15/10/2012 Inside Out South


15/10/2012

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Good evening. Here is what is coming up this evening: the true

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cost of caring for their elderly. In a special programme I go behind

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the scenes in a New Forest nursing home. I think it is terrible after

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he has fought for his country, and in the take his money. And we find

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some radical solutions to the problems of care in the warm.

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rang not one day and said, how would you feel about a man? And I

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said, why not? This is Inside Out for the South.

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The good news we're living longer. A million people in Britain are now

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aged over 85. And the bad - as we reach retirement, one in three of

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us will get dementia. And many of us will end up needing care in a

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home like this one in the New Forest.

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But who pays what for their care is a lottery. If you're paid for by

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social services, different councils will be prepared to pay different

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rates. So here, Dorset pays more than Hampshire for its care. And if

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you pay for yourself you could end up paying �500 a week more than

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people without savings or assets, because private residents have to

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make up the shortfall. It is very difficult, because depending on how

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much money you have that is how much money you have to pay. It is a

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real stretch because you are talking in terms of around �1,000 a

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week from the family. That has a pension, a private pension and a

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state pension, all of which goes to pay for hymns. Otherwise I could

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not afford it, we do not have any rich relations. The pensions almost

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cover it and then we make it up. Dad worries about his money, but we

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reassure him by showing him a statement every time I come, but I

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did not do it today. He is worried that we will go bankrupt. But we

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are just on the right side. There is a fog of confusion and

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misunderstanding about who pays for care. Many people mistakenly

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believe that their NHS will pay for it. They have a nasty surprise when

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they discover that they have more than 23,000 pounds in savings are

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assets then they will have to meet the whole of the cost of the care

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themselves. You do find that people who are paying for themselves are

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paying more than people who are placed there by the local authority.

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It is that this problem of not enough money in the system. -- it

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is back to this problem. Birchy Hill Nursing Home says it

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struggles to recruit local staff. They operate a scheme sponsoring

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workers from India and the Philippines who work 12-hour shifts

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for around the minimum wage. For one week only I'm joining them.

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Can I try your hat on? Yes. year-old Ron has an advanced stage

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of Alzheimer's. What is your wife's name? Sylvia. If you cannot be in a

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situation where there is not a lot going on, then it is not for you.

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Is that the same hat? Can I try your hat on? You get everything

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done for you, whenever you want anything they get it for you, or

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try to get it for you. They make you lovely and comfortable in urine.

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-- in your room. We looked all over the place and we found this was the

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best one to come to. I have your lunch for you. I have been told I

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need to help cut your mate, is that alright? -- to cut your meat. Would

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you like some chicken? I think so. Is that alright? I haven't been

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able to walk properly, but I want to try it again.

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Weekly music sessions bring a lot of joy, but many council-run homes

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have had to slash budgets on entertainment like this. It makes

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them feel happy and sometimes because they are living here they

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might feel more at, so this will cheer them up and take away their

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loneliness. I am inspired to work as a carer, looking after them so.

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Brenda was 16 when she married Charlie, he is now 86. He worked

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for 50 years in Southampton docks. In the end, you become the carer.

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The husband-and-wife side of it gets very pushed out of the way. It

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does not exist anymore. He becomes like a stranger, and your feelings

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disappear as well. I know what is terrible, but it is just someone

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that you come to visit. You feel guilty about it, but that is just

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what happens after so many years of being parted. And when you were

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together, the last few years were more or less getting upset and

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running, so all you can think about is the bad times -- and fighting.

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When you get that time when reality is that you cannot cope any more,

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that must be so difficult to go through? It is. At the time you

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think, what a relief, because at last you're not having to do that,

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but then that isolation comes in and you are completely on your own

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and it hits you that this is it for the rest of your life. It does not

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just affect the person who has dementia or Alzheimer's, it

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suspects -- it affects their family. Going to bed is a difficult one. I

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am sorry, I did not think I would do this. I felt so tough. Frank is

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83. Lashing out isn't uncommon. Everyone here knows it will pass.

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To find out what it's really like working as a carer, I'm doing a

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night shift. Eight till Eight. Putting people to bed, then back

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again, numerous trips to the loo and medicine rounds. It is 3:20am

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3:20am. Power was tall that people with dementia are sometimes

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confused about their body clock. Whilst we mostly sleep through the

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night, someone with dementia might not. They might want to get up to

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have something to eat, or walk around. You think that a person has

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gone, that they are still there. You see flashes of their

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personality and their character come through. It is like there is

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another jigsaw puzzle of them, but it is not the complete picture, or

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one are two pieces are missing. It is jumbled up, or in the box, and

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you have got to try and pick the jigsaw pieces together. If you

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spend time with them then there is the chance that you will find

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little sections of the cheques off. Good morning.. White mac -- little

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sections of the Dukes of. You start interact with people like Frank.

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You learn that he used to love fishing and he used to be a builder.

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Just knowing those two things, you can get through to them. Those two

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keywords to trigger something and their eyes light up. You look at

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and sometimes with his shouting, and the dementia is making him

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quite cross, but underneath all of that he is the most lovely man who

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would talk about fishing and building and his life until the

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cows come warm. -- come home. The cost of care is a huge pressure on

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families already struggling with the illness of a loved one., other

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times you can have sometimes he is definitely. -- sometimes he is

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talking nonsense, other times you I feel it is unfair that people

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work all their life hard and all the sudden they need care and care

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comes at a cost and they need to sell their house to pay for their

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care. It is not very nice to talk. For Julie, dementia has robbed her

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of financial security. My income does not cover my expenditure. If

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you're on the Hampshire rate to have to contribute the state

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pension and a half occupational pension so I now only get half his

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occupational pension plus a minimal state pension because I did not

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work when the children were small. My income does not cover my

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expenditure. I have to pay for everything in the House, the

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running of the House, the car. If you sell the property and make a

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profit, the state will take that profit towards his upkeep. So, at

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the moment I can't contemplate moving into somewhere which would

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be more economical to run. There are days when I need to be on my

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own to catch up with things. And I think I am all on my own and people

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are doing things and you long to go out and be part of things. It is

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lonely. Sweet-toothed Ron came here in 2001. I came to get an

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experience here, I have three years and I get experience and I go back

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home and work there. It is a different experience than working

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in India. Do have carers in India? No, we keep our elderly people at

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home. I will put it in a cup of tea. That's enough, no more.

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government says it has increased spending by 71 �4 billion over four

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years. It is working on a long-term reform including a cap on how much

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individuals must spend. Everyone seems to be here apart from one

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individual, Ron. Ron has a habit of when everyone is in one room, he

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goes walkabout. He has a look for stuff in other people's rooms!

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Hello, Ron! How are you? What are you eating? What of those?

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Shortbread many biscuits. Is this your room? It might be. This is so

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leaners room. -- Selina's room. That's not you! They think I am the

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strawberry man. They say the strawberry man has been. He has

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worked all his life and a try and take his money. We used his pension.

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That's how close to the line it is. It is terrible after he has paid in,

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for for his country abroad and at home, was injured in the war,

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hospitalised during the war and they take his money. It chokes me

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up. I get so annoyed when I think about it. It's so unfair. If there

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was me, it would be different. My dad has lived in England all his

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life. When he needs some help, we are just on the right side but only

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just. We will call today for today. God bless. See you tomorrow. God

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bless. See you tomorrow. Goodbye Most people agree the system is not

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sustainable, people who have resources and own their own home or

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who have savings can end up with a catastrophic costs if they have

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high needs for a long time. They can lose everything. And you don't

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know who it will be until it arrives. It is very random in its

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nature, it is a big risk in life and is difficult to insure against.

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The other issue is that there is rising levels of need for older

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people and people with disabilities that needs to be publicly funded

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that public funds are not rising cost of council funds are reducing.

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This is an issue that has been in the long grass for decades. This

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government is actually getting to grips with it and I am absolutely

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determined to see this through to a conclusion. And that real sense of

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unfairness people feel that you have worked hard through life,

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budgeted carefully, you get old age and you get an inch and lose

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everything you have worked for. That unfairness has to be addressed

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and I am determined to see it Geoff and Jean have been married

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for 56 years. Health Why's she has been good. But she can't

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communicate with a. She recognises me when I can't usually. She smiles

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at me. She smiles at the nurses' though. It was a typical decision

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but it was getting -- she was getting aggressive in the mornings

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and it was difficult. She is 81. It's amazing how strong she was.

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This is dreadful. You have lost them but they are still there, if

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you know what I mean. You have to lose than twice. The population is

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getting older, people are living longer because of the NHS, in a way.

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It is a victim of its own success. This problem is going to grow, I am

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afraid. More people will suffer. The last time Andrew came I got

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some oblique photographs of her laughing. I went home on a real

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And many thanks to all of the staff and residents at Birchy Hill before

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opening their doors to us. Is that it, does it mean more of us will

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need help in later life? A lot of work is being carried out to try to

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find alternatives to what can be some expensive and challenging

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choices. I wonder what it's like to be 80.

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If I live that long, who will be there to care for me when I can't

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manage? And will pay the bill? The questions we ask because none of us

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know how much it will cost and you can spend everything before the

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state steps in. In York, some of the elderly have clubbed together

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to share the risk. It's simple idea, before you get too decrepit you can

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apply to live that your days as a commuter each run by the Joseph

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Rowntree Foundation were residents know if and when they need nursing

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care is available on site at no extra charge. It's not easy to get

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in. You have to pass a medical and one of the Leasehold bungalows has

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to be available. It pays to apply early. I am 53 and you make the

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decision to come here at 61. It was quite easy for us. We came here

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because my parents had died and we were the oldest people in the

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family. We came here and suddenly we were the youngest. So, there

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were people 40 years older than me. It offers peace of mind to those

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who can afford it. Residents pay into a communal pot, �170 a month

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if you are 60, more if you are older. They can be confident that

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they will not get clobbered with care fees they can't afford.

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are paying care insurance, you say in the pay amounts year-on-year

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which covers the care. When you are fit, you pay over the odds but when

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you need major care you do not pay more. So all of those worries about

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what happens, you have answered them. We know where our care will

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take place. We know where we would die. That's great. We collected

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that boxing get on. -- tick that box the stock as residents get

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older, they are more likely to use the facilities. This year, his wife

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spent six weeks in a care home and while she was looked after, he also

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dipped into the communal pot for the first time. I was offered and

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found to my surprise it was welcomed her in a bungalow. So, you

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have been paying in all this time, effectively paying over the odds

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when you're well but now you get some back. It seems there wasting

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It seems to me it is a local solution to a national state

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responsibility, paying for the care of the elderly. But the fact is at

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a time of cuts to public services, the politicians simply cannot agree

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on whether -- where to find the money. The issues keeps getting

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kicked into the long grass. The truth is despite the recession,

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Britain is still many times richer in real terms than it was when

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today's pensioners were born. We can afford to look after them but

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in Westminster politicians tell you priorities lie elsewhere. Is it too

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ridiculous to imagine the answer is to put taxes up so we can pay to

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look after the elderly? It is ridiculous to suggest we should use

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the tax system progressively to look after and care for people in

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old age, it's ridiculous put it this -- politically because no one

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will change it -- touch it with a bargepole. People are scared of tax

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and spend and the consequences up the moment of the economic impacts

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in terms of further depression of our economy. With tax payers

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apparently unable or unwilling to pay for the increasing care demands

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of the elderly, the search is on for ways to provide help without

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the need for large amounts of public money. I've come to Essex to

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see one of the countries home shares in action. The idea is

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popular on the Continent. husband died in 2002, I have had

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rheumatoid for two years and I was getting worse. I did some research

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and came up with a share and care. My daughter said how would you feel

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about a man? A man? Why not? wrote Iona was much with Graham, an

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NHS worker whose 45. For the last two years, they have lived

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alongside each other in her home. The deal is he its rent free in

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return for spending 10 hours a week helping out. You see the advert and

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it says this is not a flat share with an NHS work, it is living with

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an older person. Taking care of the chickens, doing some shopping,

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mowing the lawn and a few repairs. A bit of company. It's a lounge

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suit to stay here in your own home. I desperately want to stay here. I

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left my house. I intend to be carried out in a coffin. You don't

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have a free board and lodging for chores relationship. You become

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friends. We are friends. He has been amazing. He's given me my life,

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my quality of life has risen. We laugh, he makes me roar with

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laughter. And sometimes I make you fall with laughter. When you tell

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dirty jokes! It is so nice when you see something that works as well as

:25:36.:25:41.

that does. It's not for everybody. The older person it needs a spare

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room and there needs -- the needs Cup be too severe. The characters

:25:46.:25:52.

have to be right to get that kind of special relationship. So, it is

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an answer but it's not the only answer. We need a joined-up

:25:58.:26:02.

holistic answer that mobilises and supports families with caring, the

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community is involved, younger and older people as part of the

:26:06.:26:14.

solution. And over on the Isle of Wight, there is a unique social

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experiment being piloted that aims to do just that. It's called care

:26:19.:26:24.

for care, the idea is simple. For every hour of voluntary care people

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put in for their neighbours, they built up in and was worth of care

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credits they can keep in a time bank and used for Terrin care later

:26:34.:26:41.

in life. One of the youngest of the members who have signed up for the

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scheme is 36-year-old Lewis he has been helping out 87-year-old girl.

:26:48.:26:53.

I have been coming to see pile every six months. I notched up 20

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Alice and I would like it think those hours will help my mother or

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help myself if and when I needed. It can encourage you to get out

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there and do something. My fingers, the top joint doesn't go over.

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Therefore, I can't pick things up properly. I spend a lot of time

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talking to him and he talked to me. There is a big help to me because

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people don't come. Careful care is the brainchild of a professor who

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hopes it will pay eight he part in solving the care crisis. I hope

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over three years or so we will build it into a large national

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scheme the stock I hope there might be a million members to stop the

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problem is whether the next generation is officially keen to

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ensure safety in the rain gauge to invest the hours which will by then

:27:54.:28:02.

their care pension. In Westminster the talk is all about cuts and

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austerity, not spending billions more caring for the elderly. The

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responsibility falls on wider society, and communities and

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neighbourhoods and families to fill the gap and help all of us feel

:28:16.:28:26.
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more confident about prospects of growing old. That is it for tonight.

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We are back next week with more stories from close to home. Next

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Monday, the trail of the South's rarest plants with an orchid Hunter.

:28:42.:28:46.

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