Earlier this week, news reports in England detailed the Health Service Ombudsman’s Care and Compassion Report. The report was based on 10 cases of elder abuse, neglect, isolation and ‘inhumane treatment.’ Ann Abraham, the Health Service Ombudsman said that the accounts were far from isolated and have painted a picture of the National Health Service provisions failing to meet even the most basic standards of care.
In response to this report, former Government Voice of Older People, Joan Bakewell addressed the upper house of British Parliament. She shared her own experiences as the representative for seniors around the country and lobbied for a stronger focus on the value that seniors bring to an ageing population.
“The fact that our population is ageing should actually be celebrated as a major achievement in the history of human development, due to advances in medicine, hygiene and lifestyle… We should welcome the old as a major new resource, an extra generation fit to work longer and contribute to the economy which supports them, as well as a major market for new technologies and services,” wrote Bakewell in an article adapted from her speech and published by The Telegraph.
Bakewell also brought to light some troubles plaguing senior care throughout Britain, including neglect and isolation. She explained that there was little supervision in place to ensure that caregivers are receiving proper training, in fact there is little supervision of caregivers in general. With wages at a minimum and turnover often high, seniors are at the mercy of strangers to provide care.
There is a definite need for a new approach on senior care in the U.K. and this latest report by the Health Service Ombudsman may well be the spark required to jumpstart new initiatives, but only time can tell what can and will be done. It should be noted however, that organizations around the world are taking huge strides in raising awareness on the increasing need for improved senior care and it has become evident in many countries that quality of life for elderly patients should be a major focal point of new legislations; a philosophy that Silverado Senior Living has lobbied for, to members of our own Congress.
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Read Joan Bakewell’s entire article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/8326720/Who-cares-for-the-elderly.html
See how Silverado has contributed to the U.S. discussion on future senior care at: http://silveradoblogs.com/news/?p=1152
