Now that Theresa May has lost her majority in parliament, one presumes that social care policy reforms will once again be conveniently shelved until another election comes around. Sir Andrew Dilnot first put forward his recommendations for the Funding of Care back in 2011, and while receiving a favourable reception from both major political parties, [...]
The problem with the Tory policy on care, laid out in their manifesto, is that the consequences simply don’t seem to have been properly thought through. Currently, unlike those living in care homes, people who receive care at home do not have the value of their home included in their qualifying assets to determine how [...]
It’s a sad fact that in the UK we spend less on health care as a percentage of GDP than Paraguay, Liberia, Moldova and Sierra Leone. And many other countries too, including most of Western Europe. (Source: World Bank) So, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at the parlous state of our health services right [...]
There has been much comment recently around what your care should include and what rights you, or your relative, have a right to expect. In some cases, there have been reports of people who complain, being barred from visiting the home to spend time with their relatives and even, in extreme cases, being asked to [...]
When talking about elderly care, most people think you mean care homes - which currently house around 400,000 individuals across the UK. But this figure pales into insignificance against the number of people receiving care from an unpaid family member or friend. 7 MILLION. Yes, that's right - at least 7 million people are being [...]
It's a little known fact that for some people, even those with significant assets, being in a care home can be completely free, courtesy of the NHS. It works like this. Some people, often after they've lost a spouse, decide they'd prefer to live in a residential home, rather than at home. There may not [...]
With the number of over 85s in the UK forecast to more than double in the next 20 years, you would imagine that care home operators would be rubbing their hands with glee. Not so. There are currently just over 20,000 care homes for the elderly in the UK, but despite the rapidly aging population, [...]
Listen to Fiona Gilbert discussing finding the right care home with Alex Goldstein.
