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Most Grandparents in care homes are too poor to play Santa.
Buying Christmas gifts for grandchildren or friends this year is
going to be almost impossible for many of the quarter of a million most
deprived people living in care homes. 260,000 care home residents
survive on a Personal Expenses Allowance of a measly £19.60 a week.
This allowance is meant to cover personal items such as clothes,
transport and toiletries. However it doesn’t even cover basic
necessities - let alone Christmas gifts.
While the average Briton is expected to spend £3781 this year on
Christmas gifts an older person would use a whole month’s allowance of
their Personal Expenses Allowance to afford this year’s must-have child
present – a Roboreptile. With an extended family to buy for, including
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, care home residents could quiet
easily find even the cheapest Christmas gifts out of their reach.
Age Concern is calling for the allowance to be raised to £40. It
would cost only £275 million a year and is one of the simplest ways the
Government can help some of the poorest in society to retain some
dignity, remain engaged with their communities, friends and families
and pursue their interests. Under national means-testing rules, people
in care homes have to surrender their pensions and most of their assets
to pay for their care home fees. They are then entitled to retain just
£19.60 per week.
Gordon Lishman, Director-General Age Concern, said:
“It is shameful that some of the poorest older people aren’t given
the means to participate in society to the extent that many can’t even
afford the basic let alone to give Christmas presents.
“The Government talks of dignity and reducing social exclusion of
older people, but without the means to participate in society, they are
reducing the chances of people doing anything. £19.60 a week can mean
that keeping in touch with friends by phone, replacing clothes and
shoes, getting a haircut or getting a gift for a friend isn’t possible
These things can mean the difference between existing and living.”
Despite guidance on the use of PEA some people also do not have an
option but to spend their allowance to pay for services such as
chiropody and physiotherapy. Such services should be free on the NHS
for those who need them, but long waiting times, restricted eligibility
criteria, or lack of awareness amongst residents about their
entitlement forces them to use their allowance. Local Authorities and
Primary Care Trusts must ensure that older people living in care homes
are aware of and have access to these services.
Real-life example:
Winifred Warburton, 99, from the Midlands has a weekly overspend of
£54.24 after a normal week. She said about her life in a care home, the
“stresses and strains of my current hand-to-mouth living, which I never
experienced until I was compelled to come under the ‘protective’
umbrella of the Council Adult Finance Services.”
An example of one weeks expenses include:
Telephone £8
Newspaper £3.25
Magazines £1.50
Hair perm £25
Local taxi to clinic £6
Toiletries £8.50
Summer hat £4.99
Suit from charity shop £4.50
Chiropody £12.50
(private, as local clinic refuse to call on me). During previous 6 weeks £30 for 2 visits.
TOTAL: £74.24
Overspent: £54.24
Her extra needs for winter include:
Shoes
Slippers
Underwear, some of which have been in use for 15-20 years.
Warm overcoat
Warm hat
Warm winter dress or suit
End Notes
1) Average Gift spending - Deloitte, November 2006
Note to Editors
- In April 2006, there were 421,000 people living in care homes in
the UK (Laing & Bussion, Care of Elder People Market Survey, 2006,
page 10, fig. 5.6)
- Over 90% of people living in care homes are 65 or over and 53% are
85 or over. (Based on Continuing Care Conference 2006 survey of care
home residents)
- Around 60% of people living in private and independent care homes
in the UK are receiving help with their fees from their local
authorities. (Laing & Buisson, Care of Elderly People Market
Survey, 2006, page 13.)
www.ageconcern.org.uk
14th Dacember 2006
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