TrewCare - Live In Care and Home Care agency

Mum and Me shown at 10.35pm on 20th May was billed as a documentary that was ‘jolly and uplifting’ about a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Complete horror was felt when the mother ‘Ethel’ was shown on Christmas morning sitting on the toilet with the daughter cleaning the floor round her as she gaily announced that Ethel had peed on the floor.!!

If any person in a home, or being cared for at home by a service provider was found so blatently ignoring the privacy and dignity of the person they were caring for, all hell would break loose. Why is it acceptable for someone to have their privacy and dignity disregarded just because they are the mother of the documentary maker?

Why was this shown on national television and pronounced by some newspapers as being laudable……it was nothing more than insulting to those of us who strive to protect the privacy and dignity of those who are cared for…..never mind the individual herself.

Please show a little respect when filming those suffering from dementia. This was a week when Ivan Lewis held his ‘Privacy and Dignity’ web chat, it seems sad that whilst the message is being put out loud and clear to those in the caring professions, those outside appear to think filming older people sitting on the toilet is acceptable…it is not.

In the press briefing last Tuesday, the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson announced the rolling out of a £31 million programme of information technology ‘Telecare and Telehealth aimed at supporting people in their own homes.

Presumably this is the same scheme announced last June, which has been re-announced to impress the general population.

Cornwall was chosen as one of the pilot areas, alongside Kent and Newham. We tried to be involved with the pilot scheme in Cornwall, without success and would be interested to hear any information from any organisation or individual who was more successful.

Kent however is very forthcoming about their involvement in the pilot scheme. A very interesting presentation was given by Peter Gilroy, Chief Executive of Kent County Council concerning their very innovative approach to telecare and telemedicine.

For information on some of Kent’s technology, see www.KentTV.com where schemes such as web-based self assessment and the Kent card will be seen. The Kent card is a bank card developed for social care for direct payments which may include continuing care purchasing. All purchases monitored by the consumer…..watch this space….come on Cornwall, let us know how your pilot is going…

This was the title used last October by a reporter commenting on the government’s spending review which stated that :-

“The government believes that there are real opportunities for reform within a system that shares the cost between the individual and the state and that provides both universal and progressive elements.”

Yesterday, Gordon Brown announced that the social care system needs ‘radical reform.’ This all follows the report delivered by Derek Wanless for the King’s Fund in 2006.

Glancing through the PM’s press review, which of course starts by reminding us that the over 65 and 85 age groups will rise in the next 20 years….are government’s usually so good at forward planning I ask myself? Or is this some kind of scare tactic designed to galvanise us all into accepting less provision rather than more? This feeling is reinforced by the last of the bullet points, the system must be:-

“affordable for government, individuals and families in the long term………..”

This together with the sentence “government support should be targeted at those most in need,” reinforces the belief that unless miracles are about to happen, nothing much will change –  except that vast amounts of money will have been spent on consulting us.

HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE DEBATE, PLEASE.  You can comment on the PM’s web site on www.pm.gov.uk

Lord Darzi, the parliamentary Under Secretary at the DOH has been undertaking yet another review of the NHS, ‘Our NHS, Our Future.’ As Lord Darzi is a doctor rather than a politician, there is hope that this review will go beyond the politics and really look at the issues which affect patients.

Whilst the final report is due in July ‘08 the interim report offers some interesting ideas, one of which is increasing the access people have to their general practitioners.

There is the idea of a combination of models. Firstly that PCTs should facilitate greater flexibility in GPs opening hours. The aim is to to enable patients to have a greater choice when to see their GP with extended opening hours in the evenings and week-ends. There will be the introduction of new health centres in convenient locations e.g. supermarkets?, where people can access GPs even if they aren’t registered with the GPs at those centres.

For the 25% of local communities where there is the poorest provision , there should be new resources to provide new GP practices which may be provided by private providers or GPs as now.

The introduction of better access to GPs is very welcome for those of us who are working and have to take time off to visit a GP. Looking positively, it should improve the health of the working population as they will be able to access healthcare when they need it, without the worry of taking time off work.

Several years ago when undertaking an assignment for university I wrote about the idea of a ‘Patient Passport,’ whereby you would have a card akin to the driving licence photo-card, which when swiped would give access to the required information. This would be used by the GP of your choice when accessing their care. Recently I spoke with David Colin-Thome who gave me the distinct impression that once the information technology is in place, there may be a place for such a card. Will this happen in my life time and really open up patient’s choice of GP, we can only wait and see.

This week found me trundling up several motorways to the delightful town of Harrogate, as a delegate attending the managing Long Term Conditions forum which describes itself as, ‘the most important forum for all those involved in supporting people with long term conditions.’

How I wish there had been more than one of me to attend all the various workshops and fringe events. However, you just have to make the most of what you can assimilate!!

Writing this before I start to head for home, is my main overall impression taken from the conference. An address by David Colin Thome, Chairman, Managing Long term Conditions Advisory Board, filled me with hope. he truly believes that improving the lives of people with long term conditions is about the delivery of personalised, responsive, holistic care in the full context of how individuals wish to lead their own lives…….also empowering people to do so, by enabling each person to have choice and control over their own care. This ,I hope, will be music to the ears of people who have fought long and hard to access the care they require….someone has been listening!! 

However, it must also be remembered that not everyone has the resources to manage their own care, there are many who lack the capacity to decide and  have no carers to assist them. These people must also be considered in the rush to self care. Research shows us that it is in particular the older single female who receives the least care, we must not allow these individuals to slip through the care net.

Its time to ‘hit the road,’ more on the forum when I reach home and can unpick for myself some of the issues.