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Wednesday 3rd December 2008 Make us your HOME PAGE  What is RSS?
 
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Have Your Say - User Comments

ARTICLE SUMMARY

Is the treatment of our elderly a total scandal?

A DEVOTED couple died in a suspected suicide pact because they feared being separated for the first time in their 60-year marriage.

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YES VERY MUCH SO AND WORST OF IT IS, IS THAT THE..................

02.06.08, 3:21am

Yes very much so and worst of it is, is that the government must think anyone over the age of sixty as being senile and not needing decent food. They seem to think that the state pension is more than adequate to feed people of this age group and that they should only buy the very basics.

Then we have the high cost of energy that many pensioners can't afford. Some pensioners with health problems need to keep warm but the government could not care less. Maybe all the three main parties think that if they keep pensioners living below the poverty line that it will kill them off and so wont need to be funded or in reciept of a state pension anymore.

The TV licence for instance should be scrapped once a person reaches seventy years of age and the telephone line rental for this age group should be paid for by the state other countries such as Ireland do it so why can't our government?

• Posted by: Nimue • Report Comment

OUR PENSIONERS HAVE PAID FOR CRADLE TO GRAVE CARE.

28.05.08, 8:34pm

This countries elderly people have spent their working lives paying taxes and what were mandatory N.I. contributions for what should now be cradle to grave care.

Unfortunately the former Thatcher Government initiated rolling back the "role of the state" in the 1980's, and New Labour have embraced the Thatcherite ethos from their general election victory in 1997, todate.

I believe that our pensioners should all receive free residential care funded by the state, and that they should also receive a much higher state pension linked to increases in national prosperity through the earnings link.

If you also believe that our elderly people deserve a decent state pension, please sign my group's Petition on the Downing Street Web Site, here is the direct link to that Petition,-

h t t p : / / petitions.pm.gov.uk/TheUkInEurope/

Thank you.

• Posted by: Robinhood • Report Comment

IS THE TREATMENT OF OUR ELDERLY A TOTAL SCANDAL?

22.05.08, 2:12am

You bet its a scandal, but just wait a few weeks until the Crewe bi-elections die down, the next bombshell is set to announced. Wonderful Brown is now giving councils the right to sell your house if you need to go into a care home, but not in Scotland, no its different there, they pay for it or should I say, WE PAY FOR IT. You will no be able to pass on a property to family members if you have to go into care, though a surviving spouse may remain in the property until they die, then the council will snatch it.
Now what does that say. To me it says that they want you go out in this climate and buy a house, pay through the nose for the rest of your life and when you get older and need to cared for, they will simply snatch your property and all the equity, but not in Scotland. Brown and most of his cronies are Scottish aren't they, funny that.
This case in discussion regarding the devoted couple, now where in all of this PC crap and all the do-gooders that rule this country, where does basic human rights come into play, where are all the lawyers now. Are we all going to continue to sit on our backsides and take this rubbish or are we going to get out in the streets and do something. Government, and that includes local government, need to understand that they have a duty to the very people that elected them, not to do everything possible to walk all over us, tell me where this 'Democracy' nonesense comes into it. Truth is, its a word that they simply have no idea of its meaning and I am sick and tired of hearing 'we will learn from this'. Democray and Respect, two words that should be stricken from the english language because absolutely nobody understands the meaning of them.

• Posted by: lekkie • Report Comment

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WHAT ABOUT THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE ELDERLY

20.05.08, 7:17pm

I notice that the Human Rights Lawyers are conspicuous by their absence in cases such as this. Perhaps these people are not newsworthy or trendy enough. The Government and society as a whole should be ashamed at the way elderly people are treated. They are by and large treated as a nuisance and an inconvenience in today's society so it is little wonder that Social Services and Local Authorities feel they have carte blanche to do just as they will. There is no public outcry at the inhuman treatment of many elderly people who suffer dreadfully in their final years. The small amount of objections that are made are not countrywide and appear mainly in publications such as this. There is a danger of becoming too complacent and having an I'm alright attitude especially if you are the right side of 50 but If we keep ignoring these dreadful happenings what will be next? Compulsory euthanasia? Wake. up Britain with luck you will all be old one day.

• Posted by: Globetrottinggranny • Report Comment

IT ALL WRONG

20.05.08, 6:06pm

the government should feel utterly ashamed ,
our elderly are so poorly treated its disgraceful.
some of these people have fought for their country, they have lived through some of the roughest times in our history and yet they are treated no better than third class,

• Posted by: jessica • Report Comment

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MAKE A GOOD WILL

19.05.08, 12:31am

You do not have to sell your home if you need care, look into it.

• Posted by: sophialoren2 • Report Comment

THEY ARE NOT JUST A JOB TO MOST OF US

18.05.08, 4:45pm

I AM HEARTBROKEN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COUPLE WHO HAD BEEN MARRIED OVER 60 YEARS AND DIED. WHEN IS THE GOVERMENT GOING TO HELP OUR ELDERLY???????????????????IT IS VERY HARD 4 ANY ELERDERLY PERSON 2 GIVE UP THEIR HOME AND GO AND LIVE IN A STRANGE PLACE WITH STRANGERS AND STAFF THEY DO NOT KNOW AND ITS WORSE FOR A PERSON WITH ALZHIEMERS/DEMENTIA THEY HAVE THE CONFUSION AS WELL AS EVERY THING ELSE TO DEAL WITH ANY DECENT CARER WOULD TELL U ITS VERY DIFFICULT 4 THESE ELDERLY PEOPLE....BUT IT IS NOT JUST A JOB I HAVE WORKED OVER 20 YEARS IN CARE OF THE ELDERLY AND ITS POORLY PAID ....ITS A 24-7 JOB WE DONT HAVE BANK HOLIDAYS/XMA/SEASTER/OFF WE WORK....WE SUFFER ABUSE BOTH VEBALLY/PHYSICALLY FROM SOME RESIDENTS WE MAKE SURE THE ARE LOOKED AFTER BY LEARNING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THEIR HISTORY/FAMILY/LIKES/DISLIKES/PREFERENCES/WORRIES /WHAT THEY NEED/BOTH PHYSICALLY/MENTALLY....WE ARE FULLY TRAINED IN ALZHIEMERS/DEMENTIA CARE MOVING AND HANDLING...HEALTH AND SAFTY FIRE...CARE OF THE ELDERLY....FOOD/HYGINE ....MEDICATION....WE FOLLOW CORRECT POLICES AND PROCEEDURES ON ANY TASK WE DO 4 A ELDERLY PERSON WE HAVE COURCES IN CORRECT LY DOCUMENTING EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH PERSON AND WE STAND UP 4 OUR RESIDENTS..I WOULD BLAME THE GOVERMENT/SOCIAL WORKING FOR THAT COULE NOT BIENG PLACE IN THE SAME HOME IN A DOUBLEROOM IF THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE THEN 2 SINGLE ROOMS 1 COULD HAVE BEEN THEIR BEDROOM AND ONE COULD HAVE BEEN MADE INTO A SITTING ROOM FOR WHEN THEY WANTED THEIR OWN SPACE.. THE GOVERMENT SHOULD FIND MONEY TO BUILD NEW HOMES WITH BOTH SINGLE/DOUBLE BEDROOMS THEY SHOULD PUT MONEY INTO LOOKING AFTER OUR ELDERLY PEOPLE.... THEY WENT THRU A WAR FOR US.....PRISONERS GET BETTER LOOKED AFTER THE THE ELDERLY IN THIS COUNTRY MINISTERS GET UR ACT 2GETHER AND DEAL WITH THESE PROBLEMS AND GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO THE OLDER GENERATION MORE HOMES THAT ARE ELDERLY PEOPLE WANT.NEED..ITS NOT MUCH TO EXPECT IF THE BOTH PARTIES ARE MARRIED AND HAVE TO GO INTO CARE THEY WANT DOUBLE BEDROOMS THEY WANT TO KNOW THEY ARE SAFE/SECURE/HAPPY AND WELL LOOKED AFTER BY CORRECTLY TRAINED PEOPLE ITS NOT MUCH TO ASK..INSTEAD OF TAKING BIG PAYMENTS<,WAGES>PUT SOMETHING BACK LETS SEE WHICH PARTY WILL GET THEIR ACT 2GETHER FIRST 4 OUR PEOPLE.

• Posted by: jean54 • Report Comment

OUR ELDERLY - THEY ARE JUST JOBS

17.05.08, 7:06am

This couple may have felt that the end was inevitable and becoming part of the care system was not a pleasant option. They would lose their independence and have to rely on people who just regard them as a tedious job that is for life, if one dies another one will replace them. so you always have a job.

As promised to trade union members our elderly are just jobs and therefore the care factor is not a priority. Some of the carers don't have the feeling for caring that is desirable in such an important job, instead it is regarded as an industry, lacking the right attitude does not matter, what matters is the job. But the nasty side to this is when someone not caring is caught out and the unions hide the truth behind a wall of silence to protect their members.

Not to long ago an 80 year old woman was dragged 20 yards by a bus, the driver was talking to a passenger who was a work mate of his (this is illegal). He drove off leaving the woman trapped in the door of the bus and only stopped because another passenger shouted at him telling him to stop. Afterwards he was heard to remark that it was not his fault he was concentrating on driving and did not notice the problem . (an old person person is a problem ?) When her family complained about this they were met with a wall of silence as if it had never happened even though both the driver and his workmate were identified no action was taken. But the bus company did put up notices on buses about passengers talking to drivers, the driver is still driving, no action was taken against him, the poor union person him.


In my area it is considered the done thing to rip off old people, you can see young con artists tagging on to the elderly to get what they can out of them and this is also true of some of the carers. It is known about by the elderly who are afraid of going onto the care system because they know they will have their assets stripped by very clever thieves who steal and try to make out their charges are senile when they complain.

FOOTNOTE:

This is not a statement that all care for our elderly is bad but it does point to the reason why none of them trust the system , they are all afraid they will get some bad ones in charge of them. Bad ones protected by others. The private sector has people just as bad but they are no different to public sector workers, none of them care.

• Posted by: albertthedog • Report Comment

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IS THE TRETMENT OF OUR ELDERLY A SCANDLE

16.05.08, 11:23am

Yes it is, but one consolation is that all these peole who decide these things will, themselves be old one day and perhaps the same thing will happen to them, retribution me thinks.

• Posted by: oldsalt19341 • Report Comment

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IT'S BEYOND SCANDALOUS, IT'S CRIMINAL...

16.05.08, 4:14am

This is a tragedy that should never have happened, sadly it did. This loving couple was cognizant that life’s journey together would likely be spent apart because of some mindless, soulless, bureaucrat. Hence they, courageously, chose eternity over being separated by some government mandarin.
Undoubtedly the elderly are deemed third-class citizens by this government. It is only a matter of time when the elderly and infirm will be reckoned (even more so than today) as an unnecessary burden to the nation’s economic wellbeing. It is at this moment euthanasia will be legislated by the unethical lot within the government and the judiciary.
Consequently, those able to pay the piper, sort-to speak, will elude the fate dealt to their less privileged counterparts. As far fetched as this may seem; one must not discount the possibility that those feigning concern for our well-being, the mythmakers of this so-called cradle-to-grave welfare state, are cold-blooded when it comes down to the bottom-line.

• Posted by: misanthrope • Report Comment

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WELL GODNIGHT

16.05.08, 1:53am

I MUST SAY THIS IS ONE OF THE NICEST HAVE YOUR SAY THAT I HAVE BEEN ON.

• Posted by: debbieharry • Report Comment

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IT IS A TOTAL SCANDAL

16.05.08, 12:58am

But you know ,at the end of the day, they chose not to be seprated after sixty years, what a brave couple, in love till the end, it is a sad story,
but im glad they where not seperated,
Love conquers all.

• Posted by: debbieharry • Report Comment

IS THE TREATMENT OF OUR ELDERLY A TOTAL SCANDAL?

16.05.08, 12:10am

It most certainly is with our hospitals and care homes being amongst the worst

• Posted by: treehugger • Report Comment

TOTAL SCANDAL

15.05.08, 4:20pm

Hi commie, the only 'human rights' in UK are for neer do well's. Blood turns to black pudding in a patriotic Englishman's viens !

• Posted by: juan01 • Report Comment

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WHAT A BRAVE DEVOTED COUPLE

15.05.08, 1:29pm

Ater 60 years together no one, not even social srevices was going to seperate this couple.
Maybe they did not want to see each other decline, but was they thinking about the pain it would have caused their offspring.
I do not know if they had sons or daughters but, im sure if they did they thought about them, more themselves, if you have seen some one suffering from a terminal illness it is heartbreaking, they still had there faculties, and did it their way!
GOD BLESS EM!

• Posted by: supernova • Report Comment

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