Sense and nonsense
A friend drew my attention recently to the report from the Select Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change entitled Ready for Ageing? (see it here). It makes a number of recommendations: here are three, paraphrased for brevity:
· The NHS will have to radically transform to deal with the increasing demand and costs that result from an ageing population.
· This radical transformation will require health and social care to function well 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
· Health and social care must be commissioned and funded jointly, in order to facilitate joint working and use resources efficiently.
It would be good to ask people on the ground what they would suggest in terms of transforming health and social care to ensure services are fit for purpose for older adults and particularly older adults living with a dementia. What could we suggest? Here are two thoughts for starters:
· Hospitals to stop moving older people around the wards – why can’t the staff come to the patients instead of the patients having to move to suit the staff/ organization?
· Social services to keep case files open on people with a long-term condition (including dementia) – even better to review them regularly as well.
And a third thought which is not intended to be political – looked at coolly and calmly, how can it ever make sense to try to make a profit from the care of vulnerable older people?
Posted on Fri, August 9, 2013
by Susan Mary Benbow