GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

When workers are in employment they are often treated like the wage slaves they are, but retirement will bring no improvement to their conditions. "More than half of elderly and disabled people in care homes are being denied basic health services while staff are failing to to do enough to preserve their dignity, according to an official review. Some older people routinely have to wait up to three months for formal checks for painful conditions such as bed sores, according to figures from the health care watchdog. A quarter were not given a choice of male or female staff to help them use the lavatory and more than a third of care homes surveyed admitted delays in getting medication to residents. " (Daily Telegraph, 7 March) In times of economic crisis the owning class must look for ways to reduce overheads. An obvious sources of savings is in cutting the cost of care for old workers. RD