Spanish Pensioners - Let us be under no illusions our ex pat pensioners are struggling
just as much as UK pensioners are if not more so as they do not have the welfare
state to fall back on. Yes, I can hear you saying they knew what they were doing
when they left but did they any more than we did think there was going to be this
level of recession, this level of incompetent governments, this level of self serving
banks who first caused the problem, then exacerbated it and now seemingly the only
ones to be doing well out of it. Can anyone not wish and admire the fact that people
aspired to live out their golden years in beautiful countries where the way of life
was relaxed, crime was low and the elderly respected? Read More ……
Editorial - the Panorama programme showing a 80 year old lady suffering from Alzheimer’s
being abused and assaulted by her supposed ‘carer’s. This care home managed by Forest
Healthcare should have been prosecuted along with all the staff. Terminating the
employment of five and jailing one is in no way a sufficient deterrent to stop this
sort of thing continuing, note I say continuing and not deterring. If there were
only six staff employed in this home it was massively understaffed and if there were
more staff they were negligent in that they did not know this lady was being abused
and missed the obvious signs i.e. the bruises. The owners, managers and all the
staff of this home should have been brought up on charges and we should expect no
less and it would also have been a good idea to include the inspector/s from the
Care Quality Commission as they clearly are not fit for purpose and indeed continue
not to be. So we have started an e petition to call for a debate on CCTV being made
available to all private rooms and homes that can be linked to relatives home computers.
Even if families have to buy the camera’s they will think it well worth it to ensure
their loved one’s are safe. Read More ……
The budget unravels - The budget continues to unravel, with increasing opposition
to the ‘granny tax’, ‘pasty tax’, ‘church tax’, ‘caravan tax’ and ‘charity tax’.
On the ‘granny tax’, new research has revealed that, far from hitting only better
off pensioners as ministers had claimed, well over half those affected will be below
the average taxpayer income. Read More ……