The UK’s army of unpaid carers are left isolated, depressed and physically exhausted.

A poll recently undertaken by the Carers Trust has revealed that almost 60% of adult carers reported suffering mental health problems due to the strain of caring and other responsibilities they had.

Just over 25% experienced both physical and mental health problems, with muscular strains, insomnia and exhaustion also common complaints they had. Almost 60% said caring had damaged their careers.

The findings, sourced from a YouGov poll of 500 adults, will add further pressure on the Government to provide universal access to support services for Britain's 6 million unpaid Carers. The survey also found that almost 66% had never accessed counselling, respite  or even welfare support.

More than 1.5 million carers are aged over 60, and are often relied upon to move or lift immobile people and bathe, clothe and medicate their sick relatives.

It is also expected that by the year 2037, the number of carers is expected to rise to 9 million as a result of our ever increasing aging population and as a result of better survival rates from medical conditions etc.

Carer numbers

6m: 1 in 8 adults (around 6 million people) are Carers; this is expected to rise to 9 million by 2037

58% of Carers are women and 42% are men

3m: More than 3 million people juggle care with work and 20% are forced to give up work

50: 1.25 million people provide more than 50 hours of care each week

The 5 expensive obstacles encountered when finding a Care Home place

Many people are being let down on elderly care, as there are 5 expensive obstacles when finding a Care Home place

People have to overcome 5 expensive obstacles when they need to find a place for a family loved one in a care home, according to a recent report by the charity Independent Age.

The warning from the charity comes amid growing concern over how long-term care is funded.

Independent Age warns that families are let down in the following ways:

·         The care home means test, which says that anyone with savings or a home worth more than £23,250 must pay all their own fees, currently averaging £524 a week. The report called this ‘the worst means test in the welfare state’.

·         A failure of councils to give any help or advice to the families of people with more than £23,250 in assets. This can lead to damaging and expensive mistakes in choosing a care home.

·         Top-up fees. Councils pay an average of £452 a week for care home places. People in care homes which charge more are asked for top-ups, often unlawfully because councils try to pay less than their legal duty. In some cases better-off families are asked to pay top-ups of more than £300 a week. In all 55,000 families are paying top-ups.

·         Different costs in different places. For example, one Council pays no more than £451 a week for care home bills. But another council will cover costs of £952.50. The varying policies mean families in the wrong place can end up paying hundreds of pounds a week more in top-ups.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families.

People whose fees are paid by the council are allowed to keep no more than £23.50 a week to pay for extras to brighten up their life in a care home. This is inadequate.

For many, the tiny allowance means they have to rely on families to pay for much of the cost of new clothes, hairdressing, books and magazines, dry cleaning, toiletries, dental care and spectacles, and even treats like sweets and chocolates.

Last year a report commissioned by David Cameron from economist Andrew Dilnot recommended that the care home means test threshold should be set at £100,000, and no one with less wealth should be made to pay their own fees.

It also said that there should be a cap on the amount that anyone should have to pay for their care, possibly set at £50,000. However the Prime Minister, has delayed making a decision on the report.

The Independent Age report said that local councils responsible for running the means test and paying for the care of those who pass it are exploiting families and leaving many of them confused over how the system operates.

Elderly should be treated at home instead of hospital.

Elderly patients could be treated at home rather than in hospital.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said that doctors should only admit the most seriously ill patients who would benefit from the highest levels of care. These proposals were made in late 2011 and were made amid fears that elderly people were routinely being ignored on NHS wards

The plans were unveiled as part of the NHS’s Operating Framework, which sets out the Government’s plans for the health service during 2012.

In these plans he promised to make the elderly the NHS’s utmost priority following a series of reports exposing harrowing neglect in hospitals. In one study by the Care Quality Commission it revealed that 20% of NHS trusts were treating older patients so bad they were breaking the law.

And that half of these hospitals weren’t meeting basic nutritional standards, as staff did not do enough to ensure the elderly didn’t go hungry or thirsty.

The plans also focussed on dementia patients, as they are often neglected by nurses who do not realise their illness can leave them incapable of eating, drinking or going to the toilet. Additionally, every patient with dementia must be looked after by at least one doctor or nurse who is properly trained in treating the condition.

Mr Lansley said: ‘We must see improvements for people with dementia, particularly in the care they get in hospitals. It will often be in their best interests to be treated at home.

Downsizing fears haunt the over-50s who fear they must sell to cover cost of living

The over-50s are fearful they will have to sell their family home to cope with the soaring cost of living, research revealed as long ago as August 2011.

20% worried they would have to ‘downsize’ to generate enough cash to pay all their bills, according to a report I found from Saga in August last year. The report is conducted and generated every 3 months.

In this report hey feared that the rising price of everything from necessities such as energy and food to petrol, as well as increased taxes and historic low interest rates will squeeze them to the point that they will have to choice but to sell up.

Additionally, many over 50s said that they had to pay out more and more to help their cash-strapped children and grandchildren.

Dr Ros Altmann, of Saga, which specialises in providing services for the over-50s, said at the time: ‘People are being forced to do things that they would have never considered doing before.

‘It is impacting on their quality of life. Selling their home is not what they would have expected or wanted to do.’

In a separate survey, by HomeLet, found that the number of homeowners aged between 66 and 70 who sold their houses and became tenants instead increased by 30% last year.

The Saga report canvassed 11,650 over-50s about their financial situation and lifestyle. And it highlights that grandparents are making sacrifices in order to support their younger relatives in the tough economic times. Approximately 33% said that they are paying for everything from their child’s mortgage to the weekly food shop – even though they are struggling to make ends meet themselves.

Having worked all their lives to buy their family home, many can no longer afford to own one.

Saga suggested that there could be a ‘lost generation’, who cannot find work but also need money to live, and also face living longer than ever but with poorer incomes to do so.

Elderly care Postcode Lottery

David Cameron came under unprecedented pressure last night to transform provision of care for the elderly.

In an open letter, a coalition of 78 charities and campaign groups warned the Prime Minister that unless he acts, millions of pensioners will be condemned to a life of ‘misery and fear’.

They said that a postcode lottery of access to care is leaving many in ‘quiet desperation’, as huge care bills put them at risk of losing ‘their savings, their dignity, their independence’.

Under the current system, pensioners have to pay the cost of their own care if they have savings or assets worth more than £23,500.

Because of this tens of thousands of pensioners every year have to sell their house to fund the costs of their residential care. And many other pensioners have to make do with 15 minute home help visits, even though most need more assistance, as council services are now so under-funded due to Government cutbacks.

A White Paper on long-term care was published as recently as June this year, but it focussed on the quality of care provision, with the issue of paying for it assigned to an update ‘progress’ document. It is also expected that a new funding system will not be fully in place until 2025.

According to the letter, a total of 78 organisations including Age UK, Saga, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services have merged to write an open letter to the Prime Minister.

It read: ‘Social care is in crisis. The system is chronically under-funded and in urgent need of reform.

‘Without this, too many older and disabled people will be left in desperate circumstances: struggling on alone, living in misery and fear.’

The letter also warned that many years of failure to reform the system had had a ‘devastating impact’, not only on those in need of care, but also on their relatives, who can be forced to give up their jobs to look after a vulnerable family member.

Mr Cameron’s government commissioned economist Andrew Dilnot to write a report on the future funding of long-term care. In July 2011, Dilnot suggested a cap of £35,000-£50,000 on the amount that people have to pay for their care, with the state stepping in to cover the remaining shortfall. Additionally, Financial services firms could offer insurance schemes to reduce the burden further.

The Coalition government commissioned economist Andrew Dilnot to write the report, but the Treasury insisted there was not enough money to pay for his proposals. Mr Dilnot also said no one should be asked to pay for care if they have less than £100,000 in their savings and assets. At present the cut-off is as little as £23,500. Andrew Dilnot also wanted a fairer system in place by the year 2015, but it is believed that this might take even a decade longer.

It is estimated that at least 20,000 pensioners have to sell their home each year to meet their care costs. It is also believed that even under any future system that is put in place, the elderly may still have to consider releasing equity in their homes or downsizing to release funds for their care costs.

The open letter, which has been signed by charities, trade unions and local government organisations, was organised by the Care and Support Alliance.

Coalition Government asks Town Halls to back plan to help older homeowners to downsize

The Coalition Government is continuing with controversial plans to encourage older homeowners who may be struggling to maintain their home to move into smaller properties. The scheme is being proposed as an alternative option to equity release products.

The local authority would then let the former home to a family that needs more room and space. The council would take on the letting responsibility for maintaining the pensioner’s former home. The rent received from the property would be used to cover the costs of the owner renting a smaller home, with any possible surplus achieved added to their estate after death.

Some pensioners currently use the proceeds of equity release to help with the costs of heating and maintaining their existing home.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said at the time that the local councils should be more active in offering assistance to those wanting to move into smaller properties or sheltered housing.

Grant Shapps said: ‘Older people, who should be enjoying their homes, have watched helplessly as their properties have become prisons.’

But there are fears that pensioners living in a 2-3 bedroom property may feel under pressure to give up what has been their family home throughout the decades.

Trade body SHIP said: ‘There are likely to be huge costs and high levels of administrative work attached to the scheme. And it begs the question of how many older people will choose to leave their family homes and move into a smaller property potentially away from family and friends.’

Is the Care home business too important to fail?

Within recent years Private Equity has been attracted to Care homes. As we all know from watching the news, Blackstone made a £600million profit from Southern Cross by floating the company on the stock market. However, Southern Cross then fell into administration as landlords increased their property rents to the point whereby the business was no longer viable without significant company restructuring.

Yet only a short while afterwards we read that Four Seasons has been sold to Terra Firma, another private equity fund. This deal according to news reports was being financed by £525million of new high yield bonds.

So with this being the case, how do the Private Equity companies make their profits? Well I guess like any company would.

Either by cutting their current costs, or make those who are already paying the bills such as the elderly residents, local authorities or the families of those in care pay more. If it’s the local authorities who are told to pay more, then it will be a challenge to persuade local government to pay even more at times of recession and Government cutbacks to their Social Care budget.

And all this accompanied by the morale of already lowly paid staff is unlikely to be improved by another display of Private Equity ownership of another of our Care Home providers.

Britain is the Mobility Scooter Capital of Europe

300,000 on our roads and streets as obesity and number of pensioners soar.

According to the British Healthcare Trades Association only 5 years ago there were only 70,000 Mobility Scooters being used in the UK, the numbers today are closer to 300,000. And so as report suggest Britain now has more mobility scooters than anywhere else in Europe. In fact there afre more Mobility Scooters here in the UK than in Holland, where the vehicles are even subject to road traffic laws because so many of their elderly use them as a replacement for cycling. 

Another reason for this steady increase here in the UK is the rise in our obesity levels. However on the other hand, some people are using Mobility Scooters as they suffer with conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis as sometimes sufferers can walk distance, but on other days they are unable to move.

And The Department for Transport has to rely on the British Healthcare Trades Association’s estimates because no official figures are sourced by Government.

It is technically illegal to drive a Mobility Scooter without a disability but experts believe clearer regulations are needed.

Do you need a Mobility Scooter? If so, here are a few interesting facts:

• Anyone over the age of 14 years can buy the fastest class of scooter with no requirement for a licence, training or insurance to drive it.
• Mobility scooters are battery powered and limited to a maximum 8mph, although some are capable of travelling at speeds of 15mph.
• Unlike cars, mobility scooters are not subject to official safety checks, and can be sold without any training being given.
• Although not classed as a motor vehicle, it is illegal in the UK to drive a Mobility Scooter when over the drink-drive limit.
• Driving a scooter while disqualified can lead to a prison sentence.

Demand is so high that at a trade fair in June this year in Peterborough http://www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk/ companies turned up to exhibit their various Mobility Scooter models.

Typically a Mobility Scooter is restricted by law to a speed limit of 8mph but can go faster. With Mobility Scooter designs now capable of carrying people weighing as much as 40stone. 

Some Police Constabularies have organised Mobility Scooter Driver awareness courses, as in some towns almost a third of the population is of retirement age. And Ppensioners are put through their paces on an obstacle course of crossings, traffic lights and cones.

One type of Mobility Scooter is a pavement one restricted to just 4mph and then there is a second category of Mobility Scooter which goes up to 8mph and can be ridden on the road.

You are breaking the law if you are driving an 8mph scooter at that speed on the pavement.

                 

Only the elderly with £100,000 in assets should pay their Care home fees

No family should be forced to dip into their life savings to pay for care in their old age if their assets are ever below £100,000 campaigners announced in a mass rally at Parliament in March this year.

Currently anyone with assets of more than £23,250 must pay for their residential care costs – thus making thousands of elderly have to sell their homes.

Age UK is calling for this means-test level to be increased to £100,000 allowing pensioners who have saved long and hard to protect their homes and pass on an inheritance to their children and family.

The rally was organised by the Care and Support Alliance, which represents more than 60 charities and organisations.

Put simply, people are living longer, both with illness and disability, yet social care budgets across England fell by an estimated £1billion in 2011.

Fortunately Age UK is raising the specific issue of the means test for residential care fees, which means people have to continue dipping into their life savings until they havejust £23,250 remaining. Age UK wants the limit to be increased to £100,000. At least 20,000 pensioners a year sell their homes to pay for their care home fees.

Dr Ros Altmann, director general of over-50s organisation Saga, recently said: “The lives of millions of older people and the future of the NHS is at stake.

“Politicians in all parties have a historic opportunity to change the way care is funded in future, to help people stay in their own homes if they can, which is what they overwhelmingly want, and to save money for the NHS by caring for them outside the most expensive hospital settings.”

Elderly people in England currently receive free care if they have savings of less than £13,000. Above that, they have to contribute to the cost of help with washing, dressing or eating. Anyone with savings of £23,250 must pay the full cost and many have had to sell their homes.

Scotland provides free personal care for over-65s but it does not cover housework or shopping.

Care home providers continue to charge residents their Care Home fees even when in hospital.

Care home residents who are sick and unwell are being deprived of approximately £700.00 per week (or whatever their Care Home fees are) for rooms and services they do not use as they are unwell in hospital.

Elderly people are being charged for their board, food, laundry, energy usage and their daily nursing even though they never receive it as they are in hospital — allowing Care home providers to take the money and bank it normally and add to their profits.

According to recent figures there are in excess of 400,000 Care home residents in the UK. Official NHS figures show that more than 5 million who are 65+ were admitted to hospital during 2011, and spent an average of 10 days bed-ridden. Figures also say that 80,000 stayed longer than a month.

These figures do not show how many of these were care home residents.

Care home providers do not have to give their residents any refund, even when spend weeks in hospital, the fees continue to be charged. And even if care home residents do ask for a refund, it is often not granted or approved.

The charity Age UK suggests you seek advice from the care home management if you are in hospital for a long time, as it’s all down to their discretion. And recent reports say that elderly people had to pay as much as £8.7 billion from their life savings to pay for care last year (2011) — £380 million more than in 2010, again this is according to the charity Age UK.

A government-commissioned study found 1 in 10 OAPs in care spends more than £100,000 in fees. Care Home bills are allowed to increase because the state only offers funding to those with less than £23,500 in savings or even equity in the home they own and have lived in nearly all their life.

In a very short period the £37,000 a year average nursing home fees can quickly drain a pensioner’s life savings, and approximately 20,000 people each year are forced to sell their house. And this is expected to only continue. Private care spending is expected to increase yet again and rise another £2.2 billion a year by 2015.

When care home residents do sadly have to go into hospital, most do not expect a full refund for their fees. They understand that their rent still needs to be paid, as well as a service charge. But many care homes still demand residents pay the full cost, including meals etc.

The care home providers say that even if the residents are hospitalised they still continue to face significant fixed costs, such as staffing and energy, even if a room is empty.

As of early 2012, Care home providers such as Bupa who run 300 care homes, have no official fee policy on hospitalisation, but make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. However, the reduction is small.

And industry experts warn the situation will only worsen as the population ages. Life expectancy for those reaching pensionable age hit 84 this year (2012), with the over-65s set to shoot past 16 million over the next 20-30 years.

Will you leave your legacy to help a charity to do something rewarding?

I guess only people like Richard Branson can afford to leave 10% of their wealth to charity.

And under new rules that effectively came into force on April 6^th 2012, anyone who decides to leave 10% of their estate to charity will now pay 10% less Inheritance Tax — so this means 36% instead of 40% — on the remainder of their money. This is why it makes writing a will sense for everyone to do.

And with 66% of people (2 in 3) without a will, many of the half a million UK residents dying every year are in danger of leaving their spouses, partners and children inadequately looked after.

In some cases, with no planning, a relative or loved one can die and their money will end up as an unnecessary windfall for the UK taxman.

November is Will Aid month, and some 1,400 solicitors nationwide are waiving their fee for writing a will in return for a donation to charity. Suggested donations are £85.00 for a single will, £120.00 for a pair of basic mirror wills — typically near-identical wills for a husband and wife — and £40.00 for a codicil amending or adding to an existing will.

You’d normally pay on average around £120.00 for a single will and £200.00 for a pair of mirror wills.

Although it may seem unpleasant, writing a will simply sets out who gets what of your assets — and lets you arrange your estate (as your belongings become known on death) in the most tax-efficient way. Everybody has an Inheritance Tax ‘nil rate’ limit of £325,000. Leave less than this and your family or beneficiaries will not have to pay any tax on your legacy, but if your estate is worth more than the threshold, then they will have to pay 40% on anything above this unless you give 10% to charity.

Critically, the charitable donation is deducted before the tax is calculated, reducing the overall amount on which to pay tax even further. 

However, this £325,000 limit can be transferred between spouses. So any part of a spouse’s exemption up to £325,000 can be transferred on the second death, provided the taxman is informed within 24 months and the death occurred on or after October 9, 2007 — giving an exemption of up to £650,000.

If you don’t make a will, your estate is governed by strict intestacy laws. Contrary to popular belief that your spouse or civil partner gets everything, they will receive only the first £250,000, plus your personal belongings.

The rest will be divided into 2 with the children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren getting half — and the other half being held in trust. Here, the income from the trust goes to the surviving spouse or civil partner and the capital goes to the children, grandchildren or great grandchildren upon death.

If there are no children, grandchildren or great grandchildren, then the first £450,000 of the estate — plus personal possessions — goes to the spouse or civil partner and the remainder to either the deceased’s parents or, if they are dead, siblings or nieces and nephews. If you are not married, your partner will get nothing.

Mistakes and illegible writing can cause problems upon will execution — and use a solicitor to make sure the will is drawn up properly. So ideally avoid DIY will-writing kits.

To find a Will Writer taking part in Will Aid week, then telephone : 0300 0300 013 or visit www.willaid.org.uk

Remember A Charity Week, is the annual awareness campaign designed to encourage everyone to include good causes in their will.

Charity shops also use the week to remind shoppers about the financial benefits of legacies. They do not attract tax and are paid before an estate is valued for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Remember A Charity was formed 12 years ago in 2000 and now has more than 150 charities on board. Legacy income is worth almost £2billion a year to these organisations, but as we speak currently less than 10% of estates leave legacies.

You can get more information about leaving legacies in a will by visiting www.rememberacharity.org.uk  or by calling Tel No:  0207 840 1030