Older People: Their Place and Contribution in Society

Baroness Masham of Ilton Excerpts

Friday 14th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Masham of Ilton]

My Lords, I thank the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury for giving us an opportunity to consider the place of older people today. I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Walton of Detchant. In his 90s, he contributes so much to your Lordships’ House and has done over the years. He has a wealth of experience having practised medicine since before the NHS. He knows so well the vital need for expert medical people specialising in the many conditions which so often afflict elderly people. The noble Lord is a retired neurologist, and so many neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, are associated with the ageing population.

I will highlight some of the added problems that people with disabilities have when they grow older. If you are a paraplegic and have used your arms for years to get into or on to the bed, car, bath or lavatory, your shoulders take a toll in the end. The skin gets thinner and weaker, and there are more risks of pressure areas breaking down. The bladders get less efficient. Older people who have had these problems can pass on information to others about new technologies such as electric beds, special mattresses, bath lifts and so many other devices coming on the market.

I declare a non-monetary interest, as I am president of the Spinal Injuries Association. There is a great need for suitable housing for people using wheelchairs. Some people who have broken their necks after leaving hospital are placed in nursing or care homes which are unsuitable, uncaring and unbearable for people who want to live as normal a life as possible in suitable accommodation. Housing can become a problem for people as they grow older and have changing needs. A letter was sent to me from two members of the Spinal Injuries Association, Mr and Mrs Bate of Birmingham:

“I, aged 65, was paralysed and use a wheelchair since a road accident in 1962. My wife aged 71 had polio as a girl and now suffers from severe Post Polio Syndrome, which has left her in an electric chair and virtually quadriplegic.

We are getting older and find coping with everyday tasks harder. We live alone in our co-ownership bungalow, we own 25% and the Bourneville Trust 75%. It is much too small for two wheelchairs. We are also very lonely, as getting out is difficult and we feel the ceiling is falling in on us. The ideal solution for us would be to move into an Extra Care village in Birmingham. Everyone at Extra Care in Birmingham is very kind, but is not able to help as we do not have enough money to purchase a property and the size of flat we need is for sale only”.

It seems there is a need for more wheelchair-suitable rented housing with extra help.

Elderly people who are seriously disabled can have real problems in hospital. What has gone wrong? Florence Nightingale wrote notes on nursing, and would turn in her grave if she knew what happens in the hospitals nowadays. Patients who are elderly, if they come out of hospital alive, are often malnourished and confused.

It is rightly said that there is no justification for describing older people’s care today as just basic. In the Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust, the care of some patients was not even basic. Desperate patients had to drink out of flower vases to quench their thirst. Over 300 died, in a culture of fear and cover-up. Many people are now waiting for the Francis report on that desperate situation. But Parliament was alerted last week to the uncaring treatment of the husband of Ann Clwyd MP when he was ill and dying in a hospital in Wales. She described his situation as being treated like a “battery hen”. He was cold, in a bed that was too small for him and with an ill fitting oxygen mask. He had multiple sclerosis. I assure your Lordships that disabled people feel the cold so much that it can become unbearable. My heart went out to Ann Clwyd.

Compassion and a caring approach should replace this cold and callous attitude to elderly, ill and disabled patients that seems to have penetrated the nursing profession in some quarters. The staffing levels do not take into account patient dependency, merely patient numbers. I quote from the Royal College of Nursing, which has said:

“Sometimes there are just not enough staff to complete daily tasks”,

such as helping patients to wash and eat. It is all a rush; patients can feel undervalued.

I bring this most worrying situation up in this debate because I think that there should be a culture of openness, honesty and kindness to one another. Is it not time that more trained and willing volunteers were recruited to help overcome this most urgent need? There were such wonderful volunteers who helped during the Olympic Games and the Paralympics. Surely, if there is a will there is a way to find and use them.

I ask the most reverend Primate if he thinks that hospital chaplains of all faiths might become leaders and help to recruit volunteers to work in hospitals. One would need networks throughout the country. The Sue Ryder organisation, which runs hospices and looks after very disabled people, has an excellent scheme which uses ex-prisoners as volunteers, both men and women, to help in their shops and raise money. This is good for rehabilitation and valuable help for the shops.

It is splendid that the WRVS decided to help older people. Loneliness can be a problem of old age. More than 40,000 volunteers help older people all over the country to stay as independent as possible at home and active in their communities. It is that practical little bit of help that can make all the difference, and in giving the volunteers get satisfaction, having helped others in need.

I end by saying how useful some grandparents are. They should feel valued. They provide hours of childcare which relieves their children to work. There is a Grandparents Association, where grandparents meet their grandchildren once a week and have a playgroup. It is a way of making friends as well as providing childcare.

I hope that the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury will keep campaigning for older people in society, remembering that being disabled and elderly is a double whammy. I wish his Lordship a very happy Christmas.