“Social Care White Paper” 2

Posted on July 24, 2012 by john graham

This blog follows on from “Social Care White Paper 1”.  (Click on Dilnot Commission in the TAG CLOUD to see earlier posts).

It continues the discussion on the social care white paper and the future funding long-term care of older people.

Whilst the continued prevarication is disappointing, there are some promising signs in the white paper that the Government is gradually beginning to chart a way forward.  But — you have to read between the lines — here is my attempt at understanding what the Secretary of State is hinting at  :-

  • Andrew Lansley agrees with the principles of the Dilnot report.
    • This means it is quite a long way from political acceptability and we will not act on its recommendations until we can be convinced they are election-winning proposals, —- i.e. after the next general election.
  • A cap on care costs is accepted but the level set at £35,000 or even £50,000 may be too low.
      • The £100,000 being considered by the Department of Health is just a softener for a cap of around £60,000.   This covers the cost if about two years’ stay in residential care (including £10,000 annual accommodation costs).   It will provide for the remaining lifespan of most residents — except those with mild dementia or long-term disability.
  • The Government is setting up standard eligibility criteria for access to residential care.
      • This is thinly disguised code for limiting residential care to critical and substantial care.   In practice this has already happened, but it needs to be legitimized before an insurance scheme can be introduced.
  • The Government is setting up a loan scheme to allow people to keep their homes if they move into residential care.
      • This is a sop to the chorus of media outcry about people having to sell their homes to pay for care and it may avoid the “death tax” lable.  In practice why do people need to keep a home if they move permanently into residential care.
      • The good news is that it  is also opening the door which leads  older people to use equity release to pay for care, which is the only realistic long-term solution.
  • The Government are considering a voluntary scheme of insurance for long-term care.
      •  This is recognition that the commercial insurance industry are not likely to take this issue up quickly.   Equally the Government, by floating the idea of an opt-out or opt-in scheme, are testing the water, in terms of acceptability.    Personally, I doubt if people will opt in unless the premium is very low (less than £10,000).   However, this has to be the right way forward and it ultimately prepares the way for a universal social care insurance scheme which ensures that everybody – young and old – insure for their frail future.

So overall, whilst the continuing prevarication is disappointing, it is probably a necessary adjustment period.   The more important thing is that at least the signs are pointing in the right direction.

                                            

 

Posted in ELDERLY UK POLICY | Tagged , | 4 Comments

“Uplifting Experience” 4

Posted on July 22, 2012 by john graham

My Acorn stairlift brochure arrived today.   This is in response to my enquiry to “Which Stairlift” and the unasked for follow-up phone call from a name I can’t recall.

This brochure is useful as far as it goes; nice photos; good illustration of how a stairlift is fitted and detailed specification.   But nothing at all about the cost !

Given that most of these lifts will be sold to older people on fixed and often limited incomes, you would think they would want to give some indication of the price of their stairlifts.   Perhaps they just want to get their foot through the door first?   I know all stairlifts will vary to suit the staircase, but these are expensive items that you are only going to buy once, so cost is a key issue .

Elderly people are all too aware of the pressure of door-to-door salesmen, selling everything from dish cloths to double glazing.   Not everyone, especially an elderly person on their own, is able to resist that pressure.   Yet without any indication of the cost, you are expected to invite a “surveyor” into your home.   The surveyor is just a salesman by another name and may tempt you with discounts for a quick purchase.   According to the brochure after the visit the “surveyor will instantly be able to give you the peace of mind of knowing exactly how affordable an Acorn stairlift is”.   So it can’t be too difficult to calculate can it?   Now you wonder why I am suspicious of this cagey hanging back approach to cost.

Within a day of receiving the brochure, I get another follow-up phone call to check I have received the brochure.   I guess they are not too confident about the post these days :-).

“Rachel” was a very nice lady, very chatty.   She told me Acorn are the leading manufacturer of stairlifts worldwide.   She is obviously following a script because she also manages to get out that Acorn lifts are made in the UK, — that they are the slimmest on the market, — that they have local surveyors all over the country — and their own engineers who can be called out day and night, — 365 day a year.   All without taking a breath 🙂

What she did not do was tell me anything about cost.   She did say to go direct to manufacturers and not to use “middlemen”.   The inference seemed to be that middlemen cost more, but when I asked what commission they added on, she did not know.   When I pressed her several times on the cost of a stairlift, she eventually said that a straight stairlift would be between £1800 and £2500.   No mention of maintenance costs – I guess she did not want to put me off.

We left it that I would call her back when I had read the brochure.   She ended by again telling me that Acorn was the largest manufacturer of stairlifts worldwide.

At the end of the brochure under the heading “complete peace of mind” is the reassurance that Acorn fits a lift every 14 minutes, 365 days a year somewhere in the world.

That is:-          4 per hour

100 per day

36,500 stairlifts a year

At say an average cost of £3,000 each

That is £110,000,000

Big Business

In the concluding paragraph of the letter accompanying the brochure, the last line says:-

“If you phone us today, we may even be able to fit your new stairlift tomorrow”.

That would be supersonic customer service if you have just come out of hospital and urgently need a stairlift.

But it could be mistaken as a high pressure sales technique if you are an elderly person at home alone, with no prior knowledge of cost and no time to obtain competitive quotations.

No Pressure ?

Posted in ELDERLY MARKET | Tagged , | 2 Comments

“Social Care White Paper” 1

Posted on July 19, 2012 by john graham

I have already written  about the Dilnot Commission and their proposals for the future funding of social care.  (click on  Dilnot Commission  in the TAG CLOUD)

There is no question that social care in this country is in a crisis; report after report over the last two years points to that.   Equally, the weight of older people arriving at hospitals has dragged NHS care of the elderly well below acceptable levels.

That is why the publication of the social care white paper was so eagerly awaited and so quick to disappoint.   The Government had already announced in advance that there was to be no decision on the Dilnot report, but many people were still hoping against hope, that some decision would be forthcoming.   Predictably when the paper was finally released, there was universal condemnation of the continued delay.

However, I take a different view and understand the politicians prevaracation.   The voluntary sector has proved itself not ready for the required solution, by continuing to demand more Government money.   Encouraged by the voluntary sector position the media continues to beat the drum about older people having to sell their homes to pay for care.

Before we can move on with this debate, we have to explore the myth believed by many elderly people about the difference in virtue between renters and owners.  Renters are not feckless individuals who wasted their money on beer, cigarettes, Sky TV and holidays in Spain.  Nor are they all life-long unemployed people or work shy wasters with fake disabilities living on the state.   Neither on the other side of the divide are owner occupiers people who sweated all their working lives to pay their mortgages to buy their Englishman’s Castle.   Yes they did have to work hard and save the pennies as well as the pounds, but the largest part of homeowners’ wealth was accumulated as they were sleeping.  House price inflation was a direct result of over easy credit, when as a society we should have been saving for our frail futures.

Unfortunately, there are extreme examples of selfishness and greed that allow the headline hungry media to continue to promote the differences.   A few people earning £100,000 a year still living in a Council house and on the other side of the fence, wealthy homeowners still claiming their winter fuel allowance.  The reality as the pensioner years approach, is that frailty is a great leveler.  Your health becomes much more important than whether you own your home.

It is this ill-informed and wrong-headed stance that is blocking progress on the Dilnot report and the Government is right to consider it as “work in progress”.  Dilnot was never the whole answer, because none of the political parties nor the electorate would vote for the harsh reality of some of the necessary changes.

There simply is not enough money for free social care for all, given the increase in longevity and the growth in the older elderly population.  It is a collective failure.  Both successive Governments and individuals have not set aside enough money for a future frail retirement.

Except the picture is not quite so bleak – not everyone will become frail.  The problem is we don’t know who will be affected.  That is why insurance for long-term care is critical to the solution and both Andrew Lansley and Andrew Dilnot recognise that.  The other good news is that we have saved by default through more older people becoming homeowners.

So for now the status quo is sadly the only place to be until an adjustment to the stalemate becomes politically electable.  Let’s hope it is by the next general election.

Politicians reflect our thinking!

Posted in ELDERLY UK POLICY | Tagged , | 2 Comments

“Uplifting Experience ? ” 3

Posted on July 17, 2012 by john graham

(Click on “UPLIFTING EXPERIENCE” in the TAG CLOUD for other posts in this series).

Just had another follow-up phone call that I did not ask for from “Fred” who is from “Companion Stairlifts” that I did not contact.

It turns out they are the sales company for “Minivator” who are now called “Handicare” who do all the work for “Age UK”.  Still with me?  I looked up their website which appeared familiar, although I had not seen it before, and again there were no prices to be found anywhere.  Unusual for a sales site – wouldn’t you say? 

One small interesting fact deep in the Companion website, was a news item saying that in 2009 they had sponsored a charity ball for Help the Aged which aimed to raise £20,000 for the charity.  How nice of them?  I guess that must have been the start of the much more profitable relationship that has now blossomed into £900,000 commission from “Handicare”.

After only 40 minutes of conversation and friendly chat, Fred did tell me that a curved lift would cost around £3,500 but a surveyor would need to do a site visit to confirm the price and I may want some extras, so the cost could be higher.  The lift comes with a two-year guarantee and thereafter a £200 a year maintenance charge.  Although Fred said he may be able to extend the guarantee at no extra cost.

Fred said that Companion / Minivator / Handicare were one of only three manufacturers in the UK.  The other two were Stannah and Acorn, but one of them had some bad press recently.  Also it is best to deal with a manufacturer because there are some shady practices amongst some suppliers, e.g. “discounts that are only offered for a quick sale”.

Now I am feeling really confident about this market :-(.  I had better look up a few more of the 1.5 million Google results.

Maybe I can find some independent advice about stairlift suppliers?  My search continues.

Posted in ELDERLY MARKET | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“Grumpy Breakfast”

Posted on July 15, 2012 by john graham

In my last blog on breakfast, I was lamenting the fact that my inability to find marmalade could make me grumpy first thing in the morning.  See “BREAKFAST TRADITIONS” by clicking on 24th June 2012 in the ARCHIVE.

Now lo and behold, a recent study has found that 6 out of 10 people in the UK regularly wake up in a bad mood.  The biggest cause of this is a bad night’s sleep – so it’s not just about marmalade then.  One in four of the people surveyed said they automatically woke up in a grumpy mood – they definitely should try eating marmalade for breakfast.   The researchers found that the grumpiness related to – queuing to get into the bathroom; having no milk for a hot drink and waking up in bad weather.  It seems they didn’t investigate marmalade as a significant factor which I think is an oversight on their part.

On the positive side they found that a third of us can lift our dark mood by taking a hot shower.  A further 21% of people said a colder, refreshing shower is more likely to do the trick.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT BY TRITON SHOWERS.

What a pity it wasn’t undertaken by Premier Foods; then it might have dramatically increased the sales of Frank Cooper’s “Oxford” Marmalade.

Posted in GRUMBLES | Tagged | 2 Comments

“Uplifting Experience ? ” 2

Posted on July 12, 2012 by john graham

(Click on “UPLIFTING EXPERIENCE” in the TAG CLOUD for other posts in this series).

I next decided to look for something more familiar and number 3 on Google was Age UK Stairlifts, which must be open and up-front.  The Age UK logo is prominent on the website and so is a note saying that “Handicare” (whoever they are ????) will raise a minimum of £900,000 for Age UK in 2012 from the sale and promotion of Independent Living products.  In smaller print it explains that “Handicare works with Age UK Trading Limited which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Age UK, which donates all its net profits to Age UK”.

It sounds good but the sceptic in me wonders if that donation to Age UK is just a commission for referrals.  If so, at say 10% commission, that is 90,000 products sold and the cost would just be passed on to the customer.  So you have still to worry are you getting the best deal :-(.  However, to reassure you, the website tells you that you are buying an “Age UK Stairlift” and that there is a price promise that they will “match any lower price for the same or a similar product” :-).  Sounds good ???

So I emailed a request for a brochure in the box provided but deliberately did not tick the box for a phone call.   Nonetheless, within an hour I got a phone call from “Stephen” at Handicare who told me that I had called them two years ago ???   That surprised me because I had never heard of Handicare before.   He tells me that Handicare used to be called Minivator and that reminded me that I enquired through Age UK about a mobility scooter for a friend.   I told Stephen I would wait until I received the brochure.   I got the distinct impression he thought I was time-wasting.

I looked through the entire Age UK stairlifts website and I could find no indication of price anywhere.   It makes you think they have something to hide.   I accept that every stairlift is different but you hear so much about high pressure salesmen and discounts being offered as an incentive to buy these days :-(.  You would think Age UK would want to be reassuringly up front about cost from the start.

It is surprising that Age UK closely endorses this approach.  But of course the £900,000 commission (oops sorry, donation) must eliminate any concerns they have about high pressure sales.

It’s easy to see how Handicare benefits from a close association with a reputable elderly organisation like Age UK.  But just how sure can you be that Age UK stands fully behind Handicare.  Will any of their £900,000 donation be used to guarantee the services they recommend?

My search for a value for money stairlift continues.

Posted in ELDERLY MARKET | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“Uplifting Experience ? ” 1

Posted on July 10, 2012 by john graham

I had a conversation recently about the difficulties some older people have getting up and down stairs as they become less mobile.  It was in the context of the older people who live in two storey houses with bedrooms upstairs and also those who live in first and second floor flats with no lift.  There must be thousands of people who live in this situation, who may in the long-term be forced to move.  In spite of the fact that the majority of older people wish to remain in their own homes.

So it prompted me to look on the internet for information about stairlifts.  Google gives you 1,460,000 results to look at .  Where to start is the first problem:-

Lots of different suppliers.  Some of them manufacturers who also install.  Some are just referral agents.  Some are people who install other manufacturer’s products.  But it is far from clear who’s who.

I started with a comparison website, Which Stairlift.  They are masquarading as if they are related to “Which Magazine” which lends them credibility.  I doubt in fact they are.  There are no prices and when you ask for a quote, it immediately pops up with a box for more information but still no price.  However, they turn out to be an agent :-(.  They promise to send me brochures from all the manufacturers, which seems helpful :-).  Nothing on the website tells me anything about cost, which is not so helpful :-(.  I apply for the brochures by email and within an hour I get a follow-up phone call which I did not ask for or want.

The saleslady was chatty but not very informative.  She said she did not know prices but strongly recommended I bought direct from the manufacturer.  So it turns out she is not the comparison website at all.  She tells me that referral agents just add on commission but when I asked her how much this was, she again said she didn’t know prices.  When I persisted asking questions about cost she consulted her boss and told me that a straight lift would be in the order of £1,500 to £3,000 and a curved lift would be between £4,000 and £6,000.  Not exactly cheap then.  I then asked her about maintenance charges and after a little coaxing, she told me that straight lifts were £595 for 5 years and curved lifts were £1,495.  No doubt this is a little extra that will be added to the price.

She promised to email me the brochure, which was full of nice pictures but again no indicative costs :-(.

It is difficult to imagine that many older people would have found out even this amount of information.  It is obvious that the primary purpose of the website is to set up home visits when the sales pitch can continue.

Not a very encouraging start on my search for value for money in the stairlift market.  My enquiry will continue with other suppliers.

I will continue this thread in a series of subsequent blogs.

Posted in ELDERLY MARKET | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“Google Gout” 3

Posted on July 8, 2012 by john graham

This blog is a continuation of the story of my search for a remedy for my poorly foot.  (For previous posts on this subject click on “POORLY FEET” in the TAG CLOUD).

Hi Tracey

I’m glad to hear that Vanessa is ok and I do hope that Kelly is not off ill.  If she is, please send her a copy of the attachment to this e-mail which should cheer her up.  One of the problems with call centre customer care is that from the customer’s point of view, you rarely deal with the same person twice.  Nonetheless, it is very nice to communicate with you all.

I hope none of you are too unsettled by the recent news that Walgreens are planning to take over Boots.  They are a very good chemist and I regularly visit them whenever I’m in America and one thing I can say is that their aisles are a lot wider than those in your Boots shop.

In my continued search for a product to sort out my poorly foot, I decided to search the Walgreens website to see if they had any better range of products that might help me.   Following the information you sent me from the Boots website, I have all but ruled out the possibility that I may have gout but I thought I would just search the Walgreens website.  Only to be told that there are no products for gout “and did I mean goat”.  Walgreens indeed have a lot of goat related products ————- Super Goat Weed; Horny Goat Weed; Goat’s Milk Soap; Goat’s Milk Body Butter etc. etc.————there are 38 products in all.  Unfortunately I don’t think any of these are good for gout.

Meanwhile, I’m still persisting with the cardboard box on my poorly foot.

One question remains in my mind which is where did my reference number come from?  Surely you haven’t had nearly 10,000,000 enquiries?  If you have, you must be doing a very challenging job.

Thinking of all three of you at this troublesome time.

Kind regards, John Graham                         My Reference Number is 9999799

Posted in GRUMBLES | Tagged | 2 Comments

“Sad Happy Birthdays”

Posted on July 5, 2012 by john graham

When you are young, birthdays are occasions to look forward to:- presents, parties, friends to play with, candles to blow out, wishes to make and a cake just for you with your name on it.  Birthdays are a good-time celebration for children.

When you get past 21, it becomes more of a quiet drink with friends and thereafter many people are trying to forget the passing of the years rather than draw attention to them.

Now, thanks to some cheery research from the University of Zurich, it appears that once you have passed the age of 60, you are 14% more likely to die on your birthday than on any other day of the year.

Here are some of the unhappy birthday findings:-

  • 18.6% rise in heart attacks;
  • 21.5% increase in strokes;
  • 10.5% more cancer deaths;
  • 34.9% rise in suicides;
  • 28.5% rise in accidental deaths;
  • 44% increase in deaths from falls;

Doesn’t really make for happy reading———- but does it need to be so?

We should start celebrating our age as we get past 60 and become more like children again.  Have parties for all our friends before they slip off this mortal coil.  Drink lots of champagne and eat vast quantities of cake – if our blood pressure and cholesterol go up for the day, so be it :-).

We should also do something challenging on our birthdays to prove we are still alive – something we have never done before.

If you live in Switzerland, then on your 60th birthday you could try climbing the North Face of the Eiger for the first time.  If you’re one of the 44% who fall and die, well what a way to go :-).

Happy, Happy Birthday

P.s. The researcher Gnomes in Zurich can go back to studying fun!

Posted in SMILES | Tagged | 5 Comments

“Google Gout” 2

Posted on July 1, 2012 by john graham

This blog follows on from “BEST FOOT FORWARD 2” and my continuing search for a cure for my poorly foot.  Click on 10th June 2012 in the ARCHIVE or “poorly feet” in the TAG CLOUD.

Hi Vanessa

Thank you for taking the time to reply about my difficulty of trying to find a suitable product for my sore feet.  I’m very pleased to hear that your Store Operations Team will reconsider the position of the “foot care” aisle.

I also note your comment that you intend to offer “a variety of products under each category as what may work for one person, won’t necessarily work for another.”  Sadly in my case your words proved to be prophetic.  The Scholl Ortha-heel Gel Heel Pain Relievers haven’t worked.

A close friend has suggested that I may have gout.  Rather than spending more time walking around the aisles of your shop, I decided to visit the Boots website instead.  Generally the website seems most informative but on this occasion when I entered “gout” into the search box, it told me there were no products for gout but instead suggested “Potters Out Of Sorts”.  Surely this can’t be correct?  I can’t believe on all those shelves there are no products for gout.  Could you please advise me further?

Yours sincerely

John Graham

This is the reply I received from Boots:-

Hello John

Thank you for your email.

I can recommend these link on our website which has more information on Gout:

http://www.webmd.boots.com/foot-care/understanding-gout-basics

http://www.webmd.boots.com/arthritis/gout-treatments

However we can not really recommend what treatment will best suit you and I would suggest either speaking to one of our Pharmacist’s and Healthcare assistants in store who are always more than happy to help or you may need to speak to your GP if this is a recurring problem.

Thanks again for contacting us. If I can help in any other way, please let me know. Your personal reference number is 9999799.

Kind Regards, Kelly May, Boots Customer Care.

This is my reply to Kelly:-

Hi Kelly

What happened to Vanessa?  I do hope she’s still with Boots and hasn’t become a victim of the Walgreens takeover.

Thanks for the links to the medical advice on your site about gout which I found most informative.  One of the drugs suggested as a possible treatment sounded promising until I read about the side effects of diarrhoea and vomiting.    Having read the information carefully I don’t, on balance, think it sounds like I have gout but I have taken one of the precautions suggested on your website and put a cardboard box on my foot.  It certainly helps at night but it’s not so convenient in the daytime.

Now that I’ve read all about gout and found it’s a form of arthritis, it could be that it is arthritis that I’ve got.  I’ve already got arthritis in my fingers and maybe it’s now spreading to my feet.  I should say though that I don’t have a problem with my big toe which suggests to me that my “poorly foot” is not gout.

Kind regards, John Graham           My Reference Number is 9999799

Posted in GRUMBLES | Tagged | 1 Comment