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By Nicky Bolster, BBC News
The NHS does not have enough funding to
pay for Gwen's care Free long-term care for
the elderly was voted the top NHS (National Health Service) priority by
viewers in 2002. This already exists in Gwen Brett had a severe
stroke in October last year and was rushed into hospital. That was bad enough for
her husband Arthur, 77. It was devastating for him
that his wife of 52 years could no longer speak or even eat. Doctors at the However, 10 weeks ago they
declared they had done all they could to help her and that she needed to
go into a nursing home. She is still being fed
through a tube in her stomach and cannot do anything for herself. It was a huge shock for
Arthur to discover that, despite the fact that his wife is now incapable
of living independently, the NHS is not able to continue looking after
her. "I thought as we'd
paid an awful lot of National Insurance, we'd be well cared for," he
told the BBC's Your NHS programme. Because Gwen's savings
amount to more than £19,500 she will have to pay most of her nursing home
fees. The home nearest to where
Arthur lives, in Gwen's state pension and
other benefits are expected to cover £183 of this, so Arthur will have to
fork out the remaining £454. Arthur was horrified to
hear this and wants Gwen to stay in hospital. "I'm going to be like
some more people I know who said 'No, no, no' and they're still there, so
why shouldn't I say 'No, no, no'? Meanwhile his stance is
causing problems at the hospital, because Gwen should have left 10 weeks
ago and is now bed-blocking. "Mr Brett is pretty
adamant that he's not paying for his wife's nursing home care, and that
leaves us in an almost impossible situation," said consultant Dr
Nicola Trepte, who works on the geriatric ward where Gwen is currently
being cared for. "I can see where he
is coming from and I am sure that he doesn't appreciate that by doing this
he is preventing somebody else from receiving emergency care. "At any time in this
hospital we have a whole medical ward that is not being used for the
purpose it is meant for." Holidays sacrificed The NHS does not have
enough funding to pay for the care of patients like Gwen, whose condition
is now medically stable. "People are expecting
cradle-to-grave looking after, but that just isn't feasible," says Dr
Trepte. "If we are going to
expect that sort of care for free, people are going to have to pay an
awful lot more National Insurance contributions to fund it properly."
If the couple had not had
any savings, Gwen's nursing home care would have been funded by Social
Services. "If the people
haven't got money they don't pay", said Arthur. "This is the thing
that annoys me and that would annoy you the same if you were in the same
position as I am. "I wished really we'd have spent a lot more money as we went along. We could have had a lot more holidays." Copyright © 2004
Global Action on Aging |
