tears on 2 occasions and I had to leave the house to pull myself together. I'm no softie, I look after people like my mother for a living but the strain at times was unbearable. I was tired because she would wake me in the middle of the night to ask where my father was and she could keep this up all night. She kept telling me to get out of her house and who did I think I was to come and think I could take over. I kept explaining that I was just there to help and take her to the hospital to see dad but she would almost immediately forget anything I said. She would ask the same question over and over again. She is much nicer to my father, after all he has a right to be in the house but I think he deserves a medal.

I have a job to hold down, a mortgage to pay, sons still at uni and as a single parent the only one supporting them. It is very difficult to just drop everything and head 140 miles north to see to my mother. I realised that if anything happened to my dad (he is 5 years older), I would not be able to cope with her. I cannot see any alternative but to arrange for her to live in a care home. She would hate it but I don't know what else I could do.

There are lots of people in my situation faced with the same choice. There are no easy answers. Fortunately I can think of at least 3 care homes that I would be sufficiently happy for her to live in. Standards vary and it is important to look around.

I saw a sticker on someone's car recently that said 'Be nice to your children, they will choose your care home'.