Council proposes £25.92 'lifting charge' to help elderly up when they fall

[T_i_B]

In case you were wondering, this is a Tory / UKIP council, in an area with a large elderly population. I am wondering who on earth the Councillor is referring to when he says that there is a demand for this nonsense from "users"...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/essex-council-to-charge-2592-lifting-charge-to-help-elderly-up-when-they-fall-a6778376.html

A local council has defended plans to charge pensioners £26 to help them to their feet if they've had a fall at home.

Tendring District Council, in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, has come under fire after proposing a £25.92 additional annual charge to around 2,500 Essex residents who use its Careline service.

The “lifting service” will mean Careline staff go to the home of the elderly person with a touch of a special alarm button.

Paul Honeywood, a local councillor in favour of the scheme, told the Independent the council needed the additional charge in order to continue offering the service: “Having consulted users we have discovered there is a demand and the idea is now going through the budget process with a final decision to be made in February.”

[DetlefK]

1. Sounds reasonable.

The charge in general that is.

The old person falls down, presses the emergency-button.
A nurse hops into a car, drives over, which takes about 10 minutes.
Helps the old person up and checks if he/she's okay. 10 more minutes.
And back to the company-building. 10 more minutes.

With pizza-delivery you are not just paying for the pizza (which you would get for half the cost in a store), you are also paying for the time and gas spent delivering the pizza to you.

[T_i_B]

2. If it's a public service....

....then it's paid for out of taxation, and should really be like the NHS (i.e free at the point of use)

If you've paid taxes all your life, only to have your local council take the piss like this, then you will be entitled to be a bit annoyed by this, especially given how rationed care for the elderly is already.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Fuck taxes. Privatise all such services,

especially NHS, so the cronies can get even more stinking rich. There is no alternative! - Thatcher & Bliar dixit.

[GeorgeGist]

4. Yeah, cause helping old people is just like serving pizza.

Or they could crawl to the sidewalk and wait for someone to help them for free.

[PSPS]

3. Only rich people deserve help.

[newfie11]

6. Shhhh next the Repugs will want that here.

[non sociopath skin]

7. I see a business opportunity for Mike Ashley here

If he can set up a rival company in the area, recruiting unemployed youths and supplying them with a length of rope (to be paid for out of their wages) and paying them minimum wage on a zero hours contract, he can probably undercut the Council and charge only £25 for his service, while still making a hefty profit.

Capitalism? You KNOW it's the answer!!!!



The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

8. Oxfordshire used to have its own service, but abolished it so that now Careline is available only

as a private service. It costs even more here in Oxfordshire (over £30 a year), and is no longer linked to the county government. I know about this as my elderly mother uses the service; she is fortunate to be able to pay, but one can only imagine how many people have chosen to risk lying on the floor for hours, or worse dangers, because the alternative would be not being able to afford enough to eat.