A very snide reply......
Dear All,
I wrote this in a fit of pique and then decided to edit it - then decided not to...... I'm sure it won't get me anywhere at all, but I felt rather better for sending it. I am getting sick of being 'nice'.
Dear Mr Ladyman,
I have received your letter regarding NHS funding for care. Both of my parents suffer from Altzheimer's Disease. They are 86 years of age and have paid taxes and NHS contributions for their entire lives, which I would have thought would entitle them to some sort of care funding at home. Unfortunately your Department sees fit to overspend to the tune of some £26 billion on comptuer equipment rather than directly address the critical issue of home care.
Your letter is patronising to the extreme. I am sure that after 6 years I am well aware of the difference beween personal and nursing care. The point that I have been attempting to make for some long time is that the eligibility criteria for NHS Care is incorrect and biased towards patients with physical disabilities and that is the matter that needs to be resolved. There are currently approximately 750,000 people in the UK 'disabled' by dementia and over half of them are suffering from Altzheimers's Disease. Fortunately for you, there are thousands of unpaid carers willingly or unwillingly caring for these people - and please do not even try to tell me that £44 pounds is a suitable remuneration for working 168 hours per week.
I personally receive zero from the Government since I have been living overseas for 30 years and have been assessed by the SS as a non resident in the UK. The fact that I have a business overseas which I rarely see and cannot operate successfully since I now have to be in England, seems to be of no regard. I also wonder if you would be prepared to leave your wife and family and move 15000 kilometres to care for your elderly parents and forefeit your entire annual income? The reason that I have had to to do this is that I have yet to find a Nursing Home which will take both of my parents together, as they are at varying stages of dementia. They have been married for 63 years and I have no intention of splitting them up, although the SS apparently considers them to be 'past their use by date' and that this is the logical course of action.
Your comment 'Most older people tell us that what they want is to stay longer in their own homes and this is being made possible..?' Oh really? If that is the case, then why have I been compelled to sell our family home and move my parents to rented accommodation in order to pay their private care fees? This is necessary because sadly, I just can't seem to stay awake 24/7 to take both of my parents to the lavatory both day and night. I presume that you do read your own statistics, in which case you would clearly see that some 7000 homes are sold each month just to pay for private care fees alone.
Perhaps you would care to let me know just what happens when my my parents' private financial resources run out? Hopefully your £26 billion+ computer system will provide a suitable solution.
Yours, blah blah'
It will probably take months for a suitable answer, if at all.....
Jude
Dear All,
I wrote this in a fit of pique and then decided to edit it - then decided not to...... I'm sure it won't get me anywhere at all, but I felt rather better for sending it. I am getting sick of being 'nice'.
Dear Mr Ladyman,
I have received your letter regarding NHS funding for care. Both of my parents suffer from Altzheimer's Disease. They are 86 years of age and have paid taxes and NHS contributions for their entire lives, which I would have thought would entitle them to some sort of care funding at home. Unfortunately your Department sees fit to overspend to the tune of some £26 billion on comptuer equipment rather than directly address the critical issue of home care.
Your letter is patronising to the extreme. I am sure that after 6 years I am well aware of the difference beween personal and nursing care. The point that I have been attempting to make for some long time is that the eligibility criteria for NHS Care is incorrect and biased towards patients with physical disabilities and that is the matter that needs to be resolved. There are currently approximately 750,000 people in the UK 'disabled' by dementia and over half of them are suffering from Altzheimers's Disease. Fortunately for you, there are thousands of unpaid carers willingly or unwillingly caring for these people - and please do not even try to tell me that £44 pounds is a suitable remuneration for working 168 hours per week.
I personally receive zero from the Government since I have been living overseas for 30 years and have been assessed by the SS as a non resident in the UK. The fact that I have a business overseas which I rarely see and cannot operate successfully since I now have to be in England, seems to be of no regard. I also wonder if you would be prepared to leave your wife and family and move 15000 kilometres to care for your elderly parents and forefeit your entire annual income? The reason that I have had to to do this is that I have yet to find a Nursing Home which will take both of my parents together, as they are at varying stages of dementia. They have been married for 63 years and I have no intention of splitting them up, although the SS apparently considers them to be 'past their use by date' and that this is the logical course of action.
Your comment 'Most older people tell us that what they want is to stay longer in their own homes and this is being made possible..?' Oh really? If that is the case, then why have I been compelled to sell our family home and move my parents to rented accommodation in order to pay their private care fees? This is necessary because sadly, I just can't seem to stay awake 24/7 to take both of my parents to the lavatory both day and night. I presume that you do read your own statistics, in which case you would clearly see that some 7000 homes are sold each month just to pay for private care fees alone.
Perhaps you would care to let me know just what happens when my my parents' private financial resources run out? Hopefully your £26 billion+ computer system will provide a suitable solution.
Yours, blah blah'
It will probably take months for a suitable answer, if at all.....
Jude
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