More than one million older people in the UK are malnourished says the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
A third of all UK councils have scrapped ‘meals on wheels’ services to their elderly and vulnerable residents due government to spending cuts
Half of all local authorities in the UK expect even further service reductions in the year ahead because social care budgets are being tightened and funding is being slashed, according to the National Association of Care Catering. Community meals are not a statutory local government requirement, which means they are at risk of being cut as councils try to save money and focus on services they are legally obliged to provide.
The total number of meals provided by UK meals on wheels services and lunch clubs has dropped from 40 million to 19 million meals over the past ten years.
The NACC National Chair, Neel Radia, said: “The abolition of community meals services is incredibly short-sighted and cuts a lifeline for many older people who can face social isolation and loneliness.”
Dot Gibson, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, says meals on wheels are a cost-effective lifeline for tens of thousands of older people. “But it’s not just about the food. It’s about the personal contact, relationships and the wider benefit that the service brings by keeping in touch with people and maintaining their wellbeing.”
A third of all UK councils have scrapped ‘meals on wheels’ services to their elderly and vulnerable residents due government to spending cuts
Half of all local authorities in the UK expect even further service reductions in the year ahead because social care budgets are being tightened and funding is being slashed, according to the National Association of Care Catering. Community meals are not a statutory local government requirement, which means they are at risk of being cut as councils try to save money and focus on services they are legally obliged to provide.
The total number of meals provided by UK meals on wheels services and lunch clubs has dropped from 40 million to 19 million meals over the past ten years.
The NACC National Chair, Neel Radia, said: “The abolition of community meals services is incredibly short-sighted and cuts a lifeline for many older people who can face social isolation and loneliness.”
Dot Gibson, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, says meals on wheels are a cost-effective lifeline for tens of thousands of older people. “But it’s not just about the food. It’s about the personal contact, relationships and the wider benefit that the service brings by keeping in touch with people and maintaining their wellbeing.”
All to the good. The more hellish capitalism is, the better.
ReplyDeleteWishing the worse upon our fellow workers, isn't really going to endear us to them, is it?
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the more suffering workers endure somehow helps them to understand the socialist case, has never been the SPGB position and such hell just as easily leads to reaction rather than revolution.
I was not asserting that suffering bought workers round to the socialist case. Nothing will do that. I just like the idea of them being put through it, that's all.
ReplyDeleteif you are expressing an antipathy towards the elderly and desire them to suffer unnecessary pain and discomfort, i'm not sure we share the same values.
ReplyDeleteIs it not part of your case, in fact central to your case, that social conditions determine consciousness? If workers are not moved to question the existing set-up as a result of their 'suffering', then change is not going to happen.If capitalism is hard on the ancientry that is their hard luck. And no, I do not share your 'values'. It is hard to make out what you are. Some sort of dewy-eyed Green Anarchist is my best guess.
ReplyDeleteIt cannot be simply social conditions determining consciousness which is a bit economic determinist but those social conditions combined with ideology...hearing and understanding the socialist case. 'Suffering' could just as likely create a driving force for fascism or nationalism. Ideas are crucial for the creation of socialism. It simply won't arise automatically from a recession or another sort of crisis.
ReplyDelete