State Abandonment – Families are destitute as a result of debilitating dementia costs

According to a recent report, for the next 125 years, an individual would need to put away £800 annually to cover dementia care expenses.

Based on research from the Alzheimer’s Society, such unrealistic social care costs are debilitating many families and leaving them destitute.

Of over 2,300 adults between the ages of 16 and 75 polled for the charity, 47% have yet to begin saving for the care they may require down the road.

The news breaks as one family revealed how they spent over £500,000 over the last decade on dementia care upon learning they wouldn’t qualify for state-funded assistance.

48-year-old Judith Jordan of Ashtead, Surrey, cared for her mother, Joan, at first. In her early 60s, Joan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She was living at home for years before her needs became greater. Things took a turn for the worse when Joan failed to eat and drink properly. She would also frequently go missing.

In her mid-60s, Joan relocated to a care home, cashing in her shares, stocks, pension, and even her husband’s life insurance to fund her care.

Before long, she wasn’t able to move properly, endured epilepsy and bedsores, and couldn’t articulate herself for the remaining 5 years of her life.

However, despite 5 funding assessments, when Joan needed state funding assistance the most, she was regularly deemed ineligible for it.

Joan passed away in August of 2016 weighing in at slightly over 4.5st. At that time, her monthly care expenses totaled £4,000. In total, more than £500,000 was spent on dementia care.

Joan would have been heartbroken if she was aware that her finances had disappeared and that she only left behind a fraction of what she intended for her grandchildren to inherit.

By the end of Joan’s life, she was unable to drink, eat, talk, or move anything except her eyes. And yet, in spite of that, she still wasn’t qualified to receive state funding. This is especially troublesome considering Joan had paid National Insurance and taxes her entire life.

Joan funded her own care until the day she died.

Based a poll conducted by the Alzheimer’s Society, 54% of adults believe support and care should be funded by the Government if they develop dementia. A mere 5% disagreed.

The closure of hundreds of care homes causes severe turmoil, forcing disabled individuals and senior citizens to relocate.

After enduring 7 long years of cutbacks by the Tories, little-to-no funding by local authorities has resulted in thousands of residents being inconvenienced.
As hundreds of care homes close, Britain faces a crisis.
Multiple care homes are being closed daily, leaving the disabled and elderly left with no alternatives.

2,000 residences have disappeared over the last year in England alone. –Albury care

According to Caroline Abrahams of Age UK, sudden relocation for these people can result in extreme distress, worsening their health.

Abrahams also claims that increasingly more care homes have no choice but to decline acceptance of local seniors since their payments are supposedly insufficient.
She also points out how hard it is to find a proper, secure place in a good area. She implies that acceptance comes down to wealth or family ties.
There are only 16,392 nursing and residential homes in England, which is 373 homes less than there were only a year ago (based on data from the Care Quality Commission).
Because of Tory cuts, 4 out of 5 hospitals are unsafe. This has left the NHS with a ‘burning platform’.
The Commission’s data indicates that such closures are likely to be for small services, which have accomplished better CQC ratings up to this point.
According to the Local Government Information Unit’s research think tank, when residents are pushed out of their homes and providers are unable to offer then care, fatalities ensue.
One Tory representative says that almost 3/4 of care homes have been deemed up to par, and the amount of beds in those homes are classified as stable.