By 2050, 25% of the population will be over 65 – many living in solitude. Loneliness is becoming one of our biggest problems. The NHS crisis goes on, and its causes are clear: the government’s underfunding of the health service, and the eternally...
Cold weather and loneliness ‘lethal in winter’
The combination of cold weather and loneliness could be lethal in the coming months, England’s most senior nurse is warning. Prof Jane Cummings, NHS England’s chief nursing officer, said cases of strokes and heart attacks tended to rise...
Care homes: Public ‘pay unfair fees to plug £1bn shortfall’
Care homes have been applying unfair charges and over-the-top fees for self-funders, an official review shows. The Competition and Market Authority found some homes had applied large upfront costs and charged families for weeks after their relatives...
Green paper on older people’s social care to be published by summer 2018
The government will publish a green paper on social care for older people by summer 2018, it announced today. In advance of the paper it has invited a number of people to provide advice, including representatives from social care and health...
Charities can be a lifeline for older people as statutory services suffer
Over the past 20 years, government and media attention has increasingly been drawn to the rising numbers of elderly people in our society and the consequent spiralling costs of health and social care for this section of the population. At the same...
UK pensions among the worst in the developed world, study finds
British workers can expect among the worst pensions in the developed world, according to a report from investment bank UBS, which compared the retirement outlook for a 50-year-old woman in major cities across the globe. UBS calculated how much a...
