Alzheimer’s Run

Should people with dementia be put down? Well that’s what Lady Warnock, the ‘veteran’ medical ethics commentator, believes.

She is quoted in a recent article in the Daily Telegraph as saying that people with dementia are a burden. “If you’re demented, you’re wasting people’s lives – your family’s lives – you’re wasting the resources of the National Health Service,” she said.

She went on to say that she hoped people would soon be “licensed to put others down”.
This is eerily redolent of Logan’s Run – the 1976 film where anyone over the age of 30 is killed – and raises potentially disturbing questions.

If Lady Warnock’s idea is given credence – and I can see some people thinking it’s a good idea – then where do you stop?

Why not euthanise other people with terminal degenerative conditions, such as motor neuron disease or Parkinson’s? After all, they will become a burden to their family and the NHS too.
Heck, anyone needing care could be got rid of; it would solve the funding problem in the NHS and allow everyone to get on and enjoy their own lives without having to care for loved ones.

Perhaps as soon as someone is diagnosed with a condition, or even comes to retirement – the end of their ‘useful’ life and when people most need the NHS and care services – they could be terminated painlessly thereby solving any problems before they start.

Of course my dystopian vision of the future won’t happen, but neither should Lady Warnock’s ideas ever get beyond opinions in newspaper articles either.

A person has a right to life and just because they’re ill doesn’t mean they have no value and should be dispensed with. After all, there are about 6 million carers in this country, and hundreds of thousands employed in the industry. Many of them enjoy looking after others and make a positive difference to their quality of life.

A person with dementia is someone who has lived and loved; treating them like diseased cattle is not an option. We need to understand the condition and treat it – and one day even cure it.

Animal magic

At Bettercaring we take great delight in all things offbeat and decidedly oddball. So we jumped at the opportunity when a note arrived inviting us to an exotic ‘jungle safari’ at a nearby care home.

By the time we got there, all manner of creepy and cuddly critters were being paraded in front of excited care home residents. These included a fruit bat, an albino Burmese python, a rhesus monkey, ring-tailed lemur and penguin.

As the exotic creatures were passed around by specialist handlers, the home’s residents gasped in wonder and not a little awe; proving that even the frailest and most dependent people can raise the roof when they’re having a good time.

Of course, there was a serious side to the afternoon – it gave residents much needed stimulation – but it also pushed back the boundaries and challenged preconceptions of old people in care.

One lady loved snakes and had grown accustomed to them after spending time in Africa – yet never expected to see a live one again. Filled with questions about the python – and eager to give it a stroke, she showed no fear. And although others were less keen on the snake (one resident, for example, shrieked at the mere mention of the word ‘snake’), all were willing to overcome their trepidations and give it a pet.

It was a similar story for the other animals. Indeed, the penguin and rhesus monkey proved so popular the event over-ran by an hour-and-a-half.

But what really struck me was the attentiveness of the residents – especially towards the animals. I expected the day to be a trying test of patience, with the residents bored and disinterested. In fact, they couldn’t wait to see what was next.

Even after the animals had gone, the home was still buzzing with excitement. The activities co-ordinator was pleased; the day had been a roaring success and she was looking into hosting another animal safari day…despite the penguin’s insistence on messing everywhere and the monkey escaping into the manager’s office.

In fact, the only grumpy face in the building belonged to Buster the Shih Tzu pat dog – who must’ve been feeling like an endangered species himself.

Car park rage

Good news for people in Scotland and Wales that have loved ones in hospital; no more will you have to pay for the privilege of parking at the hospital to visit them.

But for those that reside in England, the charges – often equivalent to multi-storey car parks – remain in place.

It doesn’t seem fair – wasn’t the NHS set up to be free for all? Even if you purchase a weekly or season ticket, it is still not cheap to park.

I’ve written before on the practice of charging for car parking – basically, I think it’s immoral – but this rubs it in.

While the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly should be applauded for getting rid of these charges, the UK government should be condemned for not following suit.

The government is not going to follow either. Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said he did not believe it was a “sensible use of limited resources” to subsidise car parking at hospitals in England.

However, I’m pretty sure that the Welsh and Scottish branches of the NHS aren’t swimming in excess cash, but they still seem to have found the money to do it, so I don’t buy that excuse.

I also don’t believe another comment from Bradshaw. He added that hospital trusts set their own charges to cover the cost of running and maintaining a car park. If so, how it can cost that much - £3.30 for 2 hours at one hospital in Birmingham - to look after a bit of tarmac with some white lines painted on it is beyond me. Even with a few CCTV cameras and a security guard or two, the cost is not that high – certainly not high enough to justify the charges.

It feels like yet another way that taxpayers are being fleeced through no fault of their own.

Nobody should have to pay to visit their loved ones. My advice is to find the nearest side street to the hospital, park there and walk in.