Penrose Care is please to see a move in government policy the recognises both the desire of the elderly to stay in their homes and the need for care to be adequately funded.
The deferred loan scheme (1) for social care loans proposed by the Local Government Association (LGA) offers a pragmatic solution to providing high quality care, by allowing care costs to be borrowed from a government backed scheme and repaid at the end of life from the user’s estate.
The challenging demographic situation across Europe and the developed world, with ageing populations and shrinking work forces, means that government funded care is likely to continue to face significant funding pressures.
By recognising the need to fund care properly and provide the elderly with a form of liquidity at their time of need, schemes like this will enhance the quality of life and care of many elderly people who will benefit from having dignified personal care in their twilight years.
References
(1) “Councils call for national old age social care loans scheme”: 07 Nov 2013 (BBC News, 2013), available here.
Dr. Knight trained as a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, Hampstead and University College London (UCL). He then undertook his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine, based in north west London, and is currently working full time as a Registrar in Respiratory Medicine, at the Barnet General Hospital. His main interests are Asthma and allergy and he is currently studying part time for a Masters degree in Allergy, at Imperial College London. Dr. Matthew Knight is the co-founder and non-executive director of Hampstead-based Penrose Care, a provider of home care services in London to the elderly – including to persons with dementia – and to non-elderly adults with physical and/or learning disabilities.
Penrose Care is proud to be only one of four Accredited Living Wage Employers in the London home care sector out of c 925 agencies and the first independent sector home care organisation in England out of nearly 7,000 agencies to be compliant with Citizens UK’s landmark Social Care Charter, an ethical pathway for social care providers. Penrose Care provides short care at home visits, day sitting, night services including sleepovers, and live-in care services.