A Million Elderly People 'Ignored by Authorities' (UK)

A Million Elderly People 'Ignored by Authorities'

By Rosa Prince, Daily Telegraph

February 15, 2008

Age Concern is proposing new local projects to enhance social contact for over-80s who live alone
More than a million elderly people are being ignored by the Government and local authorities, and for many, services have got worse since Labour came to power, a new report claims today.

One in five over-80s are suffering from severe social exclusion, cut off from other people and largely neglected by the state, according to the charity Age Concern.

The research, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, accuses ministers of ignoring the elderly's concerns when deciding how to provide services like personal care in the home.

It found that more than a third of women over 80 and nearly half of men who live alone say they are lonely, while a quarter have significant memory problems.

The charity says that as people get older they can end up without things that most people take for granted, such as a decent home, regular company, stimulating activity and access to local services.
In some areas, Age Concern claims, there is now less help in the form of public services for older people than when Labour came to power in 1997.
In particular, the report points to a lack of personal care in the home for people with mild disabilities.Gordon Lishman, Age Concern's director general, said: "It is often said that we should judge the society we live in by the way we treat older people. How we treat the most excluded older people is even more of a litmus test and one that, sadly, the Government is currently failing."Without stronger ministerial leadership, and a significant change in the mindset of policymakers and service-providers, more than a million severely excluded older people will continue to suffer in silence.
"One woman interviewed for the report, Doreen, said: "I can go for a whole week and not speak to anyone at all in person - things are at their worse when you get poorly. No-one's there and no-one cares if you're ill.
"Rodney, another interviewee said: "No-one wants to know you if you've got nothing. This loneliness is a killer. It's worse than the fear I had of being bombed in London during the war.
"Age Concern proposes new local projects to enhance social contact for over-80s who live alone and improved support services for the recently bereaved.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which co-ordinates Government policies on social exclusion, said: "Since 1997 we have succeeded in lifting over a million pensioners out of poverty.
"We want all pensioners to have a decent and secure income, and a pensioner is now less likely to be in poverty than a person of working age. We are taking action across government to address the problems faced by older people, including policies to promote greater independence and wellbeing."
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We often hear government officials or ministers quoting figures and things they have done since in government. This seems to be the case all over the world. Surely, the success or failure of any social services must be judged by the recipients. "Playing their own violins-approach" is not the way to quiet the complaints of the public.