Tonight's BBC Panorama was truely shocking. The lack of care, the lack of time given to vulnerable elderly people in their homes reliant on home care uncovered by this programme means politicians must act.
Minimum standards ignored. Light touch inspections failing. The commissioner/provider model failing. Companies defrauding councils of cash for payments for set hours and carers not turning up due to understaffing. The low paid, desparate staff shown. The pain inflicted on terminally ill or confused patients.
The test of a society is how it treats its elderly and vulnerable and this programme showed that in several areas of the UK, we should be ashamed. How many more areas exist like this?
What makes my blood boil is that on Tuesday, I sat listening to someone in the NHS extolling the view that competition from the market will drive up standards in health care. Well this BBC programme showed contracts given to the lowest bidder, showed examples of awful care and a national charity unable to bid to provide care to the elderly in one council area as the price was so low.
It needs sorting, it needs to be done now and Councils and Government need to remember you often get what you pay for. Would anyone want that shown tonight on their parents?
As postscript, I hope the programme team get an award that was worth the license fee alone and a true public service.
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