What happens when you get too old?

[Pigmy Pony]

make sure you have plenty of cash , we are about to have 2 parents in a care home at a total cost of around 90k a year with a very high proportion of that self funded !!!!

[one 52k pa one 37k pa ]

I don't get where they get these costs from, I reckon they think of a number then double it. If say, a home has 20 residents, then all the costs would be divided by 20 (the staff (mostly part timers on minimum wage), and some running costs. Obviously these costs amount to a fair bit, but with an income of £1.5 million or so the bosses must be raking it in.

For a lot less they surely could have a live-in help in their own home. Parents could keep their home and that 87k pa could easily cover wages, especially with free accommodation thrown in.

[Wakefield Turntables]

To answer the original question of the thread, logically, we die. Sorry for stating the obvious .

[hifinutt]

I don't get where they get these costs from, I reckon they think of a number then double it. If say, a home has 20 residents, then all the costs would be divided by 20 (the staff (mostly part timers on minimum wage), and some running costs. Obviously these costs amount to a fair bit, but with an income of £1.5 million or so the bosses must be raking it in.

For a lot less they surely could have a live-in help in their own home. Parents could keep their home and that 87k pa could easily cover wages, especially with free accommodation thrown in.

well , i am surprised they can do it at these costs . one home one parent was in had to close down in devon as they could not afford the 50k costs for a new roof on an old place in torre. you have hoists , call bells . listed buildings , staff costs , marketing . it all adds up

would absolutely love to care for these guys at home but their needs are so much it would overwhelm you in days and you can`t just convert your home in days to accommodate these needs and we have tried home care packages for past 6 weeks with a huge amount of stress , with different carers , blister packs etc etc. its a 70 mile round trip to supervise them all and then they still are on their own for many hours at night and at risk of falls etc

[Sherwood]

I don't get where they get these costs from, I reckon they think of a number then double it. If say, a home has 20 residents, then all the costs would be divided by 20 (the staff (mostly part timers on minimum wage), and some running costs. Obviously these costs amount to a fair bit, but with an income of £1.5 million or so the bosses must be raking it in.

For a lot less they surely could have a live-in help in their own home. Parents could keep their home and that 87k pa could easily cover wages, especially with free accommodation thrown in.

The reality is that health and social care costs much more than most people realise: much, much more! In many industries, technological advances and the substitution of capital (equipment) for labour, has brought about huge improvements in productivity and a reduction in unit costs. Long term social care is highly labour intensive due to the need for 24 hour cover and high staffing ratios. Apart from labour costs, the basic "hotel" costs of accomodation, maintenance, laundry, catering, cleaning and utilities are considerable. One only has to reflect on what it costs per night to stay in even the most basic b&b to see that at least 20k to 30k of the annual costs of residential care will be taken up by such costs, even before factoring in the higher costs of special needs. Unlike other industries, long term residential care is not amenable to cost savings borne of economies of scale.

Of course, it is galling to see so much of provision being outsourced to "dubious" private providers who rip off their employees and focus more on satisfying their shareholders than their charges!

Geoff

[Macca]

I don't know about nowadays but one of my uncles was in the granny farming business in the 1980s and 1990s and it was a licence to print money. And his places were not the crappy ones where they beat them up and lock them in their rooms either.

Okay so he did spend his final few years hiding out in Cyprus whilst on the run from the FBI, but that's a whole other story.

[paulf-2007]

Me and the wife are off to Switzerland when our quality of life is no longer worth living.

[Macca]

Come on now, Switzerland's not that bad!

[Barry]

Come on now, Switzerland's not that bad!

But it's not in the EU. However it is expensive to live there.

[walpurgis]

I think the idea is to live there very briefly only.

[Barry]

I think the idea is to live there very briefly only.

Yes I know. I was being perverse.