Despite the best will in the world, a signifcant proportion of our 'very' elderly population will remain in need of 'care' - yes 'medical' care , as well as very expensive, time consuming and labour-intensive personal care. Many will be living alone in their own residence and most of the time , receivng 'good' personal attention from relatives with their 'love and affection'! Without such family support and 'service' the country would have gone bankrupt many years ago.

The problem now is with the 'attitude' of society towards older people. The Care -homes have been growing like mushroom everywhere ; being owned privately and run 'mainly for profit' they have been cutting 'corners' for years ! This issue has been brought to the notice of the Authorities many many times but no steps have been taken. The Registered Nursing Home Tribunal had. dealt with 'specific' problems where physical abuse etc had been reported. The official 'standards' required through their contractual obligations , had not been regularly monitered with any 'punitive' action. The situation today has changed - a number of National Bodies have come into existence and they are 'checking' the standards and behaviour within private Nursing and Care Homes , as well as in our large acute general hospitals. The likely outcome will be ''closure of Nursing Homes'' NOT the 'elevation of their standards' .The Private owners will not run their business with a steady financial loss !Caring for people is expensive - adequate number of staff , their continuing education, the general facilities , dietary requirements etc etc all need money ie loss of income or profit !! And there will never be required number of trained and well-motivated staff to keep pace with the demands.

As I have mentioned it before, our total approach to the Older people and old age ought to change. As a society , we must not be ageist and support older people in their own homes for as long as possible. There must not be a ''quick no-solution intitutional answer' to all problems . Our elderly should be encouraged to remain active and independent - hopefully that would bring down the ''cost of care''