:00:16. > :00:20.Good evening. Here is what is coming up this evening: the true
:00:21. > :00:26.cost of caring for their elderly. In a special programme I go behind
:00:26. > :00:34.the scenes in a New Forest nursing home. I think it is terrible after
:00:34. > :00:44.he has fought for his country, and in the take his money. And we find
:00:44. > :00:49.
:00:49. > :00:54.some radical solutions to the problems of care in the warm.
:00:54. > :01:04.rang not one day and said, how would you feel about a man? And I
:01:04. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:20.said, why not? This is Inside Out for the South.
:01:20. > :01:26.The good news we're living longer. A million people in Britain are now
:01:26. > :01:30.aged over 85. And the bad - as we reach retirement, one in three of
:01:30. > :01:40.us will get dementia. And many of us will end up needing care in a
:01:40. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:45.home like this one in the New Forest.
:01:45. > :01:47.But who pays what for their care is a lottery. If you're paid for by
:01:47. > :01:54.social services, different councils will be prepared to pay different
:01:54. > :01:58.rates. So here, Dorset pays more than Hampshire for its care. And if
:01:58. > :02:00.you pay for yourself you could end up paying �500 a week more than
:02:00. > :02:10.people without savings or assets, because private residents have to
:02:10. > :02:15.
:02:15. > :02:20.make up the shortfall. It is very difficult, because depending on how
:02:20. > :02:25.much money you have that is how much money you have to pay. It is a
:02:25. > :02:34.real stretch because you are talking in terms of around �1,000 a
:02:34. > :02:39.week from the family. That has a pension, a private pension and a
:02:39. > :02:45.state pension, all of which goes to pay for hymns. Otherwise I could
:02:45. > :02:50.not afford it, we do not have any rich relations. The pensions almost
:02:50. > :02:54.cover it and then we make it up. Dad worries about his money, but we
:02:54. > :03:00.reassure him by showing him a statement every time I come, but I
:03:00. > :03:08.did not do it today. He is worried that we will go bankrupt. But we
:03:08. > :03:12.are just on the right side. There is a fog of confusion and
:03:12. > :03:18.misunderstanding about who pays for care. Many people mistakenly
:03:18. > :03:22.believe that their NHS will pay for it. They have a nasty surprise when
:03:22. > :03:26.they discover that they have more than 23,000 pounds in savings are
:03:26. > :03:31.assets then they will have to meet the whole of the cost of the care
:03:31. > :03:35.themselves. You do find that people who are paying for themselves are
:03:35. > :03:41.paying more than people who are placed there by the local authority.
:03:41. > :03:44.It is that this problem of not enough money in the system. -- it
:03:44. > :03:47.is back to this problem. Birchy Hill Nursing Home says it
:03:47. > :03:49.struggles to recruit local staff. They operate a scheme sponsoring
:03:49. > :03:59.workers from India and the Philippines who work 12-hour shifts
:03:59. > :04:02.
:04:02. > :04:08.for around the minimum wage. For one week only I'm joining them.
:04:08. > :04:18.Can I try your hat on? Yes. year-old Ron has an advanced stage
:04:18. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:31.of Alzheimer's. What is your wife's name? Sylvia. If you cannot be in a
:04:31. > :04:41.situation where there is not a lot going on, then it is not for you.
:04:41. > :04:49.
:04:49. > :04:53.Is that the same hat? Can I try your hat on? You get everything
:04:53. > :05:02.done for you, whenever you want anything they get it for you, or
:05:02. > :05:12.try to get it for you. They make you lovely and comfortable in urine.
:05:12. > :05:16.
:05:16. > :05:22.-- in your room. We looked all over the place and we found this was the
:05:22. > :05:32.best one to come to. I have your lunch for you. I have been told I
:05:32. > :05:32.
:05:33. > :05:42.need to help cut your mate, is that alright? -- to cut your meat. Would
:05:43. > :05:51.
:05:51. > :06:01.you like some chicken? I think so. Is that alright? I haven't been
:06:01. > :06:04.able to walk properly, but I want to try it again.
:06:04. > :06:10.Weekly music sessions bring a lot of joy, but many council-run homes
:06:10. > :06:14.have had to slash budgets on entertainment like this. It makes
:06:14. > :06:18.them feel happy and sometimes because they are living here they
:06:18. > :06:28.might feel more at, so this will cheer them up and take away their
:06:28. > :06:40.
:06:40. > :06:45.loneliness. I am inspired to work as a carer, looking after them so.
:06:45. > :06:52.Brenda was 16 when she married Charlie, he is now 86. He worked
:06:52. > :06:58.for 50 years in Southampton docks. In the end, you become the carer.
:06:58. > :07:02.The husband-and-wife side of it gets very pushed out of the way. It
:07:03. > :07:07.does not exist anymore. He becomes like a stranger, and your feelings
:07:07. > :07:13.disappear as well. I know what is terrible, but it is just someone
:07:13. > :07:18.that you come to visit. You feel guilty about it, but that is just
:07:18. > :07:22.what happens after so many years of being parted. And when you were
:07:22. > :07:29.together, the last few years were more or less getting upset and
:07:29. > :07:33.running, so all you can think about is the bad times -- and fighting.
:07:33. > :07:40.When you get that time when reality is that you cannot cope any more,
:07:40. > :07:44.that must be so difficult to go through? It is. At the time you
:07:44. > :07:48.think, what a relief, because at last you're not having to do that,
:07:48. > :07:56.but then that isolation comes in and you are completely on your own
:07:56. > :08:01.and it hits you that this is it for the rest of your life. It does not
:08:01. > :08:08.just affect the person who has dementia or Alzheimer's, it
:08:08. > :08:15.suspects -- it affects their family. Going to bed is a difficult one. I
:08:15. > :08:25.am sorry, I did not think I would do this. I felt so tough. Frank is
:08:25. > :08:39.
:08:40. > :08:49.83. Lashing out isn't uncommon. Everyone here knows it will pass.
:08:50. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:07.To find out what it's really like working as a carer, I'm doing a
:09:07. > :09:17.night shift. Eight till Eight. Putting people to bed, then back
:09:17. > :09:27.
:09:27. > :09:30.again, numerous trips to the loo and medicine rounds. It is 3:20am
:09:30. > :09:36.3:20am. Power was tall that people with dementia are sometimes
:09:36. > :09:42.confused about their body clock. Whilst we mostly sleep through the
:09:42. > :09:46.night, someone with dementia might not. They might want to get up to
:09:46. > :09:51.have something to eat, or walk around. You think that a person has
:09:51. > :09:55.gone, that they are still there. You see flashes of their
:09:55. > :10:02.personality and their character come through. It is like there is
:10:02. > :10:06.another jigsaw puzzle of them, but it is not the complete picture, or
:10:06. > :10:11.one are two pieces are missing. It is jumbled up, or in the box, and
:10:11. > :10:14.you have got to try and pick the jigsaw pieces together. If you
:10:14. > :10:24.spend time with them then there is the chance that you will find
:10:24. > :10:24.
:10:24. > :10:34.little sections of the cheques off. Good morning.. White mac -- little
:10:34. > :10:35.
:10:35. > :10:43.sections of the Dukes of. You start interact with people like Frank.
:10:43. > :10:49.You learn that he used to love fishing and he used to be a builder.
:10:49. > :10:54.Just knowing those two things, you can get through to them. Those two
:10:54. > :10:57.keywords to trigger something and their eyes light up. You look at
:10:57. > :11:02.and sometimes with his shouting, and the dementia is making him
:11:02. > :11:06.quite cross, but underneath all of that he is the most lovely man who
:11:06. > :11:16.would talk about fishing and building and his life until the
:11:16. > :11:17.
:11:17. > :11:22.cows come warm. -- come home. The cost of care is a huge pressure on
:11:22. > :11:31.families already struggling with the illness of a loved one., other
:11:31. > :11:41.times you can have sometimes he is definitely. -- sometimes he is
:11:41. > :11:47.
:11:47. > :11:55.talking nonsense, other times you I feel it is unfair that people
:11:55. > :12:00.work all their life hard and all the sudden they need care and care
:12:00. > :12:07.comes at a cost and they need to sell their house to pay for their
:12:07. > :12:14.care. It is not very nice to talk. For Julie, dementia has robbed her
:12:14. > :12:17.of financial security. My income does not cover my expenditure. If
:12:17. > :12:26.you're on the Hampshire rate to have to contribute the state
:12:26. > :12:30.pension and a half occupational pension so I now only get half his
:12:30. > :12:34.occupational pension plus a minimal state pension because I did not
:12:34. > :12:39.work when the children were small. My income does not cover my
:12:39. > :12:43.expenditure. I have to pay for everything in the House, the
:12:43. > :12:49.running of the House, the car. If you sell the property and make a
:12:49. > :12:55.profit, the state will take that profit towards his upkeep. So, at
:12:55. > :13:01.the moment I can't contemplate moving into somewhere which would
:13:01. > :13:07.be more economical to run. There are days when I need to be on my
:13:07. > :13:14.own to catch up with things. And I think I am all on my own and people
:13:14. > :13:24.are doing things and you long to go out and be part of things. It is
:13:24. > :13:31.
:13:31. > :13:38.lonely. Sweet-toothed Ron came here in 2001. I came to get an
:13:38. > :13:43.experience here, I have three years and I get experience and I go back
:13:43. > :13:51.home and work there. It is a different experience than working
:13:51. > :14:01.in India. Do have carers in India? No, we keep our elderly people at
:14:01. > :14:04.
:14:04. > :14:09.home. I will put it in a cup of tea. That's enough, no more.
:14:09. > :14:13.government says it has increased spending by 71 �4 billion over four
:14:13. > :14:20.years. It is working on a long-term reform including a cap on how much
:14:20. > :14:27.individuals must spend. Everyone seems to be here apart from one
:14:27. > :14:35.individual, Ron. Ron has a habit of when everyone is in one room, he
:14:35. > :14:45.goes walkabout. He has a look for stuff in other people's rooms!
:14:45. > :14:54.Hello, Ron! How are you? What are you eating? What of those?
:14:54. > :15:04.Shortbread many biscuits. Is this your room? It might be. This is so
:15:04. > :15:09.
:15:09. > :15:16.leaners room. -- Selina's room. That's not you! They think I am the
:15:16. > :15:22.strawberry man. They say the strawberry man has been. He has
:15:22. > :15:26.worked all his life and a try and take his money. We used his pension.
:15:26. > :15:31.That's how close to the line it is. It is terrible after he has paid in,
:15:31. > :15:36.for for his country abroad and at home, was injured in the war,
:15:36. > :15:41.hospitalised during the war and they take his money. It chokes me
:15:41. > :15:46.up. I get so annoyed when I think about it. It's so unfair. If there
:15:46. > :15:51.was me, it would be different. My dad has lived in England all his
:15:51. > :16:01.life. When he needs some help, we are just on the right side but only
:16:01. > :16:01.
:16:01. > :16:11.just. We will call today for today. God bless. See you tomorrow. God
:16:11. > :16:16.
:16:16. > :16:21.bless. See you tomorrow. Goodbye Most people agree the system is not
:16:21. > :16:26.sustainable, people who have resources and own their own home or
:16:26. > :16:31.who have savings can end up with a catastrophic costs if they have
:16:31. > :16:35.high needs for a long time. They can lose everything. And you don't
:16:35. > :16:40.know who it will be until it arrives. It is very random in its
:16:40. > :16:45.nature, it is a big risk in life and is difficult to insure against.
:16:45. > :16:50.The other issue is that there is rising levels of need for older
:16:50. > :16:54.people and people with disabilities that needs to be publicly funded
:16:54. > :16:59.that public funds are not rising cost of council funds are reducing.
:16:59. > :17:04.This is an issue that has been in the long grass for decades. This
:17:04. > :17:08.government is actually getting to grips with it and I am absolutely
:17:08. > :17:12.determined to see this through to a conclusion. And that real sense of
:17:12. > :17:16.unfairness people feel that you have worked hard through life,
:17:16. > :17:22.budgeted carefully, you get old age and you get an inch and lose
:17:22. > :17:32.everything you have worked for. That unfairness has to be addressed
:17:32. > :17:34.
:17:34. > :17:40.and I am determined to see it Geoff and Jean have been married
:17:40. > :17:46.for 56 years. Health Why's she has been good. But she can't
:17:46. > :17:54.communicate with a. She recognises me when I can't usually. She smiles
:17:54. > :18:00.at me. She smiles at the nurses' though. It was a typical decision
:18:00. > :18:10.but it was getting -- she was getting aggressive in the mornings
:18:10. > :18:10.
:18:10. > :18:15.and it was difficult. She is 81. It's amazing how strong she was.
:18:15. > :18:23.This is dreadful. You have lost them but they are still there, if
:18:23. > :18:29.you know what I mean. You have to lose than twice. The population is
:18:29. > :18:35.getting older, people are living longer because of the NHS, in a way.
:18:35. > :18:45.It is a victim of its own success. This problem is going to grow, I am
:18:45. > :18:48.
:18:48. > :18:52.afraid. More people will suffer. The last time Andrew came I got
:18:52. > :19:02.some oblique photographs of her laughing. I went home on a real
:19:02. > :19:06.
:19:06. > :19:10.And many thanks to all of the staff and residents at Birchy Hill before
:19:10. > :19:17.opening their doors to us. Is that it, does it mean more of us will
:19:17. > :19:20.need help in later life? A lot of work is being carried out to try to
:19:20. > :19:30.find alternatives to what can be some expensive and challenging
:19:30. > :19:30.
:19:30. > :19:35.choices. I wonder what it's like to be 80.
:19:35. > :19:41.If I live that long, who will be there to care for me when I can't
:19:41. > :19:44.manage? And will pay the bill? The questions we ask because none of us
:19:45. > :19:51.know how much it will cost and you can spend everything before the
:19:51. > :19:58.state steps in. In York, some of the elderly have clubbed together
:19:58. > :20:05.to share the risk. It's simple idea, before you get too decrepit you can
:20:05. > :20:08.apply to live that your days as a commuter each run by the Joseph
:20:08. > :20:13.Rowntree Foundation were residents know if and when they need nursing
:20:13. > :20:19.care is available on site at no extra charge. It's not easy to get
:20:19. > :20:25.in. You have to pass a medical and one of the Leasehold bungalows has
:20:25. > :20:31.to be available. It pays to apply early. I am 53 and you make the
:20:31. > :20:35.decision to come here at 61. It was quite easy for us. We came here
:20:35. > :20:40.because my parents had died and we were the oldest people in the
:20:40. > :20:47.family. We came here and suddenly we were the youngest. So, there
:20:47. > :20:54.were people 40 years older than me. It offers peace of mind to those
:20:54. > :20:59.who can afford it. Residents pay into a communal pot, �170 a month
:20:59. > :21:03.if you are 60, more if you are older. They can be confident that
:21:04. > :21:08.they will not get clobbered with care fees they can't afford.
:21:08. > :21:13.are paying care insurance, you say in the pay amounts year-on-year
:21:13. > :21:18.which covers the care. When you are fit, you pay over the odds but when
:21:18. > :21:23.you need major care you do not pay more. So all of those worries about
:21:23. > :21:28.what happens, you have answered them. We know where our care will
:21:28. > :21:36.take place. We know where we would die. That's great. We collected
:21:36. > :21:44.that boxing get on. -- tick that box the stock as residents get
:21:44. > :21:48.older, they are more likely to use the facilities. This year, his wife
:21:48. > :21:53.spent six weeks in a care home and while she was looked after, he also
:21:53. > :22:00.dipped into the communal pot for the first time. I was offered and
:22:00. > :22:04.found to my surprise it was welcomed her in a bungalow. So, you
:22:04. > :22:08.have been paying in all this time, effectively paying over the odds
:22:08. > :22:18.when you're well but now you get some back. It seems there wasting
:22:18. > :22:21.
:22:21. > :22:26.It seems to me it is a local solution to a national state
:22:26. > :22:31.responsibility, paying for the care of the elderly. But the fact is at
:22:31. > :22:34.a time of cuts to public services, the politicians simply cannot agree
:22:34. > :22:39.on whether -- where to find the money. The issues keeps getting
:22:39. > :22:44.kicked into the long grass. The truth is despite the recession,
:22:44. > :22:49.Britain is still many times richer in real terms than it was when
:22:49. > :22:54.today's pensioners were born. We can afford to look after them but
:22:54. > :22:59.in Westminster politicians tell you priorities lie elsewhere. Is it too
:22:59. > :23:04.ridiculous to imagine the answer is to put taxes up so we can pay to
:23:04. > :23:08.look after the elderly? It is ridiculous to suggest we should use
:23:08. > :23:13.the tax system progressively to look after and care for people in
:23:13. > :23:18.old age, it's ridiculous put it this -- politically because no one
:23:18. > :23:22.will change it -- touch it with a bargepole. People are scared of tax
:23:22. > :23:30.and spend and the consequences up the moment of the economic impacts
:23:30. > :23:33.in terms of further depression of our economy. With tax payers
:23:33. > :23:37.apparently unable or unwilling to pay for the increasing care demands
:23:37. > :23:42.of the elderly, the search is on for ways to provide help without
:23:42. > :23:47.the need for large amounts of public money. I've come to Essex to
:23:47. > :23:54.see one of the countries home shares in action. The idea is
:23:54. > :23:59.popular on the Continent. husband died in 2002, I have had
:23:59. > :24:04.rheumatoid for two years and I was getting worse. I did some research
:24:04. > :24:14.and came up with a share and care. My daughter said how would you feel
:24:14. > :24:20.
:24:20. > :24:28.about a man? A man? Why not? wrote Iona was much with Graham, an
:24:28. > :24:33.NHS worker whose 45. For the last two years, they have lived
:24:33. > :24:38.alongside each other in her home. The deal is he its rent free in
:24:38. > :24:43.return for spending 10 hours a week helping out. You see the advert and
:24:43. > :24:49.it says this is not a flat share with an NHS work, it is living with
:24:49. > :24:55.an older person. Taking care of the chickens, doing some shopping,
:24:55. > :24:59.mowing the lawn and a few repairs. A bit of company. It's a lounge
:24:59. > :25:06.suit to stay here in your own home. I desperately want to stay here. I
:25:06. > :25:10.left my house. I intend to be carried out in a coffin. You don't
:25:10. > :25:16.have a free board and lodging for chores relationship. You become
:25:16. > :25:22.friends. We are friends. He has been amazing. He's given me my life,
:25:22. > :25:28.my quality of life has risen. We laugh, he makes me roar with
:25:28. > :25:36.laughter. And sometimes I make you fall with laughter. When you tell
:25:36. > :25:41.dirty jokes! It is so nice when you see something that works as well as
:25:41. > :25:46.that does. It's not for everybody. The older person it needs a spare
:25:46. > :25:52.room and there needs -- the needs Cup be too severe. The characters
:25:52. > :25:58.have to be right to get that kind of special relationship. So, it is
:25:58. > :26:02.an answer but it's not the only answer. We need a joined-up
:26:02. > :26:06.holistic answer that mobilises and supports families with caring, the
:26:06. > :26:14.community is involved, younger and older people as part of the
:26:14. > :26:19.solution. And over on the Isle of Wight, there is a unique social
:26:19. > :26:24.experiment being piloted that aims to do just that. It's called care
:26:24. > :26:30.for care, the idea is simple. For every hour of voluntary care people
:26:30. > :26:34.put in for their neighbours, they built up in and was worth of care
:26:34. > :26:41.credits they can keep in a time bank and used for Terrin care later
:26:41. > :26:48.in life. One of the youngest of the members who have signed up for the
:26:48. > :26:53.scheme is 36-year-old Lewis he has been helping out 87-year-old girl.
:26:53. > :26:57.I have been coming to see pile every six months. I notched up 20
:26:57. > :27:05.Alice and I would like it think those hours will help my mother or
:27:05. > :27:11.help myself if and when I needed. It can encourage you to get out
:27:11. > :27:16.there and do something. My fingers, the top joint doesn't go over.
:27:16. > :27:23.Therefore, I can't pick things up properly. I spend a lot of time
:27:23. > :27:29.talking to him and he talked to me. There is a big help to me because
:27:29. > :27:35.people don't come. Careful care is the brainchild of a professor who
:27:35. > :27:39.hopes it will pay eight he part in solving the care crisis. I hope
:27:39. > :27:44.over three years or so we will build it into a large national
:27:44. > :27:49.scheme the stock I hope there might be a million members to stop the
:27:49. > :27:54.problem is whether the next generation is officially keen to
:27:54. > :28:02.ensure safety in the rain gauge to invest the hours which will by then
:28:02. > :28:07.their care pension. In Westminster the talk is all about cuts and
:28:07. > :28:12.austerity, not spending billions more caring for the elderly. The
:28:12. > :28:16.responsibility falls on wider society, and communities and
:28:16. > :28:26.neighbourhoods and families to fill the gap and help all of us feel
:28:26. > :28:27.
:28:27. > :28:33.more confident about prospects of growing old. That is it for tonight.
:28:34. > :28:42.We are back next week with more stories from close to home. Next
:28:42. > :28:46.Monday, the trail of the South's rarest plants with an orchid Hunter.