:00:04. > :00:10.In the next half an hour, we reveal how the North East is the meanest
:00:10. > :00:19.region in Britain when it comes to looking after older people. I have
:00:19. > :00:27.paid all my life for anything that's to pay for. I'm still paying.
:00:27. > :00:32.Is there a radical solution? How would you feel about a man? I
:00:32. > :00:37.thought, "A man? Why not." Putting Tyneside on the telly - the man
:00:37. > :00:41.with high hopes for his Geordie sitcom gives us a sneak preview.
:00:41. > :00:46.am trying to show the North East that I grew up, maybe the stuff
:00:46. > :00:56.that we are not proud of, but it does exist.
:00:56. > :01:06.
:01:06. > :01:10.Our stories from our part of the When Inside Out uncovered a
:01:10. > :01:17.catalogue of neglect in Southern Cross homes, lots of you told us it
:01:17. > :01:20.was down to cost. With elderly, vulnerable people being treated
:01:20. > :01:25.like commodities. The company has since collapsed. With councils
:01:25. > :01:30.cutting their budgets, I want toe know whether the same thing could
:01:30. > :01:34.be happening all over again, only this time in your own home.
:01:34. > :01:38.They are a funding time bomb and they are among the hardest hit by
:01:38. > :01:43.cuts. You are about to see what some say is the reality of care
:01:43. > :01:48.paid for by councils. It is rubbish. You wouldn't want it for your
:01:48. > :01:56.family. I wouldn't want it for mine. With services being cut, can
:01:56. > :02:00.councils afford to take care of elderly people any more? Darlington
:02:00. > :02:10.is no different to any other town. Here, financial pressures on the
:02:10. > :02:10.
:02:11. > :02:15.council are hitting pensioners. Having a bath used to be cheap
:02:15. > :02:22.because it was subsidised by the council and the local Primary Care
:02:22. > :02:26.Trust. Home bathing would have been �2.20. Now we provide at �13.
:02:26. > :02:31.is a massive difference. It is. This is because of the council
:02:31. > :02:37.cutting the funding? Yes. It's one way in which council cuts are
:02:37. > :02:42.biting. The clients are up in arms. I have paid all my life for
:02:42. > :02:47.anything that's to pay for. I'm still paying. I want to dig deeper.
:02:48. > :02:57.I have heard that across the North elderly people are at risk and it's
:02:57. > :03:01.all down to cost-cutting. This is such an important issue. People
:03:01. > :03:04.don't want to go on camera because they are worried it might
:03:04. > :03:08.compromise the care of their loved one, or they might lose their job.
:03:08. > :03:14.Mostly, the complaints are about home care, to help you stay
:03:14. > :03:18.independent in your own home. It's often paid for by councils but
:03:18. > :03:22.contracted-out to private companies. I have spoken with a home care
:03:22. > :03:26.worker in the North East who says frontline staff are under massive
:03:26. > :03:30.pressure. Again, they were worried that speaking on camera might harm
:03:30. > :03:35.their career. Their words are spoken by an actor. You didn't have
:03:35. > :03:40.enough time between jobs. They would ring you up and say, "Such
:03:40. > :03:46.and such has rang in sick, can you squeeze another job in?" You would
:03:46. > :03:50.be rushing. I always like to give them the full time and the best
:03:50. > :03:57.care possible. We have been told carers are working up to 60 hours a
:03:57. > :04:03.week on the minimum wage. A lot of the staff have left. The clients
:04:04. > :04:13.get worried because they worry about, with the staff leaving, will
:04:14. > :04:15.
:04:15. > :04:19.the company close down? Elizabeth's mum gets home care. It is full care.
:04:19. > :04:25.Elizabeth wanted to stay anonymous for the protection of her mum. What
:04:25. > :04:31.things have caused you concern with your mother's care? I think hygiene
:04:31. > :04:38.standards definitely. Using the same flannel to wash her face and
:04:38. > :04:43.then her bottom, and then using it on her face. It is unacceptable.
:04:43. > :04:50.More poor care. Francis has memory problems and until this summer, she
:04:50. > :04:56.was getting care paid for by the council. She was having three very
:04:56. > :05:03.short visits a day from a variety of different people, so in a week
:05:03. > :05:08.she could be seeing 10 to 20 people. The impact was to add to her
:05:08. > :05:14.confusion. I wouldn't like to say it caused her to be depressed but
:05:14. > :05:18.she became very depressed and I think it added to that. We are not
:05:18. > :05:25.naming the companies because to be fair, the same problems crop up
:05:25. > :05:32.over and over again pretty much everywhere. You need to read
:05:32. > :05:37.inspection reports. Staff not adequately trained, records were
:05:37. > :05:42.not accurate. Staff shortages were a problem. One person told them
:05:42. > :05:48.that if their carer failed to turn up, they would be unable to eat or
:05:48. > :05:52.drink or get up, get showered and dressed. It gets worse. There's one
:05:52. > :05:58.company where 12 staff had no medication training. That is
:05:58. > :06:03.exactly what we heard about another company. The one our whistleblower
:06:03. > :06:08.worked for. Some people are not doing a proper medication course.
:06:08. > :06:12.Anybody that's giving medication that isn't trained to a certain
:06:12. > :06:20.degree is going to make a mistake. To me, it is an accident waiting to
:06:20. > :06:23.happen. There are perhaps even more serious concerns. At Age UK they
:06:23. > :06:26.have rejected job applicants because they failed a criminal
:06:26. > :06:36.records check. You wouldn't want them in your service or dealing
:06:36. > :06:40.with relatives of yours. They might have a track record of anything
:06:40. > :06:45.from fraud, abuse - it is horrifying that they could go on to
:06:45. > :06:49.another company that doesn't do the CRB checks in the same way. It is
:06:49. > :06:54.clear some companies don't. This is a report by inspectors of a company
:06:54. > :07:01.on Tyneside. There, they found two members of staff who hadn't been
:07:01. > :07:07.CRB-checked. "This could put people at risk" said the inspectors. So
:07:07. > :07:12.what's it down to? Well, this, apparently. I have heard that to
:07:12. > :07:16.save money some councils are driving down the hourly rate they
:07:16. > :07:20.pay companies to carry out home care. The UK Homecare Association
:07:20. > :07:25.have been looking into the average amount they pay across Britain.
:07:25. > :07:29.would seem the North East is the worst in our survey at �10.94 an
:07:29. > :07:33.hour. Our view, that is not enough to deliver the right quality of
:07:33. > :07:38.service and that has to change. Other areas could be spending up to
:07:38. > :07:42.�13 an hour. Our councils are the most tight-fisted in Britain.
:07:42. > :07:46.Christine Savage and Bob Nelson set up a care agency because they
:07:46. > :07:52.thought local authorities were doing things on the cheap. We have
:07:52. > :07:59.heard that in one big local authority in our region they are
:07:59. > :08:05.looking for providers to work for �10 an hour and there isn't enough
:08:05. > :08:09.money in �10 an hour to recruit and train and pay and manage decent
:08:09. > :08:14.quality staff. It is not feasible. That is �10 to the company, not the
:08:15. > :08:18.carer who may be on the minimum wage. If the North East is paying
:08:18. > :08:24.the lowest, we understand that at least one council is thinking of
:08:24. > :08:30.cutting the amount of money? Well, that's shameful. It used to be
:08:30. > :08:35.quality was at the top of the list. In our survey, 74% of providers
:08:36. > :08:39.said cost is the main factor in delivering the service. I have got
:08:39. > :08:43.hold of a confidential document which backs this up. It belongs to
:08:43. > :08:50.a North East council and it explains the tendering process on
:08:50. > :08:56.one particular contract for elderly people. The charity that's put in a
:08:56. > :09:00.bid that by far and away is better on quality. But the way its
:09:00. > :09:06.weighted it went to a company that put in a bid at a much lower cost.
:09:06. > :09:11.In this case, quality is not as important as the price. So while
:09:11. > :09:18.councils look to pay less, older people are paying more for services
:09:18. > :09:26.like day-care. I have a few savings, I pay full price, which is
:09:27. > :09:33.somewhere around �35 a day. Why do we have to pay now? It's the
:09:33. > :09:37.Government who have to cut costs! Why is it the pensioners all the
:09:37. > :09:41.time? I want to get answers from the organisation that speaks for
:09:41. > :09:45.all councils on this issue. The North East has come out as being
:09:45. > :09:48.the meanest region when it comes to this. Some councils are talking
:09:48. > :09:52.about cutting �10 per hour? It is up against the wire. There will be
:09:52. > :09:57.councils who are doing that reluctantly, and they will be doing
:09:57. > :10:02.it because they are looking at their budgets, or maybe their
:10:02. > :10:07.corporate procurement teams are thinking it must be like buying
:10:07. > :10:12.pencils, let's use economies of scales. We have heard examples of
:10:12. > :10:15.workers having to squeeze jobs in to their day, people not having
:10:15. > :10:18.proper medication training. They are not what we want to see. There
:10:18. > :10:22.are different reasons why those things happen. Sometimes it is
:10:22. > :10:32.because the councils push the price too low. Sometimes it is because a
:10:32. > :10:36.
:10:36. > :10:40.provider is trying to eke a profit out. Who are you looking to?
:10:40. > :10:43.looking to the Government. previous Care Minister said the
:10:43. > :10:47.Government is blocking funding for social care, so what does the
:10:47. > :10:52.current Minister think? I have been going to great lengths to get hold
:10:52. > :10:57.of him for an interview and it looks like it's worked. We have a
:10:57. > :11:00.system that is creaking. We need to reform how people are cared for.
:11:00. > :11:05.That requires money. Isn't it the case that the councils haven't got
:11:05. > :11:11.enough and you should be funding it better? Well, we've provided an
:11:11. > :11:14.extra �7.5 billion over the four- year period, along with providing
:11:15. > :11:19.extra resources. It's also really important that we use the money as
:11:19. > :11:22.effectively as possible. We know that doesn't always happen. We know
:11:22. > :11:27.that sometimes you have a race to the bottom with the cheapest
:11:27. > :11:30.provider coming up with, or winning the contract. That thing is not
:11:30. > :11:33.appropriate. Can councils afford to provide decent care for elderly
:11:33. > :11:37.people in their own homes? Yes, they can. If we can be smarter at
:11:37. > :11:43.the way we use money, there is enough money available in the
:11:43. > :11:51.system to guarantee that people as they grow old can grow old with
:11:51. > :11:56.the middle are the elderly. Often victims of poor care, of Government
:11:56. > :12:04.and council cuts, at a time when they feel they are losing service
:12:04. > :12:08.after service after service. They are left asking one question. It's
:12:08. > :12:14.a problem that is only going to get worse as the number of older people
:12:14. > :12:18.grows. Can we find the care we want without depending on Government or
:12:18. > :12:27.council coffers? The BBC's Home Editor has been on the hunt for
:12:27. > :12:33.some novel solutions. I wonder what it is like to be 80.
:12:33. > :12:41.If I lived that long, who is going to be there to care for me? Who is
:12:41. > :12:44.going to pay the bill? They are questions we all ask. You can spend
:12:44. > :12:49.almost everything before the state steps in. I am in York because in
:12:49. > :12:56.this city, some of the elder I will have clubbed together to share the
:12:56. > :13:02.risk. It is a simple idea. Before you get too old, you can apply to
:13:02. > :13:07.a community run by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation where residents
:13:07. > :13:11.know that if or when they need nursing care, it is available on
:13:11. > :13:16.site at no extra charge. It is not easy to get in. You have to pass a
:13:16. > :13:25.medical and one of the leasehold bungalows needs to be vacant. It
:13:25. > :13:29.pays to apply early. Look at that. You made the decision to come here
:13:29. > :13:34.at 61? It was quite easy. We came here because my parents had died
:13:34. > :13:41.and suddenly we are the oldest people in our family. We came here
:13:41. > :13:49.and suddenly we were the youngest. There were people 14 years older
:13:49. > :13:54.than me! Hartrigg Oaks offers peace of mind to those who can afford it.
:13:54. > :13:58.Residents pay into a communal pot. In return, they can be confident
:13:58. > :14:02.that whatever happens to them, they won't get clobbered with care fees
:14:02. > :14:07.they can't afford. All those worries that everybody has about
:14:07. > :14:13.what happens. You have answered them? We know where our care will
:14:13. > :14:17.take place. And probably where we will die. That is great. We can
:14:17. > :14:21.tick that box and get on with living! Of course, as the residents
:14:21. > :14:25.get older, they are more likely to use the site's care facilities. You
:14:25. > :14:31.have been paying in all this time? That's right. Paying over the odds
:14:31. > :14:40.while you were well, but now you are getting a bit back? It seems
:14:41. > :14:44.wasting one's money, but it wasn't. Hartrigg Oaks is a local solution
:14:44. > :14:49.to what many would argue should be a national state responsibility,
:14:49. > :14:53.paying for the care of our elderly. The plain fact is that at the time
:14:53. > :14:58.of cuts to public services, the politicians cannot agree on where
:14:58. > :15:02.they are going to find the money. The issue keeps getting kicked into
:15:02. > :15:06.the long grass. The truth is that despite the recession, Britain is
:15:06. > :15:10.still many times richer in real terms than it was when today's
:15:10. > :15:16.pensioners were born. We can afford to look after them. But in
:15:16. > :15:20.Westminster, seasoned politicians will tell you that priorities lie
:15:20. > :15:26.elsewhere. Is it too ridiculous to imagine na the answer is to put
:15:26. > :15:33.taxes up so we can -- that the answer is to put taxes up so we can
:15:33. > :15:38.pay and look after our elderly? isn't ridiculous. It's ridiculous
:15:38. > :15:41.politically because nobody will touch it with a bargepole. With
:15:41. > :15:48.taxpayers unable or unwilling to pay for the increasing care demands
:15:48. > :15:50.of the elderly, the search is on for ways to provide help without
:15:50. > :15:56.the need for large amounts of public money. I have come to Essex
:15:56. > :16:01.to see one of the country's 100 homeshares in action, an idea very
:16:01. > :16:06.popular on the Continent. husband died in 2002. I have had
:16:06. > :16:10.rheumatoid for 20 years. Then gradually I found I was getting
:16:11. > :16:17.worse. My daughter did some research and I came up with share
:16:17. > :16:27.and care. She said, "How would you feel about a man?" I thought, "A
:16:27. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:37.man? A man! Why not?" 80-year-old Iona was matched with 45-year-old
:16:37. > :16:41.Graham, an NHS worker. It will come to me! For the last two years, they
:16:41. > :16:46.have lived alongside each other in Iona's home. He lives rent-free in
:16:46. > :16:49.return for spending around ten hours a week helping out. You see
:16:49. > :16:55.the advert, it says, "This is not going to be a flatshare with
:16:55. > :17:01.another NHS worker, this will be living with an older person..."
:17:01. > :17:09.Taking care of the chickens, doing some shopping, mowing the lawn, a
:17:09. > :17:13.few repairs. A bit of company. own house? Exactly. I wanted to
:17:13. > :17:17.stay here. I love my house. I intend to be carried out in my
:17:17. > :17:19.coffin from here. You don't have a - it is free board and lodging in
:17:20. > :17:26.return for some chores kind of relationship. You have become
:17:26. > :17:33.friends? We are friends. He has been amazing. He has given me my
:17:33. > :17:42.life, my quality of life. We laugh. He makes me roar with laughter.
:17:42. > :17:46.Sometimes I make you roar! When you tell a dirty joke! LAUGHTER It is
:17:46. > :17:50.so nice when you see something that works as well as that does, it is
:17:50. > :17:54.not for everybody. Clearly, the older person needs to have a spare
:17:54. > :17:58.room and their needs, they can't be too severe. Thirdly, perhaps most
:17:58. > :18:08.importantly, the characters have to be right to get that kind of
:18:08. > :18:12.special relationship. So, it is an answer, but it is not the answer.
:18:12. > :18:17.Over on the Isle of Wight, there is a unique social experiment being
:18:17. > :18:21.piloted. It is called Care4Care. Again, the idea is simple. For
:18:22. > :18:25.every hour of voluntary care that people put in for their elderly
:18:25. > :18:32.neighbours, they build-up an hour's worth of care credit that they can
:18:32. > :18:37.keep in a time bank and then use for their own care later in life.
:18:37. > :18:45.One of the youngest of the 150 members who have signed up for the
:18:45. > :18:49.squeem is 36-year-old Lewis who has been help -- scheme is 36-year-old
:18:49. > :18:54.Lewis who has been helping out Pearl. I would like to think that
:18:54. > :19:02.those hours are banked to go to helping my mother or helping myself
:19:02. > :19:06.and if and when I need it. It can encourage you so much to actually
:19:06. > :19:09.get out there and do something. Care4Care is the brainchild of
:19:09. > :19:17.Professor Heinz Wolff who hopes it will play a key part in solving the
:19:17. > :19:20.care crisis. I hope that over the next three years, we will build it
:19:20. > :19:25.into quite a large national scheme. I hope that there might be a
:19:25. > :19:31.million members. The problem is whether the next generation is
:19:31. > :19:37.sufficiently keen to ensure safety in their own age to invest the
:19:37. > :19:41.hours which would buy them their care pension. In Westminster, the
:19:41. > :19:47.talk is all about cuts and austerity, not spending billions
:19:47. > :19:50.more caring for our elderly. So the responsibility falls on wider
:19:51. > :19:56.society, on communities, on neighbourhoods, on families to fill
:19:56. > :20:02.that gap and help all of us feel more confident about the prospect
:20:02. > :20:11.of growing old. If you would like to tell me about
:20:11. > :20:15.your stories, you can e-mail at chrisjackson@bbc.co.uk.
:20:15. > :20:21.Whatever happened to the likely lads? It is a good question. When
:20:21. > :20:25.it comes to comedy, Geordie humour has been a rarity on-screen. Until
:20:25. > :20:35.now. The Office put Slough on the map. So could Hebburn do the same
:20:35. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:46.for South Tyneside? Chris Connel I'm trying to show the North East
:20:46. > :20:54.that I grew up in. I have the weight of a whole region on me
:20:54. > :20:59.shoulders. There will be a lot of pressure. Jason Cook has created a
:20:59. > :21:03.sitcom with an all-star cast and he has set it here, in his hometown.
:21:03. > :21:09.The results will be watched by millions and it could change his
:21:09. > :21:14.life forever and it should put this place on the map. Action!
:21:14. > :21:19.programme is billed as a warm tale of North East family life. It is a
:21:19. > :21:24.series of six half-hour shows. have never been to Newcastle before.
:21:25. > :21:34.We are in Hebburn! Hebburn is where dreams come to die. I can't see
:21:34. > :21:44.anything wrong with this place. Watch this! Big Keith, formal wear
:21:44. > :21:44.
:21:44. > :21:51.this evening? Shirt's in the wash, man! Me shirt! It's called Hebburn.
:21:51. > :21:56.It's got a stellar cast, great writing and a production team with
:21:56. > :22:00.a proven track record of delivering hit shows. Can they turn a comedy
:22:00. > :22:10.set into a nationwide hit? It's been done before, but a long time
:22:10. > :22:14.
:22:14. > :22:20.ago. # Whatever happened to you... #
:22:20. > :22:25.There was a culture up here and a humour and an existence between the
:22:25. > :22:28.image of an industrial landscape and coal mines and shipbuilding.
:22:28. > :22:38.Since then, the North East has spawned a good many comedians who
:22:38. > :22:52.
:22:52. > :22:59.have hit the big time, including this pair. Wait for me, man!
:22:59. > :23:06.years ago, the BBC made another comedy show set here. I'm sure you
:23:06. > :23:15.all remember Breeze Block? No? I do. I was in it! Briefly. That's me on
:23:15. > :23:20.the left with a little bit more hair. I have brought you a cigar.
:23:20. > :23:26.Canny. Broadcast on BBC Choice, Breeze Block was set in Newcastle.
:23:26. > :23:36.He is having trouble with his confidence. He has to take therapy.
:23:36. > :23:37.
:23:37. > :23:47.Go on, Dad. A year later, along came another great comedy set in
:23:47. > :23:53.the region. That's enough of that. Spool forward eight years, the BBC
:23:53. > :23:57.is back in the North East hoping this time it's hit comedy gold. It
:23:57. > :24:03.is banking on a script by a stand- up comedian called Jason Cook.
:24:03. > :24:08.is trying to show the North East that I grew up in. It is funny. The
:24:08. > :24:15.other bit is the stuff that we are all really proud of - the sense of
:24:15. > :24:20.family values, making the best of bad news. As well as writing it,
:24:20. > :24:28.Jason stars in it, in fact most of the cast are from the North East.
:24:28. > :24:33.All right? What you after? I want to use North East talent. You
:24:33. > :24:38.wouldn't believe how many people try and fake a Geordie accent? "Why
:24:38. > :24:44.you know, man, we're going to go to Gregg's!" This is my first one of
:24:44. > :24:47.these that I have ever done. I don't know - I am still learning.
:24:47. > :24:52.Everyone's laughed at us because I don't understand. There's a lot of
:24:52. > :24:56.people looking at it knowing it is the next North East one. We are
:24:56. > :25:02.both playing those girls, Geordie Shore, those girls that are in the
:25:02. > :25:05.public eye at the minute. You look proper lush! We are trying to be
:25:05. > :25:11.much more even-handed and respectful about playing them, not
:25:11. > :25:19.just being extreme and representing them as loose women who drink too
:25:19. > :25:24.much. What was it about the writing that got you interested? It is
:25:24. > :25:31.funny and very moving at the same time. It can go from a funny thing
:25:31. > :25:35.to a really sad scene, just like that. We can't afford to keep your
:25:35. > :25:39.gran in the retirement village. She is going to move in here with us.
:25:39. > :25:43.Jack will come up over the next few weekends and he will convert the
:25:43. > :25:48.sitting room into the bedroom. I? Didn't spot that in my diary. I
:25:48. > :25:55.would love to help. I've got my book on the weekends. You can read
:25:55. > :26:03.your book any time. Son, I need you to do this. All the location
:26:03. > :26:13.filming, the outside stuff, was done in Hebburn. Jack, you back?
:26:13. > :26:15.
:26:15. > :26:25.would appear so. This your lass? Aye! Hebburn is great as a film set,
:26:25. > :26:29.great locations. We got a lot of funny looks. We paint a very
:26:29. > :26:33.positive picture of Hebburn. have had hundreds of people come to
:26:33. > :26:38.watch us film. The response has been incredible. The cast are only
:26:38. > :26:42.spending a week here. They are doing most of the filming in this
:26:42. > :26:49.studio down here in Manchester. They have reconstructed the house
:26:49. > :26:52.where Jason grew up. We lived in this one, number 12. This is the
:26:52. > :26:58.sitting room. We have all the family pictures that we have had
:26:58. > :27:02.mocked up. Got to have a hostess trolley and two papers with a
:27:02. > :27:08.border in the middle! Why the early retirement? There comes a time in a
:27:08. > :27:16.man's life when he has to take a long, hard look... At his test
:27:16. > :27:22.results! Your Dad's heart is knackered! Action! The programme
:27:22. > :27:28.was produced for the BBC by Baby Cow. According to the man who
:27:28. > :27:33.commissioned the show, it had to be made in the North West. We made a
:27:33. > :27:36.quick commissioning decision. It meant the production company had to
:27:36. > :27:45.galvanise themselves into action very quickly. We did use North East
:27:45. > :27:49.crew and on-screen talent. We have shown Hebburn. It would be nice to
:27:49. > :27:53.spend more time up there. The North East is about to have another
:27:53. > :27:59.moment! I hope the series is successful. I have heard it is
:27:59. > :28:04.really good. What it will do, if anything, is put a spotlight on the
:28:04. > :28:10.forgotten landscape of the North East. Some would say that Hebburn
:28:10. > :28:14.plays to a few stereotypes and they are not trying to glamorise life up
:28:14. > :28:19.here. I am more than happy to celebrate the fact that a warm
:28:19. > :28:29.sitcom will be able to showcase all the great talent in the North East.
:28:29. > :28:32.But clearly not all! I'm not in it! I didn't get that phone call. I was
:28:32. > :28:39.probably busy! It will be rubbish anyway!
:28:39. > :28:44.You can catch Hebburn on BBC2 this Thursday night. That is it from us