Am I Out Of Touch.

[cuttsie]

12 minutes ago, Dromedary said:

Never disputed that at all though. 

 

But most poor people are also seem to be on benefits which also means they don't pay full whack.

 

 

Can you ride thirty or forty miles on a bike,   sing with a band on stage ,  at 79 years old , If so you can do a Slinney .

Keep on saving those shroud pockets will have to be  widened . 

[Dromedary]

11 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

Can you ride thirty or forty miles on a bike,   sing with a band on stage ,  at 79 years old ,

No as I simply don't need or want to!

 

Quote

If so you can do a Slinney .

That doesn't make sense.... but is it a reference to a hod!.... 

 

Quote

Keep on saving those shroud pockets will have to be  widened . 

Na, when I get to a certain limit I give it away otherwise it affects my benefits!

 

Got a nice letter from the RSPCA a few months ago thanking me for my very generous donation. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Dromedary

[cuttsie]

If some one else blows your  trumpet for you , the sound can be heard  for miles .

You are a expert at blowing your own . 

Even though is out of tune 

[ECCOnoob]

8 hours ago, Anna B said:

Except in a care home. I could live in a first class hotel for less than it costs to sit neglected and drooling in a care home. 

Why are people not outraged by the cost of these places. It's ridiculous.

No what's ridiculous is people who keep bringing up the comparison against a "first class hotel".

 

You show me a five-star or even 4 star hotel which is going to accommodate you, feed you three square meals a day, have staff to potentially bathe you, toilet you, escort you around the rooms, put you to bed, get you up, get you dressed and administer your medication for £150 a night. 

 

It's not even remotely the on the same planet and people need to stop just looking at the headline figure.  

 

Also, can we dispel this myth that those sacrificing and caring for a loved one themselves has to survive on a measly £69. Have you completely overlooked that those carers can seek to apply for council tax deductions or universal credit or pension credit or ESA or even get special grants for training if they are out of work.  The recipients of the care continues to receive their own benefits, which of course, will contribute to the cost of living too.

 

Not so black and white.

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by ECCOnoob

[Dromedary]

10 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

If some one else blows your  trumpet for you , the sound can be heard  for miles .

You are a expert at blowing your own . 

Even though is out of tune 

Short term memory loss it seems as you actually asked me in post #121 what for and now you don't like the answer....

 

Didnt you also say in post #141.... "Can you ride thirty or forty miles on a bike,   sing with a band on stage ,  at 79 years old ,"

 

Pot, kettle, black springs to mind.

[Anna B]

3 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

No you could not*.

Night staff (10hrs)will cost more than £210 per night to employ, £1440 per week.

Day staff (8 hrs) would cost £120 per day to employ. £840 per week.

The owner would be working a 42 hour week over 7 days.

So far an operating loss.

In addition you need to provide 42 meals.

In addition you need to provide laundry, heating, cleaning etc. the interest on the borrowings for the conversion and fittings to a suitable, safe, accessible property.

The only way to reduce costs is to increase the number of residents and that is unlikely in your own home.

 

*We did try and look after a dementia sufferer in our home and these costs were valid in 2018. He had a maximum care plan, a full state pension an excellent personal pension and it just covered his weekly costs 

You could not "...live in a first class hotel for less than it costs to sit neglected and drooling in a care home".

To sit neglected and drooling in a first class hotel would cost in excess of £1000 a week.

To sit neglected and drooling in a Premier Inn would cost upwards of £300 p.w.

In addition you would have to buy 3 meals a day. 

In addition you would need to buy in care and help.

In addition you would to organize everything and pay for personal laundry.

 

It worries me that people don't:

realize how high the costs are.

know how difficult and complex it is to get funding through government/council (e.g. dementia alone does not qualify you).

know how unprofitable the care business is.

know that NHS or local authority homes are few in number and totally unsuited for long term care for the vast majority.

realize how hard/difficult it is to look after somebody at home.

 

If you become a permanent carer for someone in your home you can all too easily see them not as a friend and relative but a job you do. To be a regular visitor with a smile on your face and being involved daily with their care is sometimes the best way through a tragedy. I would never ask a relative to "Never let them put me in a home".

 

 

 

 

 

I've just had another look at your expenses and would like to query some of them. We are talking about one patient with Dementia which is not seen as an illness, but as a consequence of old age for benefits purposes, and as such should not come with the usual care caveats. A 10 hour night shift can be covered by one carer (nurses do 12 hour shifts) and I know of no carers on £21 per hour, according to your figures that would put them on £5,760 a month, again an unlikely amount. 

 

The daytime rate is more realistic, but still over the odds for a carer, who are usually on minimum wage. £80 for an 8 hour day is still a lot but more like it. 

42 meals a week? 3 meals a day 7 days is 21 meals a week. Where do the excess go?

Yes laundry, heating etc will add to the bill, but in your own home, those would be ongoing expenses anyway, and I wonder what fittings and conversions you needed?

 

I imagined that opening your home to a dementia patient would mean you would be doing some of the caring duties yourselves, at least some of the time. I know from experience that caring for someone with dementia is a very demanding job and exhausting so I'm not having a go. I commend you for giving it a try.

 

But again I argue that if your figures are correct, expecting someone to look after a member of their own family 24/7 for a pittance of £60 is not fair or realistic. Nobody would do it for the money, but if it costs as much as you say (and I'm not saying it doesn't) they would be seriously out of pocket with even a modicum of help and respite.  We are probably all going to become aquainted in some way with the disaster of dementia care, which is all the more reason why the government should grasp the nettle and level up with real support.  

 

Are there any day care centres left in this country? They at least gave individual carers a few hours respite a couple of days a week.  

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Anna B

[hackey lad]

13 minutes ago, Anna B said:

I've just had another look at your expenses and would like to query some of them. We are talking about one patient with Dementia which is not seen as an illness, but as a consequence of old age for benefits purposes, and as such should not come with the usual care caveats. A 10 hour night shift can be covered by one carer (nurses do 12 hour shifts) and I know of no carers on £21 per hour, according to your figures that would put them on £5,760 a month, again an unlikely amount. 

 

The daytime rate is more realistic, but still over the odds for a carer, who are usually on minimum wage. £80 for an 8 hour day is still a lot but more like it. 

42 meals a week? 3 meals a day 7 days is 21 meals a week. Where do the excess go?

Yes laundry, heating etc will add to the bill, but in your own home, those would be ongoing expenses anyway, and I wonder what fittings and conversions you needed?

 

I imagined that opening your home to a dementia patient would mean you would be doing some of the caring duties yourselves, at least some of the time. I know from experience that caring for someone with dementia is a very demanding job and exhausting so I'm not having a go. I commend you for giving it a try.

 

But again I argue that if your figures are correct, expecting someone to look after a member of their own family 24/7 for a pittance of £60 is not fair or realistic. Nobody would do it for the money, but if it costs as much as you say (and I'm not saying it doesn't) they would be seriously out of pocket with even a modicum of help and respite.  We are probably all going to become aquainted in some way with the disaster of dementia care, which is all the more reason why the government should grasp the nettle and level up with real support.  

 

Are there any day care centres left in this country? They at least gave individual carers a few hours respite a couple of days a week.  

 

 

I presume he means you have to pay an agency that amount for a carer 

[Anna B]

7 minutes ago, hackey lad said:

I presume he means you have to pay an agency that amount for a carer 

Why would a small one person business need to go to an agency and pay over the odds? 

Incidentally what do agencies actually do to qualify for the difference? Remember in the case of nurses it is the taxpayer paying these people so I'd like to know.

 

[hackey lad]

1 minute ago, Anna B said:

Why would a small one person business need to go to an agency and pay over the odds? 

Incidentally what do agencies actually do to qualify for the difference? Remember in the case of nurses it is the taxpayer paying these people so I'd like to know.

 

Well I guess they could get Doris from down the road to do it for a tenner an hour .

[Anna B]

15 minutes ago, hackey lad said:

Well I guess they could get Doris from down the road to do it for a tenner an hour .

Doris down the road would be just as good as some carers I've known. Job centres eager to get anyone off benefits often send unsuitable and untrained people into carers jobs, and the training they get in some cases is minimal. Another reason why care assistants should have a clear career structure and training pathway,  preferably within the NHS.