Care of the elderly
- Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
26 May 2010 08:0653372Someone sent this to me, how true.
Let's put the seniors in jail, and the criminals in a nursing home.
This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies,
and walks, they'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental
and medical treatment , wheel chairs etc. and they'd receive money instead of
paying it out.
They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be
helped instantly ,if they fell, or needed assistance.
Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be
ironed and returned to them.
A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals
and snacks to their cell. They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.
They would have access to a library, weight room,spiritual counselling, pool, and education.
Simple clothing , shoes, slippers, P.J.'s and legal aid would be free, on request.
Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard ,with gardens.
Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio, and daily phone calls.
There would be a board of directors , to hear complaints, and the guards
would have a code of conduct, that would be strictly adhered to.
***
The "criminals" would get cold food, be left all alone, and unsupervised.
lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.
Live in a tiny room , and pay £300 per week and have no hope
of ever getting out.
Justice for all.Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - 26 May 2010 08:1553373It would seem Terry that the real crime is getting old
- Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
26 May 2010 08:1953374You've got it in a nutshell Martin.
TerryQuis custodiet ipsos custodes? - 26 May 2010 08:3953375Excellent piece there Terry, and it just about sums up the whole ridiculous system in this country, and why I gave up with it years ago. Maybe another idea is to send the elderly to another country, claim citizenship there and come back here as an immigrant. Again, why does the person in the street see all this, yet politicians seem to do nothing from what I see.Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
- 26 May 2010 10:4953380Terry
You state..
This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies,
and walks, they'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental
and medical treatment , wheel chairs etc. and they'd receive money instead of
paying it out.
Firstly I am not sure the OAP's would like to share their shower with a peado,rapist or murderer.Most Care Homes now have en-suite facilities.
Hobbies have been dramatically reduced because of overcrowding and cuts in the education budget.Most dispersal prisons and large city nicks keep the inmates banged up for 23 hours a day.There is once a week exercise for an hour,depending upon staff availability.Walks ..well that's just plain rubbish and scaremongering.Yes they do allow free presciptions but dental treatment is normally only given to lifers and long term prisoners.In working prisons most inmates do menial tasks,making plastic guttering,sewing rooms or assembly work 5 days a week,7 hours a day for about £7 per week.More like sweat shops than anything else.
They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be
helped instantly ,if they fell, or needed assistance.
There is cctv outside prisons and along corridors but not in cells as this is an infringement of their civil liberties.
Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be
ironed and returned to them.
Bedding which consists of 2 sheets,2 pillwocases,2 towels is washed thus 1 sheet 1 pillowcase 1 towel once a week and they don't get their own sheets returned but may find themselves with a grubby ripped up and 'stained' sheet being returned to them.
A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals
Untrue..patrols are carried out during the night but only suicidal inmates are watched and checked.Prisoners must collect their own food or go without.
They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. True they have purpose built visit areas watched are ,for obvious drug reasons cctv and highly monitored.An inmate is allowed 2 visits per month rising to 3 per month for good behaviour.
They would have access to a library, weight room,spiritual counselling, pool, and education. What you say here is mainly true,weekly visits to library,gym etc not sure of many with a pool though...
Simple clothing , shoes, slippers, P.J.'s and legal aid would be free, on request. True but rationed.
Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard ,with gardens.Mainly true the rooms are very secure and are heated in winter so long as you don't mind bunking up with 2 other inmates and sharing the accommodation with the rats,fleas and cockroaches.
Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio, and daily phone calls. Everything true bar daily phone calls.
There would be a board of directors , to hear complaints, and the guards True
would have a code of conduct, that would be strictly adhered to. Nearly true but that does not include indiscreminate beatings by some staff who think it's a joke to beat a black,'arm an asian or give gip to a gypsy.Sometimes there is only a thin dividing line between the inmate and the vicious guard.
***
As for your comments on Care Homes for the elderly again they are just not true my wife works in one and the standards are extremely high.The homes are monitored by so many govt bodies,watchdogs and legislation it baffles me why anyone one would want to open or run a care home never mind work in one.
The "criminals" would get cold food, be left all alone, and unsupervised.
lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.
There are a la carte menus,special diet needs menus.The resident can chose to either eat in the dining room and receive silver service or eat in the privacy of their own room.There are entertainments officers who organise outings to theatres,gardens.There are games rooms,visiting massuers,aromatherepy,spa baths.No-one unless they so request is ever left unsupervised.They are allowed to retire to their rooms whenever they chose.Most go to bed late and arise about 5 am.
Live in a tiny room , and pay £300 per week and have no hope
of ever getting out.
The rooms are maintained to a high standard and residents are allowed to have their own furniture and possessions.However the prices are about £500 pw upwards.
I am not advocating that prisoners should receive 5 star service but feel you do the care homes a dis-service by knocking them and referring to them as some sort of victorian work house. My wife and her staff do a great job caring for other peoples parents that have been abandoned by their off springs.I am not referring to those elderly residents that require constant medical supervision but those that can still get around and enjoy their 'winter' years.
I am just trying to give a balanced view.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 26 May 2010 11:0853382Marek are you still making your postings from the Channel Islands? If so then to compare the life offered to the aged in residential care is in the main far superior to here. Terry's posting was obviously written by someone very much tongue in cheek and demonstrates the perception of a great many people in Britain, that the 'system' is heavily waited in favour of the criminal as opposed to the aged.
- 26 May 2010 11:2353385This is something I know quite a lot about having managed Residential Care Homes for years. The standard of care here would be much better if there was more money. The days when care home owners made a fortune are long gone.
Ken is absolutely right when he says that the system is heavily weighted in favour of the criminal as opposed to the aged. - 26 May 2010 12:1153391Ken
Yes,I am still submitting my postings from sunny Jersey.
however my wife worked for 8 years at a care home in Dover where conditions were super.I do not disagree when you say that the standard of care offered here is 'superior' mainly because the elderly residents are much wealthier but there are no government subsidies over here and I have yet to read about old folk starving,freezing or being isolated.I wonder why that is?.
Diana
You are correct in stating that the days when care home owners made a fortune are long gone but you also say that the standard of care in the UK would be much better if there was more money but where is this money going to come from?The taxpayers..theres nowt left in the coffers so why shouldn't those with homes sell up to help meet the cost of their care?. Thats what happens over here.It's money saved for a rainy day well that rainy day is here when they have to move into care..
As for the 'system being weighted in favour of the crimbo's you may both be well right but society is always harping on about 'banging them up and throwing away the key' but that has to be paid for by the tax payers.The result is that this country now has record number of prisoners serving time and bangs up more persons per head of population than anywhere else in the western so-called civilised world.Are the streets safer?Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 26 May 2010 12:2953392I read Terry's original post as a general view of criminal v OAP and in that context it very close to the truth. Care homes vary in quality, some good, some not so good. The fact is though, old people in the community are "at risk" and successive governments have singularly failed to address this issue.
As for selling a home to pay for care, well, I understand the case for it, but don't support it. In the UK we pay a NI stamp from the day we start work to the day we finish, and I think that money should help opay for long term care of the "at risk" OAP's, who might need social care.
Oddly enough, the most vocal supporters of seeling homes to pay for care are those who haven't slogged their guts out to pay a mortgage for 25 years, and who will probably be state cared for anyway. Not saying you fall into that category Marek, but I don't find any home owners rushing to support your view on this.
Finally, I agree, under Labour we have become the most watched, criminalised and banged-up society in the Western World and the streets are no safer for it. I have always believed that non-violent crimes should be punished with fines and/or social service. Prison should be for the protection of the innocent and the punishment and detention of the guilty. However, I would prefer us to only lock up those who present a real danger to society. Someone who embezzles a few million quid should be tagged and set to doing some sort of work for the benefit of the rest of us. - 27 May 2010 07:0453532Good Posting Sid - I was going to post the same.
It is all a case of perception - how the British public view what life is like in prison, may be far from reality, but that's their perception and who's responsibility is it to change that perception ?
Similarly, the perception that most (not all) care homes don't really care about their residents is one that is widely accepted and so many people actually do think that elderly people would be better off in prison.
I'm sure that most people, when they were reading Terry's initial posting, would have been saying "yeah, that's true" or very similar.
Roger - Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
27 May 2010 07:1353533Yes Ken, it was very much tongue in cheek. I did debate with myself about whether to put it on the jokes page but felt that it needed a wider audience.
I seem to have hit a raw nerve with Marek however, all I can say is, it's handbags at dawn then!
I will add though that a relative was in a very nice home until it needed rebuilding. For a while she was moved to another one in central Dover. The conditions were quite disgusting. I will leave it at that.
TerryQuis custodiet ipsos custodes? - 27 May 2010 09:5853550Marek: I did not say there SHOULD be more money. Only that care could be better if there was. One of the things that used to upset me was that I could not get my residents out more. However, since they were people with dementia, the cost in terms of staff was so high that it could not be done. If you need to take people with dementia out (I am talking about those at the level where they need residential care), it takes at least one staff per client. It is hard to find this extra staff, and the money to pay them since it always means someone coming in on their time off. I used to find it anachronistic that young people with learning disabilities got at least twice the "pocket money" that the elderly get. My sister ran a learning disabilities facility and they did not know what to do with all the money.
Each resident had all their own bedroom furniture, linen, tv's, dvd players, were able to fund any hobbies they liked, etc and were able to fund outings all the time. They were often hard put to find something to spend the money on. I assure you this is 100% true. My residents mostly did not dispose of their "pocket money" since it is paid to the families not the resident. Whilst I am not saying that families kept their relatives short of necessities they did not have anything like the quality of life that the youngsters had.
I worked in Canterbury, and I think the quality of care was also affected by the fact that the majority of staff were not English. This is very disorientating for those with dementia and affects how they live their lives. - 27 May 2010 11:1653560I googled Jail v Care Homes and the results were amazing. A copy Terrys original posting was on them all albeit in dollars in the US and Canada. Whomsoever first thought this one up has certainly hit raw nerves around the world.
Terry
No I'm not in anyway put out by your posting sometimes its good to play devils advocate and put an alternative view hopefully based on knowledge,rather than simply posting "Good one Terry" or " I agree" at least my response has sparked an interesting debate with some excellent postings from Diana and old Sid and others.
ps Living in Jersey I only carry designer Gucci handbags...far too expensive for cloutting people around the 'ead wiv. Oo er missus.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)