“Don’t get old! “

That’s the message after watching Panorama on Monday 24th August. Listening to 89 year old Fred O’Donnell you could help but admire his optimism and fight after everything he has been through. Sad to hear him refer to council as the enemy, for a soldier who survived imprisonment during WW2 it was a powerful statement.  

You can view the programme by clicking on this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mbvn3/Panorama_Gimme_Shelter/

500,000 people live in sheltered housing, I wonder which political party is going to wake up and see that votes at stake. 

I have spent many years working with older people, so it was great to see them standing up for their rights. Usually it is difficult to get older people to speak out for themselves, they often they fear services will be removed if they complain. 

In Northampton the Council attempted to marginalise the campaign Fred and his friends are organising by claiming there were 3,000 residents who are happy with the new service. When Panorama went out to meet these ‘happy’ residents it was all to clear they were not happy, they had accepted that there was nothing they could do, ‘so what is the point complaining?’  

If we know older people are frightened to complain why do we treat them like this?  

Social Workers often claim their clients are not seen as a priority, with more focus on children’s services. It is hard to ignore these claims when you look at the state of services for older people. If Panorama had the time and money to go to every council what would they uncover in home care, residential & nursing home services? 

If we don’t die young, we will all old get old,  and in today’s society where we no longer live within walking distance from our parents, uncles, aunties etc so it is important we have services that reflect needs of the community. 

What Councils & Commissioners are missing is the security aspect of a warden living on site. In Barnet and across the country it appears that this is not seen as relevant or important, yet in the consultation in Barnet it was one of the most popular issues raised by residents.

We might all agree it is unacceptable, but people are increasingly frightened about going out in the communities they live. It is perfectly understandable that for residents this is a serious issue.  

Watch some of these video diaries to hear for yourself

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/282 

On the programme last night a statement from the government was read out. I have an idea for the Government.  

Why not ask the 500,000 residents living in sheltered housing the following questions 

“Would you like a live in Warden Service?” 

“Would you prefer a floating support service?” 

Once the results are gathered, you will know what services you need to commission. 

In Barnet, we are talking about a ‘new relationship with residents’. These are bold, brave words, but I am not confident everyone understands what this means. What would happen if we take those words and applied them to older people living in Barnet?

What would their response be to the above questions? 

I already can hear some scoff at my naivety, we don’t have the funding. But that should not stop these questions being asked. If we have funding issues let’s deal with them knowing what our residents want. We can’t have a new relationship with residents if we change the rules or don’t make it clear what the parameters are. All this does is ‘turn off’ residents from bothering. Apathy is the biggest enemy of democracy, politicians have an opportunity to re-ignite local democracy, but will they?