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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Alibi to think this is disgusting re:elderly

62 replies

FairyFluffbum · 19/12/2015 17:32

The new proposal for this council is to charge £26 a year to help the elderly back on to their feet if they fall. If they don't pay the charge they have to call 999 for help.

I think this is awful. Not only for the nhs as its a waste of time for a 999 call but for the pensioner itself.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/essex-council-to-charge-2592-lifting-charge-to-help-elderly-up-when-they-fall-a6778376.html

Sorry don't know how to link

OP posts:
AuntieStella · 19/12/2015 17:38

You make clicks links by putting double square brackets (no spaces) round it

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/essex-council-to-charge-2592-lifting-charge-to-help-elderly-up-when-they-fall-a6778376.html

VulcanWoman · 19/12/2015 17:42

Yes, but what happens now is 999 get called anyway. Least the £26 will stop some of the 999 calls.

VulcanWoman · 19/12/2015 17:47

Even though cuts for other things should come first.
Like when the government have meetings over dinner, err, just have your meeting and eat at home, not at the tax payers expense.

thelouise · 19/12/2015 17:47

Many people will pay the £26 per year and it will reduce the burden on the ambulance service.

GoooRooo · 19/12/2015 17:47

I live in that council. It's absolutely disgraceful and I have done the very middle class thing and written to complain to them.

thelouise · 19/12/2015 18:00

I think some people are missing a pertinent point; older people on the floor are very low priority for the ambulance service, so they could be waiting for hours. Careline responders are usually pretty quick.

HemanOrSheRa · 19/12/2015 18:09

Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about this. I am a careline responder for a large local authority (not Essex Council though). We have a 30 min response time but because we cover areas close to where we live we generally respond much quicker. If we are in any doubt about whether someone is injured we won't move them and call an ambulance. thelouise is absolutely correct. I have waited for anything up to 5 hours for an ambulance in these circumstances.

Original poster
FairyFluffbum · 19/12/2015 18:10

Yes they could be waiting for hours but why should they have to pay £26? It could be a lot of money for a pensioner.

If they are trying to save money why don't they charge the binge drinkers who are passed out in the streets? Most don't need any medical attention, just a chance to sleep it off. Some do need attention as they drink so much they end up nearly killing themselves but why should the elderly have to suffer so idiots can get pissed?

OP posts:
Feefifofam · 19/12/2015 18:13

My DGM has a neck alarm (about a fiver a week) and she would pay for this happily.

It's not disgusting, it's an extra care service that is aimed at reducing the number of 999 calls and the burden on our massively stretched NHS.

It's to cover the cost of a carer attending if someone falls but is otherwise uninjured. If they are injured, the carer would still call an ambulance.

Council's are also massively struggling, particularly to cover the cost of adult social care which takes up a huge chunk of their hugely reduced budgets.

It's not something the council can offer for free, but it is something they can offer at a relatively small charge to reduce otherwise unnecessary 999 calls.

whois · 19/12/2015 18:14

Id rather pay £26 and have someone come and help me up in a timely fashion, than call 999 and be a total burden lie there for house waiting as I'm not an emergency, and have a qualified paramedic come and help me up when they could have been doing something which actually required their qualifications.

Feefifofam · 19/12/2015 18:14

Apologies for the horrendous apostrophe in council's as well - I blame the mulled wine!

thelouise · 19/12/2015 18:14

"Yes they could be waiting for hours but why should they have to pay £26? It could be a lot of money for a pensioner."

Careline is a private company though. They can charge what they like! I'm not saying it's acceptable. Of course, it would be preferable that paramedics respond quickly, get the older person back on their feet and move on but if that can't happen, I see this as a good thing.

UndramaticPause · 19/12/2015 18:15

£26 a year is what, 50p a week?

Careline is usually run by district councils and is usually something you pay for (my grandparents pay for theirs). You'd certainly be expected to pay for the same service through age UK or similar.

Typical anti tory rhetoric that when you look into it in more detail actually makes sense.

hiddenhome2 · 19/12/2015 18:15

I think it's a good idea. £26 a year isn't much at all and it'll free up the ambulance service for what they're meant to be doing.

UndramaticPause · 19/12/2015 18:17

The other thing is Tendring has the largest elderly population in the UK and is suffering the effects of the cuts all of us round the UK are feeling. Why shouldn't people be made to pay for a service that would otherwise cost hundreds of pounds (ambulance) and put others at risk because it diverts limited resources?

Feefifofam · 19/12/2015 18:18

It's worth remembering as well that the council budget and the NHS budget is separate. Charging drunk people isn't the issue here.

The council is trying to do something that will reduce the burden on the NHS, at a relatively small cost to an older person, but that they can't do for nothing.

I think it should be applauded, it's actually very sensible.

Samcro · 19/12/2015 18:21

most people pay for an emergency button

rainbowunicorn · 19/12/2015 18:23

I think this is a fantastic idea, 50p a week really is not a lot for anyone to manage. It will reduce the burden on our already overstretched NHS

CallieTorres · 19/12/2015 18:27

I thought it was 26 a time...

For an annual charger I think it's ok

UndramaticPause · 19/12/2015 18:29

Read the article then. It's an annual charge.

Chattymummyhere · 19/12/2015 18:39

Alot cheaper than what my grandad pays for his alarm for if he has a fall as the council won't help. Don't see the issue to be honest, £26 for something that many people pay a fortune for, grandad would bite the councils hand off for that price.

HemanOrSheRa · 19/12/2015 18:40

It's really important that when an older person falls that they are lifted really quickly. Skeletal muscle start to break down the longer they are on the floor. So even if they haven't injured themselves when they fell, lying on the floor for hours waiting for an ambulance to get to them causes all sorts of problems.

WhirlwindHugs · 19/12/2015 18:45

I think it's a good idea tbh, especially if it means they are seen sooner. Our elderly relative uses careline and it's been very helpful.

(and I am not a Tory fan!)

Redglitter · 19/12/2015 18:47

Several of these companies who charge just now do nothing more than phone 999 or 101. Some of them are a total rip off as it is.

FannyTheChampionOfTheWorld · 19/12/2015 18:48

On first glance it sounds awful, but actually it may not be a bad idea. People aren't going to stop being able to access the NHS to be picked up several hours later, or to continue paying for Careline and only using the services already offered. Both of those options will still be available. This is simply an extra.

Obviously it's bad that the NHS can't guarantee to pick people up quickly, and I get that some people don't think you should be able to buy better/top up services on top of statutory ones so would object to this on principle. But I can see why Careline users were in favour of being able to buy this extra service. Bear in mind that whether we like it or not, cuts to local authority budgets are coming. There is no way that social care can remain unaffected by this.

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