Thursday, July 21, 2005
Old & Ill
I was too upset to do any work after watching last night's Panorama - Undercover Nurse. I missed the first part shown earlier but part 2 last night brought me to tears. I have been so proud of our NHS system in the past that I used to say that no one in our country goes without treatment and care regardless of whether they have money or not, whether they have a family or not. It was horrible to see those elderly, helpless people being subjected to such a neglect bordering on to cruelty.
All caring and public service sectors are short of funding and cut back of staff takes its toll. Due to the shortage of nurses the attention time for each patient gets reduced that is understandable. With over burdened, over worked and over stressed work force the morals are bound to be low but the attitude of some carers was just evil. When people have come to the end of their lives they need care and help. How can you forget that you will be old one day yourself?
When it is obvious that the ratio of elderly and non workers to the earning population in the U.K. is rising then it is urgent for the state to plan for the solution. There are going to be more and more elderly people in need of looking after. Besides encouraging us to take on a private medical insurance and the private pension what else is the Government doing?
It is too late to turn our society and culture into a caring family oriented society. I am talking about majority of people. Of course there are others who care for their relatives at the sacrifice of their own lives but you have to admit that young and old both do not seem to get the attention they deserve. You just have to be out in the late evenings to see how many children are roaming the streets. Where are their parents to make sure their offspring behave, not harass others and be safe themselves?
Don't take me wrong. British are the most charitable people but we care for the unknown in the world and the animals in the world more than we do for our own relatives. Demanding working lives and singular family units have dragged us away from our responsibilities of caring for the others.
When we get old and helpless we still want to be treated with dignity and respect. If we are to be sick we do not want to die in pain and agony. We do not want to be alone and neglected. How can we make sure we are not?
All caring and public service sectors are short of funding and cut back of staff takes its toll. Due to the shortage of nurses the attention time for each patient gets reduced that is understandable. With over burdened, over worked and over stressed work force the morals are bound to be low but the attitude of some carers was just evil. When people have come to the end of their lives they need care and help. How can you forget that you will be old one day yourself?
When it is obvious that the ratio of elderly and non workers to the earning population in the U.K. is rising then it is urgent for the state to plan for the solution. There are going to be more and more elderly people in need of looking after. Besides encouraging us to take on a private medical insurance and the private pension what else is the Government doing?
It is too late to turn our society and culture into a caring family oriented society. I am talking about majority of people. Of course there are others who care for their relatives at the sacrifice of their own lives but you have to admit that young and old both do not seem to get the attention they deserve. You just have to be out in the late evenings to see how many children are roaming the streets. Where are their parents to make sure their offspring behave, not harass others and be safe themselves?
Don't take me wrong. British are the most charitable people but we care for the unknown in the world and the animals in the world more than we do for our own relatives. Demanding working lives and singular family units have dragged us away from our responsibilities of caring for the others.
When we get old and helpless we still want to be treated with dignity and respect. If we are to be sick we do not want to die in pain and agony. We do not want to be alone and neglected. How can we make sure we are not?
# posted by butterflyuk : 7/21/2005 08:40:00 pm
