ELDERLY Britons are being robbed of their dignity by a two-tier care system that funds nursing care but refuses to pay for personal care that would enable thousands to look after themselves, according to a Royal Commission report published this week.
"This 'care apartheid' robs a whole generation of its dignity and reveals the shameful truth of the Government's true attitude to the elderly," said Jean Lambert, London Green Party MEP and co-president of the European Parliament's inter-group on ageing.
She said: "Today is International Day of Older Persons, an opportunity for the Government to reflect on the terrible price being paid for its failure to address this care apartheid."
Mrs Lambert's comments to mark UN International Day for Older Persons (October 1) come as members of a Royal Commission study of long-term care for the elderly accused the Government of betraying older people by rejecting its proposals on closing the care gap.
In 1999 the Royal Commission called on the Government to end the anomaly that offers free care to Cancer patients but leaves Alzheimer's patients to fend for themselves.
Four years later, the proposals have been implemented in Scotland but shelved in England and Wales, nine members of the original commission said this week.
"It is ethically impossible to justify this distinction," the Commissioner's statement says. "Payment of care costs should depend on need, not diagnosis."
London's Green MEP said the capital's thousands of elderly people were fed up with being abandoned by the Government and challenged ministers to announce an end to the distinction between nursing and personal care immediately to show its commitment to today's UN-led International Day for Older Persons initiative.
"All too often elderly persons are seen only in terms of the illness they suffer, and not as human beings with dignity and a continuing capacity to contribute to society," said Mrs Lambert.
"That's why the care they receive is so often limited to medical intervention and simple personal care tasks are left to private carers or simply forgotten."
"This care apartheid must be addressed immediately - not only does it rob the elderly of their dignity and undermine their health, current policy makes no economic sense either. Free personal care for those in need would save the NHS far more than it would cost to provide," she added.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
October 1 is UN International Day of Older Persons, designated by the UN
General Assembly by resolution 45/106 of 14 December 1990, following up on
United Nations initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action
on Ageing, adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing and endorsed later
that year by the General Assembly (resolution 47/86).
For a full report of the commissioners' criticisms of the government's care
policy, see
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/CampaignsNews/News/_items/Elderly_betrayed_ove
r_care.htm
For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973
823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk