Boris's Brain is missing

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simonineaston
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by simonineaston »

In broad terms, the social care crisis is unfixable - with a demographic that is gently swaying towards a larger, poorer (and non-house-owning) population, there is a time-bomb ticking away that is simply not possible to fix without resorting to massive shifts in our attitiude towards taxation... and the Torys don't give-a-damn. Or at least that's how I see it, over my plump, juicy, ham salad sandwich.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Jdsk
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Higher taxation would make it easier, but the Dilnot proposals are surprisingly inexpensive:

Analysis from the King's Fund:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/defa ... -jul11.pdf
includes:
"If the Commission’s recommendations are implemented in full, it forecasts that no-one would have to spend more than 30 per cent of their assets to fund their care. It estimates that its recommended changes to the funding system would require £1.7 billion in additional public expenditure (0.14 per cent of GDP) if the cap on individual contributions is set at £35,000, rising to £3.6 billion (0.22 per cent of GDP) by 2025/6."

And the IfS in 2017, that's after Dilnot and after the Conservative proposals:
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/9243
includes:
"A life-time cap on care costs, as proposed by the Dilnot Commission, is a solution to the insurance problem. It is effectively a form of social insurance, funded from general taxation. It may also make it easier for a private market to emerge that would offer insurance against care costs up to the cap.
"By contrast, the Conservative plan makes no attempt to deal with the fundamental challenge of social care funding. That is the big problem – not how many people might win or lose."


Jonathan
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simonineaston
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by simonineaston »

I must say it must be a colossal job to work out exactly how much care for later life might cost! Trying to figure out the numbers, the ages, the care needs, the assets yadda yadda probably needs more than a Sinclair scientific... ;-)
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

This is something where I cannot understand the Tories reluctance to sort it out: their natural supporters would be the people with most to gain. Also, their usual solution of private insurance is only feasible if the risk is known and capped.
francovendee
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by francovendee »

We're in a loop with my MIL. She has Alzheimer's disease and is failing to look after herself properly and this week the fire brigade had to attend. She has carers 3 times a day but they don't always turn up.
Her best place would be in a home but as she is healthy in other ways and on no form of medication or treatment it means she does not meet the requirements.
This week she had a visit from a psychiatrist who said he couldn't put every patient in care as the council (Barnet) didn't have the funds.
Alzheimers is a disease just as cancer is. We treat one properly but not the other.
I'm sure this wasn't what Attlee and Bevan had in mind when the NHS was born.
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simonineaston
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by simonineaston »

Sorry to hear that Franco. My own mum suffered from same, too. There was a a difficult period between mum's symptoms being apparent and her eventually moving to a home that specialised in care for dementia sufferers, where she was looked after with dignity and kindness.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

francovendee wrote: 23 Jun 2021, 8:02am We're in a loop with my MIL. She has Alzheimer's disease and is failing to look after herself properly and this week the fire brigade had to attend. She has carers 3 times a day but they don't always turn up.
Her best place would be in a home but as she is healthy in other ways and on no form of medication or treatment it means she does not meet the requirements.
This week she had a visit from a psychiatrist who said he couldn't put every patient in care as the council (Barnet) didn't have the funds.
Alzheimers is a disease just as cancer is. We treat one properly but not the other.
I'm sure this wasn't what Attlee and Bevan had in mind when the NHS was born.
Ignore this if you already know but the key to this is NHS Continuing Healthcare.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-ca ... ealthcare/

I don't suggest this is easy because there's more resources seem to go into fobbing-off and foot-dragging than go into providing the care. I do know people who have managed to get this for a family member, largely by deploying more time and effort than those who were trying to say no.
Jdsk
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

"Russia says it fires warning shots at British destroyer near Crimea, UK denies it"
https://www.reuters.com/world/russian-f ... 021-06-23/

Jonathan
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Mick F
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Mick F »

Two sides to every story.

Personally, as an ex RN serviceman, I doubt the Russians did it as a "warning shot" but as a show of strength way away from HMS Defender. Anything more than that, is an act of war.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Mick F »

An excerpt from my memoirs regarding HMS Sirius in which I served from 1985 to 1989.
In August of 1988, whilst out in the South China Sea, we answered a Mayday from a Taiwanese fishing boat saying that she was sinking. We sent our helicopter out to search the reported position, but found nothing. However, as they widened their search area, they spotted a small island and did a low pass over the beach to look for wreckage and survivors.
Suddenly they were fired on by machine gun! They got out of the place very quickly. Sirius prepared to have the helicopter crash-land on deck and to standby for casualties. Luckily, all was well, and it landed without further incident, though the helicopter had quite a few bullet holes all over and through it! It was a miracle that nothing important was hit, and the crew completely unscathed. After patching up the holes and checking everything very thoroughly, the helicopter was given a clean bill of health!
Later, it was found out that it was Chinese troops who had fired on our helicopter because they thought it was Vietnamese. It seems that Vietnam, China and Taiwan had all been disputing their rights to the island, part of the Paracel Islands, for many years. Eventually, after the diplomatic wheels had turned far enough, the Chinese government apologised for the mistake. No trace was ever found of the fishing boat. Whether it ever existed or not, I never found out.
Was this a bogus distress call to lure a British warship?
Dunno, and I doubt we will ever know.
Mick F. Cornwall
francovendee
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by francovendee »

thirdcrank wrote: 23 Jun 2021, 8:56am
francovendee wrote: 23 Jun 2021, 8:02am We're in a loop with my MIL. She has Alzheimer's disease and is failing to look after herself properly and this week the fire brigade had to attend. She has carers 3 times a day but they don't always turn up.
Her best place would be in a home but as she is healthy in other ways and on no form of medication or treatment it means she does not meet the requirements.
This week she had a visit from a psychiatrist who said he couldn't put every patient in care as the council (Barnet) didn't have the funds.
Alzheimers is a disease just as cancer is. We treat one properly but not the other.
I'm sure this wasn't what Attlee and Bevan had in mind when the NHS was born.
Ignore this if you already know but the key to this is NHS Continuing Healthcare.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-ca ... ealthcare/

I don't suggest this is easy because there's more resources seem to go into fobbing-off and foot-dragging than go into providing the care. I do know people who have managed to get this for a family member, largely by deploying more time and effort than those who were trying to say no.
We have heard of it but on the advice of the her social worker we haven't applied. The advice was she would be refused it even if we did apply.
I wonder if any of the political parties will ever face up to the costs of properly funding social care and find the money (increased tax?).
I very much doubt it, and end of life will continue to be a problem without an acceptable solution.
ThePinkOne
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by ThePinkOne »

Oldjohnw wrote: 22 Jun 2021, 8:11am As things are, people are able to have as many housing assets (they can't all be homes) as they want. Holiday homes, second homes, property for Air b and b. All pushing other people out.
This seems to be the big issue.

There's enough housing to go around it if was more evenly distributed and living in a home had a higher priority than a house being an investment asset which is operated to generate most profit.

The rise of AirBNB and link to second home ownership is interesting. Get a "second home", make it "available" for 140 nights a year, let it for 70 nights a year and you pay no council tax, then of course you get a small business grant to cover business rates. Thankfully, parts of Wales have closed that loophole now, but it is an egregious thing that drastically reduces availability of homes.

In cities, we have ownership of flats as investments (or to launder money), often by overseas owners. Again, homes taken away.

Finally we have land values which are far too high, so the cost of housing is far too high.

My solution:
- Remove the tax loopholes for second homes, levy high council tax and also tax AirBNB nights. Bring AirBNB onto a par with hotels/B&B safety requirements (unless a room in a home as originally intended).
- Rent controls particularly in cities, this to include AirBNB let properties.
- Secure tenancies on the continental model
- Land reform and a "right to buy land (at a cheap rate) and build" provided the dwelling would (a) be the primary home for at least 10 years and/or subject to a higher tax if sold- sliding scale depending on how long you live in it, (b) the design of the house met high eco standards- carbon neutral, responsibly sourced sustainable materials, well insulated to be cool in summer and warm in winter, solar panels, ground source heat pump, limits on hard surfacing, minimum number of trees in garden, designed to reduce energy use e.g. built with a drying room so a tumble drier was not required, low water use and rainwater harvesting. Encourage "earthships" and permaculture-orientated designs. Add in a right to be connected to fast broadband- reduce need to commute, so you can access work but also live in an area.

All this is within current technology, just needs a will to do. It'll happen only in my dreams though!

TPO
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

We have heard of it but on the advice of the her social worker we haven't applied. The advice was she would be refused it even if we did apply.
I wonder if any of the political parties will ever face up to the costs of properly funding social care and find the money (increased tax?).
I very much doubt it, and end of life will continue to be a problem without an acceptable solution.
Social services = local authority
Nursing care = NHS

I think there's nominally independent advice from somebody in my link. I know first hand of three people who received this. My mother, at the very end of her life, when she'd been dying a prolonged death and had been in a coma(?) for at least a week was "awarded" this. Actually, the decision to pay was made weeks after her death. Around the same time, my sister-in-law was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the NHS paid this immediately to get her out of hospital and into a care home (No hospice place available.) Obviously, that wasn't dementia. A while before that, a former colleague was diagnosed with some form of dementia in his early 60s. His wife looked after him at home until she could not cope and he went into care, financed from his pension etc. His wife fought his case relentlessly and eventually succeeded in having his care funded by the NHS. I know some of the details because at the time we were both taking grandchildren to the same primary school.
ThePinkOne
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by ThePinkOne »

simonineaston wrote: 22 Jun 2021, 1:33pm In broad terms, the social care crisis is unfixable - with a demographic that is gently swaying towards a larger, poorer (and non-house-owning) population, there is a time-bomb ticking away that is simply not possible to fix without resorting to massive shifts in our attitiude towards taxation... and the Torys don't give-a-damn. Or at least that's how I see it, over my plump, juicy, ham salad sandwich.
It's a really difficult one.

A related issue is our fixation on prolonging life rather than focusing on a good life and a good death.

My father was badly affected by a stroke at a relatively young age (early 60's)- no doubt a result of long-term stress. When he ended up in a sheltered accommodation block, he decided to enjoy the time he had left, he pottered around meeting friends and having tea in local cafes, and enjoyed his nights out with the local masonic lodge (small town social circle). He did all the things he was told not to (if he wanted to live longer) including drinking too much and eating the hot puddings he enjoyed so much!. He was happy that way, drifting along with a smile and no cares. He'd decided to enjoy what time was left to him.

A few years later he died of another stroke. He could have summoned help but didn't do so. He'd always said he never wanted to end up with dementia or incapable of doing anything. Initially, I was really upset and angry at him for this choice, but looking back with the hindsight of rather more than 10 years, I get it. He'd made his peace with life, treasured the warm and good things, and made his choice whilst he had some agency. My wanting him to have survived longer I now recognise was my selfishness and guilt at living far away.

I just wish I'd been mature enough to understand more about this when he was alive and gently chiding me for wanting him to strive for more "improvement-" when he was content. I didn't see that the best way was to have joined him- even if only for a time- in his little bubble of contentment. But I'm sure where he is now, he's looking down and smiling to see that I've finally got it, and at a young enough age to de-stress my life and prioritise contentment.

The media is fixated on "health" and only the young, slim and beautiful (or those who appear young, slim and attractive) are portrayed in a positive light. Pursuit of (physical) "health" has become almost a religion, yet mental health deteriorates, the world gets noisier and faster, and there's little time to "stand and stare."

This is about more than taxation. It's about a grown-up conversation about quality of life and whether pouring cash in to heroic "treatments" is really a desirable option. Our societal obsession with "health" and longevity comes into it.

Another aspect is how we accommodate older people. My MiL is 89 and has all her marbles as it were- but has limited mobility. We live nearby, my other half (retired) goes over most days and does things like putting the shopping away and the bins out, and she's had her house modified- stairlift, walk-in wetroom instead of a bath/shower. She's said that without all that, she'd "be in a home." I've often thought if we had one bigger house where she could have a little self-contained flatlet it would be much easier. But trying that would be so difficult with the current tax rules, even though if we pooled our resources there's enough funds.

Houses to hold more than one generation but preserve some independence; not having to spend so much time commuting and working away; working from home or part-time. These all contribute to a solution. But need a social shift as well as a governmental one.

I appreciate this is a difficult and taboo subject, but that's why it's so important to have the conversation- in a sensible way with compassion but without over-emoting or becoming polarised.

TPO
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

Re: inflation.

Boris Johnson's placeman with the new £50 note
One million will easily go in a wheelbarrow
One million will easily go in a wheelbarrow
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