9 ELDERLY PEOPLE DIE EVERY HOUR OF THE COLD.

[ivanhoe]

THOUSANDS of pensioners died from cold-related illnesses last winter as heating bills soared and temperatures plummeted, official figures reveal.

The number of deaths linked to the cold between December and March reached 25,400 in England and Wales, with another 2,760 in Scotland.

The figures are equivalent to nine deaths every hour.

The total gave Britain the highest winter death rate in northern Europe, worse than much colder countries such as Finland and Sweden.

There are fears the death toll could increase this year following energy price rises which may frighten elderly people into not turning on their heating.

Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, said: ?It?s unacceptable that tens of thousands more older people die in this country every winter from the effects of the cold weather.

The fact that the UK has one of the highest winter mortality rates in Europe makes it clear this is very much a home-grown problem.

on many subjects

Complimentary - I am very glad for our old people that there are people like you out there. I hope you are in the majority of your profession.

Just out of interest, what happens if the door isn't answered to MOW? Is there a reporting/escalation procedure?

gaelicsheep. If the client does not open the door for MOWs and there is 'silence' from inside the flat/house. Normally MOws will contact their manager, and can contact the social worker. Normally carers and social workers will know clients and they are informed of client holidays/appts etc. If they are expected to be in and are not. If we fear the worst, then the police are involved and we break down the door.

If on the other hand the client is in and tells you to "go away" there is no legal way that MOWs can make to insure they take the MOWs, and if they continually refuse them they may be stopped. My client refused to let them in, I was informed visited and bought Mrs. X food from the local cafe. She had not eaten for two days.
She was obstinate true, but she was vulnerable and told me why she was being so unhelpful.

gaelicsheep.
The reason Mrs. X would not let them was that she was making a protest.
Mrs. X had been in hospital and her cat had been put in a cattery, by social services (through the social worker). When Mrs. X came out of hospital the previous SW had refused to get the cat back.(feeling she could not care for it).

Mrs. X sobbbed to me that she had the cat "ten years, loved it and could look after it". Mrs. X IMO could look after it. Suffice to say that myself and the other social worker had words, (in which she shouted at me in a room full of people!)I got the cat back, and Mrs. Xs depression did lift, and her home returned to the cleanliness of before.

How many MNs would like a complete stranger to decide if they kept their pet or not?
There is little avenue for 'whistle blowing' in social services. Remember you work for the council you are criticising/up against. I could (sometimes) as I always worked as a locum, and could be asked 'not to come back next week'. Others had permanent jobs, and could not do this. To my shame I did not crticise/denounce the treatment of my clients enough, fearing the sack, I regret that, and would now rather risk the sack than an elderly person die from neglect.

Ivanhoe is right the pension is not enough, and also the finances that are provided for services for pensioners by local suthorities are very poor. In the present climate this will only get worse.

We do not "revere" our elderly people in Britain.
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I believe that Britain's elderly people have been seen by the British, as peope who are by birth, poor, and that they should be grateful for their State pension no matter how low it is, and that the elderly should also be grateful for the means tested handouts they receive if eligable via a means test.

As a nation we have forgotten about our elderly people and it's been a subtle process, in our minds we have marginaised them away from the rest of the society we live and mix in.

If we hadnt forgotten about them, we would be standing up for them against goverment policies that hurt our elderly people, because it is our duty to do so, because if it was not for the efforts of our war generation, none of us would be here today.

We all have to get old, yet we dont think of this until we get old, but our elderly people are already told, so by ignoring ourselves we are also ignoring their plight, and by ignoring their plight, we are also ignoring ourselves

"if it was not for the efforts of our war generation, none of us would be here today."

Whilst this is true, it is also true that the 'war generation' do not form the bulk of the pensioner population. A 65 year-old today was born in 1945/46. They hit their physical peak in the sixties when jobs were plenty and 'you've never had it so good'. To have been 18+ at the end of the war someone would be over 84 now.

I think the problem I have with your analysis is twofold. First is that you are generalising 'elderly people' as if they were an amorphous group, all in exactly the same boat, suffering poverty & hardship daily, mistreated & ignored by the entire under-65 population - and that's so far from the truth that it's insulting. And second, your proposal to substantially raise the pension for all people over 65 would not successfully address the problems described by complimentary of mental health issues, shortage of care workers & social services, estrangement from families. If anything, it would siphon money away from the very services that are required.

You still haven't said how old you are btw

Chil, whilst highlighting the war generations, I was speaking generally that the word "pensioner" is simply not in the British vocabularly.

And if the State pension was increased universially and substantially, this would go a long way in giving our "pensioners" spending power.

Im in my early 60's.

Who said we 'revere' elderly people? If we revere them, other countries must canonise them!

As someone in their early 60's have you suddenly realised that you're not going to manage on the pension?

To "revere". To regard with awe and respect.

You clearly do not.

Chili1234. I don't think many will manage on their pensions. Writing my posts has reminded me of the terrible, poverty stricken situation many older people find themselves in. I shall be making provisions for the future, in haste!

No, Chil, he/she wants to make sure he/she gets the max out of a the taxpayer in the coming years.

I plan to top myself. And yes, I really mean to carry ito ut.

not again

Yes, again, Shirley.

The baby boomers think you and I should pay more!

Well, why wouldn't they? Spoiled. That's what they are.

They should be revered, the boomers, and paid a lot more.

By you, me and all our children.

Baby boomers have the biggest sense of entitlement.

It's my childrens' generation I feel sorry for, not the pensioners.

Yeah, my boys won't get a pension and will have to work till they drop so baby boomers can afford cruises, new cars and retiring early in the South of France. (like my in-laws who retired when they were 55)

I encourage my children to emigrate.

Neither will mine crackfox.

And it's something completely out of their control. It's disgusting.

I am hoping my DCs emigrate.

I can only say, well done to Tory voters, particulary those who voted Tory at the last general election.

They have got excatly what they deserve.

I didn't vote Tory.