Red Cross calls for better social care for the elderly

A new study commissioned by the British Red Cross has highlighted huge problems in home based care. The charity is calling for the government to look again at this area and improve social care for the elderly.

The Red Cross is most readily identified with providing care and medical provision in far off countries and war zones, but in fact the organisation provides social care support to over 400,000 people each year in Britain.

The findings are a chilling reminder of what can happen when, in times of austerity, a government has to make huge decisions about public spending. The study finds that elderly people are at the sharp end when it comes to the cuts.

But the Red Cross say the stringent cuts to home care services in particular are a ‘false economy’ as decent services earlier on with an elderly person can save the NHS as much as £10,000 in the long run.

The charity found that there is increasing isolation amongst the elderly, which is leading to more accidents, such as falls, which in turn puts pressure on NHS beds.

The study shows that a staggering nine out of ten GPs thought elderly people were more at risk due to the new wave of cuts. It also asked the general public what they thought, and again there was near unanimity with 85% believing that support is being cut back due to a lack of funding.

Chief Executive of the British Red Cross Sir Nick Young acknowledged that the government where facing tough spending choices but said that under investment in lower-end home based care jeopardises patients, undermines their well being and dignity and must be challenged. He said it is a false economy as the bill to look after patients later on can be much higher, therefore it makes perfect sense to provide care and support earlier. Sir Nick called on the government to rethink its policy in this area.

The Patients Association also backed the Red Cross findings, their CEO Katherine Murphy said there is already evidence of neglect in the system, and relatives are complaining to her that there is now an acute lack of resources in the system, which is down squarely to the coalition’s cuts.

Commenting on the study the Department of Health agreed that it was a false economy to provide fewer services, but failed to answer the central question of why those very services now seem to be fewer.

The Red Cross study has shone a light on a problem that doesn’t look like it will be fixed any time soon. Ultimately it will be down to the government to decide whether more cash can be found to keep social care for the elderly at acceptable levels. The Red Cross and GP’s certainly think they should. But the study has also emphasised the important role that charities will play in the coming years.

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New hope in Alzheimer’s battle

Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s would rank as one of mans greatest scientific achievements. It’s a disease that up till now has baffled doctors, but a team of Swedish scientists claim to have made a huge breakthrough in the Alzheimer’s battle.

They have developed a new jab, which it’s claimed, could delay the onset of dementia by up to five years. But what’s really exciting the medical world about this new development is that their research could be a huge step along the road to finding an overall cure.

The technical name for the new jab is CAD 106 and scientists tested it on patients with ages 50 through to 80, over a three year period. The results were extremely encouraging; they found that 3 out of 4 people had increased levels of antibodies in their blood, which suggests the vaccine had boosted their immune system. And, importantly, none of the participants had serious side effects.

With an aging world population Alzheimer’s is considered one of the most urgent of all medical priorities, with over 650,000 people in the UK alone suffering from the disease.

Up until recently the medical profession has had no real answer to the debilitating disease which robs people of their memories, personalities and their ability to complete even the basic of tasks.

For many years people put up with Alzheimer’s as just something that happened when you became elderly. But that opinion has been changing over recent years. This could be down in no small measure to the power of the baby boomer generation who are now reaching retirement and are demanding more help and treatment in this area.

Alzheimer’s is one of the most emotive of illness as an individual losses faculties on a daily basis and it can have severe negative repercussions across the whole family when they have to witness the demise of a loved one.

This latest study was published in the Lacent Neurology and is being hailed as one of the major breakthroughs in this field. Leading researcher Professor Bengt Winblad, from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said the results were extremely encouraging, with antibodies safely developed in patients, he concluded that the new jab CAD106 could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s for up to 5 years in mild to moderate cases.

Head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK Dr Simon Ridley welcomed the new jab but said these were promising trials but said we now have to see if the drug really can be effective in fighting the disease across the board.

It’s clear the world needs a cure for this terrible disease and although it may be early days scientists have made a major development with this new jab, which can be built upon; and we may finally have some much needed weaponry in the on-going Alzheimer’s battle.


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