Care For The Elderly: The Forgotten Minority

Battle of Ideas audio archive

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe CARE FOR THE ELDERLY: THE FORGOTTEN MINORITY https://archives.battleofideas.org.uk/2021/session/care-for-the-elderly-the-forgotten-minority/ It is often said that one of the measures of a civilised society is how well it looks after the most vulnerable members of its society. At the start of the pandemic, it seemed as though everyone was prepared to rally round, make sacrifices and endure Lockdown measures to protect older citizens. Younger people did indeed refrain from hugging granny to keep her safe; neighbours and communities ensured those isolating at home were not neglected, with phone-trees and food parcels in abundance. The successful vaccine roll-out put older age groups at the front of the queue. Surely we can be relieved the elderly were treated with respect and special care? But as time went on, a more complicated and less rosy picture emerged. Official policy led to Covid spreading in care homes. ‘Do not attempt resuscitation’ notices were imposed on some elderly people, without consent, and care home residents were subject to especially draconian measures, such as bans on visitors. While all this was done in the name of protecting older people, many relatives have complained of appalling treatment that has led to the deterioration of dementia sufferers, acute loneliness for thousands and a miserable end-of-life for too many. Even now that government guidance has finally allowed more open access, many home managers are still enforcing time-limited visits for restricted numbers of visitors, sometimes treating demanding relatives as though they are ‘in the way’ and a nuisance. Meanwhile the rushed-through new policy of mandating vaccines for care workers threatens to exacerbate the problem of staff shortages to dangerous levels. With tens of thousands of staff now threatened with the sack, just who will be left to form that infamous ‘protective ring’ around care homes? For those older people living independently, increasing numbers started to resent policies that chipped away at their autonomy, treated them purely as vulnerable victims, and undermined their agency. Quality of life, health and wellbeing are also undermined by ‘new normal’ practices, such as a squeeze on face-to-face GP consultations and social facilities, such as day centres, being slow to open up. Elderly care was neglected long before Covid. There is a lack of good-quality, state-provided homes while private care homes are accused, perhaps unfairly, of being more interested in profit than quality of care. The proposal to increase funding through a rise in national insurance payments, floated in September, appears to be a sign of the government grasping the nettle, but there has been more rhetoric than reform in recent years. Negative attitudes to the elderly go far beyond financial support. Long before COVID, social policy has been ambivalent about increased longevity. Far from being treated as unalloyed good news, the trend has often been problematised as a demographic time bomb, a financial burden to be paid for by the young and a drain on the NHS. Are these problems solely down to governments? If politicians have out-sourced elderly care, have some families themselves done the same, with Covid only highlighting the underlying weaknesses in intergenerational family bonds? How should we view care of the elderly in the future? Speakers Sue Cook broadcaster, You and Yours, Making History, Nationwide, Breakfast Time, Daytime Live, Children in Need, Out of Court and CrimewatchUK; novelist Jon Holbrook barrister; writer, spiked, the Critic, The Conservative Woman Dr Shibley Rahman special advisor on disability; carer; member, Royal College of Physicians of London Ed Rennie catholic writer; political analyst; founding member, Catholic Voices Chair Hilary Salt actuary; founder, First Actuarial