Welfare Reform on the Web (February 2000): Care of the Elderly - UK

BID TO END HOME SALES FOR LONG-TERM CARE

J Sherman

Times, Nov. 1st 1999, p. 6

Reports that the government is considering a plan to provide free care for elderly people who have spent 4 years or more in a nursing home. Individuals would choose how to pay for the first four years of care, including via private insurance. The plan aims to prevent people from having to sell their homes to pay for long term care.

CARE HOMES PROBLEMS MAY BE EASED

R Bennett and J Burns

Financial Times, Oct. 28th 1999, p. 4

Predicts that the social services bill to be introduced the 1999/2000 session of Parliament will include provisions to prevent local authorities by-passing care homes and sending the elderly to hospital to avoid paying the fees.

FIT FOR THE FUTURE? NATIONAL REQUIRED STANDARDS FOR RESIDENTIAL AND NURSING HOMES FOR OLDER PEOPLE

Department of Health

London: 1999

Proposed standards for all aspects of the running of a care home, including residents rights, complaints procedures, health and personal care, daily life and social activities, food and meals, dying and death, the physical environment, management and administration, and staffing levels.

(For summary and comment see Registered Homes and Services, vol. 4, Sept. 1999, p. 65-69)

MANAGERS IN LONG-TERM CARE

M Johnson, L Cullen and D Patsias

Bristol: Policy Press, 1999

Study argues that real net gains in quality of long term care can be achieved through improving the effectiveness and skills of staff by training their managers.

THE NEED TO ACCESS

S Banks

Working with Older People, vol. 3, Oct. 1999, p. 19-21

Research by Age Concern in the North West has revealed that 'screening' by social services departments is denying older people the needs assessments they should receive according to he law. Screening or pre-assessment procedures should be transparent and rights to assessment made clear.

OUR FUTURE HOME: HOUSING AND THE INCLUSION OF OLDER PEOPLE IN 2025

M J Fisk

London: Help the Aged, 1999

Argues that current housing and support services for older people segregate the generations, reducing independence and quality of life by providing 'archaic' forms of residential care and sheltered housing.

THE PARADOX OF PROSPERITY

Henley Centre

London: Salvation Army, 1999

Emphasises various issues linked with the 'ageing population'. The professional classes will be under increasing pressure to make private provision for the old age. By 2010, those retiring on the state pension, or an under-funded personal pension, could experience a dangerously reduced standard of living. A generation of people currently in middle age will form a particularly vulnerable care sandwich, which requires them to look after their own children and pay taxes towards their parents' welfare, whilst also making private provision for their own old age. Family breakdown will mean that the traditional support system for elderly people will be lost, resulting in greater social exclusion and loneliness.

STANDARDS MATTER: A CONFERENCE REPORT ON REGISTERED RESIDENTIAL AND NURSING HOMES FOR OLDER PEOPLE

London: Centre for Policy on Ageing, 1999.

Record of the proceedings of a conference held by the Centre for Policy on Ageing to discuss the report of the Royal Commission on the funding of long term care for older people and CPA's own work on national required standards for care homes. The issues of quality, costs and regulation which are the focus of those national reports were considered by speakers from a variety of perspectives.

WHY AGE IS A TAXING ISSUE

C Russell

Community Care, no. 1296, 1999, p. 14

Argues that Britain's anti-taxation and anti-statist culture is a key reason why elderly people's care is not adequately financed.