To think pay in care homes is scandalous

[Clappingforjoy]

I've worked in then and got out of it. Understaffed rushed off your feet. Rude management and simply unable to give the elderly the care they deserve.

I doubt if the current system of most homes with private residents subsidising the state ones is sustainable

It will probably move to 2-tier,
with private homes only accepting private residents - probably lower cost as they are only paying their own care - living in comfort

while the state residents are warehoused in massive dormitories containing thousands of people

CallMeAngelina When I moved my late mum into a home, they recommended everyone budget for 4 years care
However, that was probably on the financially conservative side

I can only verify anecdotally. My parents were 96 and 99 when living at home finally became untenable, despite a support team of about 10 people. They both died within eight months of moving there.

My dad looks like he will 'clock up' just under one year.

I don't know if 18% is accurate but whatever the figure is, it's bound to increase year on year. Medical advances are keeping the body going longer but not the mind.

The average age of death atm is 81, but it is expected to be higher for the boomer generation

Some people will die before requiring care; others will manage with much cheaper care in their own homes

However, even 20% of the large boomer cohort with the current system of care, would wreck government finances,
especially if everyone else has to pay to keep those sacred inheritances intact

And that's not because he's miserable, or that the care isn't first-class. He has end-stage cancer. He's 88, and elected himself to move last October, when he felt he couldn't cope at home anymore, even with carers/cleaners/family support etc...

Medical advances have increased life expectancy,
but the estimate I read is that only 40% of the extra years are healthy ones, i.e. with the ability to live independently

So sorry @CallmeAngelina, it’s a tough road. It’s a comfort to know the care is the best possible. Or at least I found it so. 💐🤨

Sorry, the second emoji is rogue. Damned iPad.

CallMeAngelina 💐

My mum's dementia took at least 7 years to kill her, going from carers in my home, to a care home,
to finally a 24-hour nursing home when she had to be fed pureed food

Despite a high standard of care, there was little dignity or joy for her in the last years, as her faculties left her

Hence my own plan if my favourite brain cells start dying, or I can no longer physically care for myself,
is a trip to a Swiss clinic

I've enough money for high quality care like she had - and in fact no close family to leave it to - so it's not about inheritance at all, for me

Thank you, ladies! x
Difficult days, but I must stop reacting to posters on here who say things like, "dumping in a care home," or "hell would freeze over."
That's not been our experience at all.

especially if everyone else has to pay to keep those sacred inheritances intact - it's not unreasonable to want your children's/grandchildren's inheritance to be intact when you know that the family of your neighbour, who is lucky enough not to be developing dementia, will be intact.

If inheritances are to be used to pay for elder care, at least make it a portion of everyone's inheritance, not just the unlucky ones whose terminal illness can be dealt with by carers, or by carers supported by nurses.

In what other field of health does someone needing daily nursing care have to pay their own costs?

Hence my own plan if my favourite brain cells start dying, or I can no longer physically care for myself, is a trip to a Swiss clinic Do you know any Swiss clinic which takes on people with dementia? And legalising assisted suicide for someone in the last 6 months of a terminal illness won't help you with dementia.

moneyweek.com/506201/britains-crisis-in-care-for-the-elderly/

@MereDintofPandiculation I'm pretty sure dignitas will euthanise people with a dementia diagnosis.

@MereDintofPandiculation

www.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/dementia-sufferers-ending-lives-switzerland/

It's also my plan to do this if I ever get an early enough diagnosis.

There is a simple solution to all of this. Instead of assisted suicide we should ramp up space exploration initiatives. Give people the option in their later years to take on a mission to explore another planet, maybe then we will find more cures or even a fountain of youth which can reverse all of these issues. Government's dropping the ball on an opportunity here. If you're already ready to go to dignitas, why not mars or another star instead?

Sorry wrong article.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/stories-47047579

Agree 100%. No funding for adult social care, care workers are massively underpaid for the work they provide.

your neighbour, who is lucky enough not to be developing dementia

But that's the lottery of life, isn't it? Those who die prematurely (say, in their 40s or 50s) of an aggressive illness will escape care-home fees, but their families will be deprived of them far too young (and probably miss out on their earning potential, to be blunt). Others of us will develop, say, cancer, and have to deal with all that entails (e.g. my mum and dad), and then there's Dementia. People with that could be spared the knowledge of their impending fate, but it might go on for many, many years, creating huge amounts of distress and heartache for their nearest and dearest in coping with them.
I don't know what the answer is, but I'm just putting one foot in front of the other at the moment, getting through what's happening with my much-adored dad.
BUT, to answer the OP, YANBU. I think those caring for the elderly are heroes and I sincerely wish society would rate them more highly.

I don’t think you can rely on euthanasia being available at the right time if you get dementia. My mum had a couple of good years following diagnosis. It would have been awful for her not to have had those. My plan, as I said, is an advance directive not to treat any conditions that arise following a dementia diagnosis. It may be that pneumonia is the old woman’s friend.

In what other field of health does someone needing daily nursing care have to pay their own costs?

If you need daily nursing care from qualified nurses then you would be eligible for continuing care nhs funding. However its social care that most people require.

Continuing care nhs funding doesn't cover all costs however, although granted, it helps.