Tag Archives: older

Reinventing the wheel?

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Paul Goulden | Comments Off

Age UK London recently hosted a presentation from an organisation called care4care, and when I saw it I thought this is something I have to look at. Partly because of the need to tackle the problem of future care for older people, but I have to confess mainly because it is fronted by Professor Heinz Wolff – the archetypal professor from ‘The Great Egg Race’ in the late seventies. Along with Johnny Ball (how did he get voted off SCD?) and Johnny Morris, he inspired many of my generation to have an interest in science and the natural world. So what did he have to offer?

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Wanted: Government advisors. Must be over 60!

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Paul Goulden | Comments Off

Yes, the reshuffle is the big news today, but I was more intrigued by the fact that George Osborne has a group of young advisors, one of whom is in their twenties. In their twenties?

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Let’s challenge the stereotype of the older slacker

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Sam Mauger | 1 Comment

I read with enormous concern the front page media headline last week talking about  ‘Older Slackers’. I wonder if the media knows the lengths that people over 50 have to go through to even get a CV looked at, let alone an interview, training or promotion prospects.

Many people will look at the headline and form an opinion without ever reading the content.
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Health records and online access

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Brenda Bond | 2 Comments

A couple of us attended a meeting the other day in which one of the presentations promoted a pilot scheme to give people access to their GP records online. It sounded great… until we started to think through the potential for abuse. Our questions about security were acknowledged as valid, especially in light of recent failures in the massive NHS IT system developments. But there had clearly been little thought about issues closer to home.

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On the buses

Posted on September 14, 2011 by alicewoudhuysen | 2 Comments

An activist at the Day of Action in Camden

On Tuesday 6 September, Age UK London, Greater London Forum for Older People and Transport for All held a Day of Action as part of  its On the buses campaign. At 10.30am, 200 older and disabled activists from across London gathered at four meeting points – at Vauxhall, Liverpool Street, Camden Town and Marylebone stations – to board buses to Westminster.

The aim of the bus ride was to raise awareness of the barriers older and disabled people face when travelling by bus in London, and to demand that older and disabled people are able to use buses with the same freedom and independence as everyone else.

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Special Offer – Spend a £1, Save £10!!!!!

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Paul Goulden | Comments Off

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Almost up there with personal injury lawyers and requests from Nigeria to help someone get their money out of a frozen bank account. But at the Preventive Health 2011 conference on 30th June, we were shown just what was possible in preventative health.

It was a packed day, with some excellent speakers. Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, was passionate but pragmatic about the importance of prevention in the future of the nation’s health, and Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, spoke words that were music to my ears – that non-medical aspects of a patient’s life were important factors in dealing with ill-health. Cardiologist Dr Ameet Bakhai was hugely entertaining, and here is a doctor who actually prescribes T’ai Chi and meditation for stroke and heart attack patients – fantastic to hear!

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My grandmother stole my job!

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Natalie Turner | 5 Comments

Well not exactly… but a recent story in the press pointed out an interesting new trend. In 2010, over a third of newly created jobs were being taken by those over 65 and out of work.

These people might be taking up a job at 65+ to cover what their pension won’t stretch to, and to make up for savings which no longer pay decent interest. Or, given the role of grandparents these days, even to pay their grandchildren’s university fees!

The news often focuses on youth unemployment and worries about what young people – the lost generation – are going to do. Society is right to be concerned.  However, unemployment doesn’t just affect the young. When it comes to standing in line at the Jobcentre Plus, it seems that we – whatever age we are – are really in it together.

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GP Commissioning – diagnosis? Missed opportunity…

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Paul Goulden | Comments Off

There has been much in the press recently about the new role of GPs in commissioning NHS services, and many areas are already forming the shadow health boards that are going to deliver this change. Is it going to improve services or the nation’s health? Sadly I think this is doubtful.

Why? Well, first a quick story. There was once a farmer in Wales who was annoyed by local RAF aircraft. Because his barn was at the end of a long valley, RAF Tornado fighter bombers would use it as a target to practise low level bombing runs. The farmer got sick of the noise and one day went onto the barn roof and painted “!?#$ OFF BIGGLES!” in six foot high letters. The result? More planes! Every type of plane from Chipmink training planes to C130 Transports flew over because they thought it was funny and wanted to see it.

How does this link to GP commissioning? Well GPs are clinically trained to be symptom driven – you go with a condition and, like the farmer, they deal with what is presented to them. Their problem solving does not look at other factors like housing, finances or any of the thousand other things that affect our lives. And nor should they – GPs don’t go through all that training and debt to become social workers.  Continue reading →

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