Posts by Leon A Smith

Cultural identity

Leon A Smith — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:58:20 +0100

The Jewish Chronicle recently ran an interesting feature in which they asked numerous people, some of them well known, some of them not, to define their Jewish identity. The range of answers was diverse. Everybody identifies Judaism in their own way and at their own level. For some it is religious believe and for others it’s cultural identity or being part of a group who have one thing in common, ie that they are Jewish.

We are well aware that the phenomena of polarisation is apace within our community with a significant increase in the numbers of Haredin and also increased levels of secularisation. But even secularisation has changed.

We are pleased that at Nightingale House and Hammerson House we welcome residents from all parts of the community, from all levels of religious adherence and from all sorts of different backgrounds. Some are devoutly religious, some are totally areligious, agnositic, or atheist. One thing that they all have in common is that they are Jewish.

Shavuot is not a Festival which is likely to have been celebrated by many of our residents. Indeed, it may be considered by many of our residents to be a relatively minor Festival. Yet here within our homes residents have the opportunity to attend synagogue, to involve themselves in social or cultural events around the Festival. The build up to Shavuot has seen frantic cooking sessions taking place in our kitchens with a variety of different recipes being used for the obligatory cheesecake. A celebratory tea dance which took place at Nightingale House on Tuesday attended by residents from the Royal Hospital Chelsea was a great success. The Chelsea Pensioners in full regalia tucked into their cheesecake with the same enthusiasm as our residents! It should be noted that the cheesecake served at the event was made by our residents in one of our special kitchens supported by trained staff.

The great thing about the communities which we run at Nightingale House and Hammerson House is that they give everybody the option to participate at whatever particular level they wish to do, without there being any compulsion upon anybody to do anything should they not wish to do so. Synagogue services are laid on, the synagogues are decorated with flowers and the Festival is reflected in the menu. For some, the Festival will pass them by, for others they will attend synagogue; or for some it will simply be cheesecake days.
What we are providing at our homes is the ability for everybody to celebrate and/or not celebrate the Festival in the way in which they see fit.

I was delighted that our friends from the Royal Hospital were able to join us for our pre-Yom Tov festivities. One wonders what they might have expected coming into a Jewish home had they not visited before and what impressions they would have left with? Whilst certainly Nightingale House would not have looked any different from anywhere else, perhaps apart from its size, the only outward symbols of a Jewish nature of the Home would have been the presence of the synagogue – which I must add was beautifully decorated for the Festival

Apart from the synagogue, the Jewish nature of our homes is frankly intangible. One cannot touch it. It’s difficult to define or describe. But it is there and it is that which attracts so many people to come and live in our homes. Whatever “it” is, it’s clearly something which a lot of older people want and we are delighted that we are able to provide it.

Who is Bert Tann?

Leon A Smith — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:23:09 +0100

Bert Tann – who you may ask is Bert Tann? To me it’s a name evocative of the 1960s. Bert Tann of course died in 1972. He was the Bristol Rovers manager for 18 years from 1950 to 1968 At one point he was the longest serving manager post-war. His accomplishments as Bristol Rovers manager were in relative terms considerable. Bristol Rovers finished 6th in Division 2 in 1956 and 1959. Quite an achievement. Yet even his life’s work has been eclipsed by Sir Alex Ferguson who far exceeded Burt’s tenure and his accomplishments were even greater. Sir Alex’s rein endured for some 26 years!

Longevity in organisations can be a very positive thing. A safe and trusted pair of hands and continuity are vitally important factors. I do appreciate that the link/parallel between Sir Alex Ferguson, Bert Tann and myself is stretching credibility a smidgeon but how ever tenuous that link might be, it is still one that I want to make.

Some of my readers will know I have now been working for Nightingale Hammerson (Nightingale House) for 40 years and I have been the Chief Executive for 16 years. That’s quite a long time. Indeed, I started work at Nightingale House just a year after Bert died (no direct connection there!). I will now be stepping down from the role of Chief Executive of our Charity and will take on a new role as an external ambassador focussing on fundraising and representing the organisation within the community and the care sector. I am very much looking forward to this exciting new role.

One wonders whether the changes over the next 40 years will be as significant and as far reaching as those in the past 40years. Whilst 40 years is a very long time, it sometimes can be difficult to project forward more than 3-5 years, never mind 40. There are however a number of givens. There are going to be more older people. The “baby boom” generation will become old. At some point they (we) will need care. Many of them having been used to some of the good things in life will also be quite demanding in their expectations when it comes to care provision. It is therefore vital that the care sector is prepared in terms of accommodation and the level and nature of services and facilities it has on offer. I won’t bore you on the issue of the need for the government to be prepared from a funding point of view – it is quite evident that this simply will not happen.

Over the years needs change and expectations change and as a provider of care Nightingale Hammerson needs to ensure as do other providers that they are fully geared up and prepared for the future. This will mean in our homes substantial redevelopment and upgrading of facilities in order that we can meet this anticipated future demand. Investment for the future is essential. Indeed, doing nothing is simply not an option.

When building for the future, the need is to try and “future proof” as much as is possible – albeit one cannot possibly know what technological developments there are to come in the future. Hence the need for us to carry out as much research as we can on current and future trends and to use the very best research that already exists out there in planning and designing our buildings. If we are to live in them, we want them to be comfortable and user friendly and we want them designed to meet all of our requirements. Time moves fast!

Tagging

Leon A Smith — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:42:49 +0100

There was an interesting article in the media this week about so called “tagging” of people living with dementia by a local police force. This announcement created a storm and was a hot topic for a couple of hours on various media talk shows. I understand that a prerequisite for journalists, be they on radio, print or television, is that they have the ability to make something out of nothing, ie to create a story from a non-story.

Consequently radio talk show hosts were very successful in building the police story into a major earth shatteringly important controversial topic. For those of you who did not come across the story this week – basically a police force have said that they are spending so much time looking for people who are lost due to confusion and dementia that they need to cut down on man hours being spent on this matter. Somebody therefore came up with the idea of offering to give to people who were prone to getting lost a GPS type gadget which will enable police to track where they were if they went missing. All in all quite a sensible and creative idea. Who wouldn’t want to be able to find their relative if they had dementia, who had done missing.

The “story” however was a comparison to ex prisoners being electronically tagged – the derogatory word being “tagged”. So basically the controversy/non-story revolved around the fact that GPS is also used for ex prisoners. There the comparison ends! Offenders are tagged to ensure that they don’t abscond. Older people living with dementia may benefit from GPS in order to ensure that they do not come to any harm. Both applications of this technology are practical and helpful to society. So why would the particular police force involved come in for any kind of condemnation? It’s difficult to fathom – other than the question of semantics, ie the use of the word “tagged”.

As a care home provider we now use technology wherever it is practical. Many frail older people are prone to falls. Many people are more likely to fall at night when they get up in the middle of the night, in the dark. In such cases we would use bed sensors which, when one of our residents gets out of bed, immediately alerts a carer through a pager and at the same time activates a light in the WC.
This is purely a health and safety issue in order to protect the well being of our residents. We are not “tagging” their beds and we are not “tagging” them. We are simply using technology to our advantage which we will continue to do and which most other care homes in the country also do. To the best of my knowledge this has not caused any controversy. There has been no criticism that we are in effect “monitoring” our residents by knowing when they get out of bed. We are doing this purely to help avoid falls which consequently lead to fractures etc etc.

There is now a large business sector dealing with assistive technology and “tele monitoring” designed to assist people in a variety of ways who are still able to live in their own homes, who without it may need to come into a care home.

The comparison between older people and offenders is not a valid one. The GPS system is an incredible innovation which has done nothing but good for us all. SatNavs or SatNav facilities on mobile phones are now used by us all and apart from occasionally taking us down an absurdly narrow country lane or cul-de-sac, technology has made a positive contribution to society. The moral of my story is that the so called controversy of “tagging” older people is a complete and total nonsense.

The Rich List

Leon A Smith — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:09:35 +0100

It would not have been possible for anybody to have ignored the fact that The Sunday Times published last week their so-called “Rich List”. It has been trailed for months and is still being heavily publicised every day by The Times. I always get excited reading this magazine – then get bored with it very quickly. In fact, more than bored. Actually I become very disenchanted reading it. The wealth of the people listed in this magazine – albeit it is probably largely inaccurate is quoted in telephone numbers. How can anybody living with a mortgage, trying to survive month to month relate to a “wealth figue “ quoted in multiple billions”

One of the reasons that it can be interesting to read the Rich List – and sometimes part of the fun of it - is spotting how many Jewish people there may be in the list. There are a number! There are also a number in one of the sub-lists – which is the “Giving” List, and there are many people in this list who are giving away very substantial amounts of money. Yet as a proportion of our overall wealth, we do not give away as much as the “rich” give away in the United States – one of the reasons for this is that the Tax Breaks for Giving in America are more generous than they are here.

Last year’s Dilnot Commission made a number of important recommendations to the Government on how to deal with the perennial and unsolved problem of funding long term care of older people. After much procrastination the government have announced that they will (sort of) in due course probably be implementing a number of the recommendations. Albeit as I have said before in these columns, all that glitters is not gold and there is still a lot of small print to be worked out and to be read. Dilnot spoke in terms of a figure of £1.7m being the annual “price tag” for implementation. The combined wealth of those in the Rich List is £450bn. One figure has nothing to do with the other – ie £450bn against £1.7m. However it does prompt one to think of the wider question of distribution of wealth and societal priorities. If it is true that all it takes to deal in a fairly satisfactory manner with the problem of funding for older people is £1.7bn, why on earth are we not addressing it? In relative terms, this is a very small amount and certainly as Andrew Dilnot himself contends it is a very small proportion of GDP. Yet successive governments have stalled and fudged for decades for the simple reason they feel the problem is too big to deal with – and presumably they feel that dealing with it is in itself not going to be a vote-winner.

It is tempting to suggest that a mere £1.7m could in some way be eked out of our Defence budget or we could temporarily reduce the ring fencing of foreign aid. This is unlikely to happen and the government is unlikely to meet the Dilnot recommendations in full – but they are saying that perhaps one day, maybe in 2016, something might happen. So I guess we should really be very very grateful.

A slightly surreal week

Leon A Smith — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:24:38 +0100

Isn’t it strange how sometimes it takes somebody’s death to remind us that we are still alive. The passing of Margaret Thatcher seems to have focussed the attention of the media and the population generally on her life and work. Yet many people have not thought about or referred to Maggie Thatcher for many years. We have seen occasional pictures of her looking frail, arriving or departing from an event at 10 Downing Street or Westminster but beyond that, certainly for the last decade, she has been largely out of our consciousness.

Most people will be aware that she had been living with the debilitating symptoms of dementia for many years. Dementia is a disease which has heartbreaking symptoms and consequences both for the person afflicted and for family members and friends. Put simply – she has suffered.

Regardless of our political views of her term in office and what she did or didn’t achieve or do, it seems that we as a society in many cases are incapable of showing compassion. The level and degree of bitterness which has manifested itself through demonstrations and the social media debate evidence this.

A frail old lady who is now dead has been subjected to remorseless attacks by her political enemies and by the many and often younger people who have jumped on this particular bandwagon. It is surprising that it is has taken her death to prompt these people into action. I do not recall such vitriolic and bitter attacks and public demonstrations of hate occurring last year or the year before. It somehow seems an indictment of us all that a small group of people are capable of standing at a funeral shouting “Maggie Maggie Maggie Dead Dead Dead” – what have we come to?

My own position on life’s trajectory is much nearer to “old” than it is to “young” and it could be that as we approach that point on the scale that we become more sensitive to issues such as this. In other words I am very conscious of the fact that I am speaking like an “old man” in saying “that something somewhere has gone wrong with our societal value system” (Yes, I do believe there is such a thing as “society”).

Baroness Thatcher was a highly controversial figure. In my view she had both very positive and very negative impacts on our society and on our country. But she was not a child killer. She was not a mass murderer. She was a particularly powerful and strong political leader. Surely nothing that she has done as a politician can warrant the level of hatred and vitriol which we have seen displayed this week.

How are we to expect the younger generation to respect older people when we ourselves cannot even show respect in death? All in all, a slightly surreal week!

Quality care

Leon A Smith — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:27:57 +0100

One of the sad and hard aspects of working in a care home environment is that people die. Because people are coming into care at the end of their lives, they are staying with us for a shorter period of time than was the case a generation ago. Death is not a way of life but certainly in the care home environment it is an inevitability.

One of the strange side effects of people living longer and dying at a greater age is that in many cases people’s friends, relatives and indeed sometimes children pre-decease them – meaning that when the person dies well into their 90s there is sometimes nobody to remember and nobody to say kaddish. It is a truism to say that this is a heartbreaking thought – but it is a reality and an inevitable consequence of increased longevity. Sometimes people die and they have no surviving family and no surviving friends. They live to say 95 years and there is nobody left to remember. That fact epitomises the transience of life – 95 years of living, of happiness, sadness and then at the end nobody left to remember and nobody left to hang on to these memories.

I am not attempting – albeit I have probably succeeded, in trying to depress you my reader(s). Suffice to say I am merely trying to make (some might say labour) the point that this is a new reality. This therefore gives enormous impetus to those of us running and working in care homes to ensure that we offer our residents the very highest quality of life in their latter years. That quality can be measured in terms of tangible "hands on" care, the physical environment, the quality of 1-2-1 staff and volunteer interaction with our residents, entertainments, activities, stimulation – even for the very frail and those living with severe dementia.

One of the highlights of our Passover festivities this year was the Seder activity which we ran in that part of Nightingale House where the most frail of our residents are living and those with very severe dementia. It is moving to see the reactions that our residents have to an activity which most of them would have celebrated every year of their very lengthy lives. Pesach is a family time and at Nightingale House and Hammerson House we have become “the family” or certainly part of the extended family. It is gratifying to see the enormous amount of pleasure which is derived by so many of our residents in this way.

One thinks about the global economy, nuclear stand-offs between North Korea and the West and the incredible work being done by the Large Haldron Collider. This small anecdote about the Seder nights may not seem significant – but believe me, it is! That’s why we must always strive, whatever the challenges and/or difficulties to provide the very best quality of life for all of our residents, all of the time. It’s a lofty ambition. But it is one that we would certainly all want to experience ourselves and something we must never lose sight of

Not enough is known about dementia

Leon A Smith — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:50:57 +0000

This week saw the news of an 83-year old gentleman who still has mental capacity, taking a decision to go to Switzerland for an assisted suicide. This gentleman presumably felt that he could not face the future that lay in store for him having been diagnosed with dementia. He was also unprepared to allow his family to suffer the rigours and distress of supporting him in his last years. This news raises a number of complex issues. Firstly, dementia in itself is rarely the primary cause of death.

Dementia is a function of the brain which, in turn, can and does have implications for a number of other organs. Whilst I am not a medical physician, I am confident in saying that the terms “dementia” and/or indeed “old age” cannot in themselves be considered to be direct causes of death. The issue of this gentleman also raises other issues – of a religious, ethical and legal nature. And indeed there are profound implications to his decision. Having seen various types of dementia and what it can do to individuals and their families at very close quarters, I have enormous sympathy for this person. Yet the step which he is taking is not a choice that I would make.

Having seen the “ugly” side of dementia, diagnosis does not necessarily mean to me that life is over. Many of the residents that are being cared for by our Charity, Nightingale Hammerson, are living with varying degrees and different types of dementia. Yet a number of them are able to enjoy an acceptable and tolerable quality of life. This is brought about through quality interactions with family members and carers, as well as exposure to a pleasing environment and a variety of stimulating activities including music in various forms. Dementia is an illness that we hear more and more about as the years go by. The obvious reason for this is that the number of people who now have dementia, and have it diagnosed, is increasing all the time. Certain medications are available to inhibit the onset of the symptoms and it is possible to live with a moderate level of dementia and lead a reasonably normal life for quite some time. However, this progressive disease can ultimately become debilitating.

In a roundabout way, I am trying to suggest that dementia gets a bad press. Unfortunately not enough is known about it in the wider world and it is a condition which remains very stigmatised, largely through ignorance. To a great extent diagnosis does not mean that life is over. It does mean that life will be different and adjustments to lifestyle and routine need to be made accordingly.

Here at Nightingale Hammerson we tend to see the more advanced stages of dementia as often people are able to manage at home with certain levels of support. It tends to be when the dementia reaches a more advanced level that residential care becomes a preferred option.

Above all, we should not be frightened of the word “dementia” and we need to try and break down that stigma. Many years ago the words “senility” and “senile dementia” were in common usage. However, fortunately we have now moved on from such terminology. It may well be that in the fullness of time another word which will be more socially acceptable to us will replace dementia and the associations and connotations which it has.

Dementia is not catching. There is no airborne germ that will make it contagious. Increasingly as there are more and more people who are living to a greater age, there will be more people living with dementia and many around us will already be living with it.

Ultimately it is a disability which tends in the main to hit people later in life. This country’s new found tolerance and understanding of disabilities following the incredibly successful Paralympic Games needs now to encompass dementia as well.

Our society

Leon A Smith — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:44:32 +0000

Since the Queen’s recent imposition due to illness, the subject of gastroenteritis has obviously been in the forefront of the minds of us all. After a brief recovery, there would appear to have been some kind of relapse and there is now speculation as to whether the Queen will be able to continue at her significant age to perform her public duties on a full time basis. There is now talk of there possibly being the establishment of a Regent to take on the day to day public responsibilities with the Monarch herself remaining as the figurehead.

As always , there is scope here for a football analogy – Sir Alex Ferguson on retirement presumably will be elevated to a Directorship and will continue to be very much the face of Manchester United whilst the younger Mourinho becomes the day to day manager (the odds are currently 3/1!).

Elevating seniors in this way is perhaps a dignified way of dealing with the reality which is that human beings cannot carry on forever working at the same pace or in the same way. This subject then opens the wider thought process about whether the abolition of the mandatory retirement age was a good or a bad thing. Clearly it is important to recognise that many older people continue to have enormous value to employers and to society generally after they reach some artificial age. Yet by the same token youth unemployment is at an all time high – and it goes without saying that jobs are being hung onto at the top of the age range. This limits the scope of younger people to come in at the bottom. This is of course a very simplistic way of looking at workforce planning.

A report out this week has reached the astonishing conclusion that society as a whole is unprepared to deal with the ever increasing number of older people. The National Health Service, Pensions etc. There are apparently more than 1.5M people currently aged over 85 in the UK and this number is projected by 2030 to have doubled. This in turn will have dramatically changed the demographic make up of our country.

A House of Lords Committee has highlighted the affect that this is going to have on society. Put simply, the make up of our population will be such that there will be an ever increasing proportion at the top end rather than at the bottom end, particularly if birth rates are static or declining. Many of us have an image of older people as being frail, sick, grumpy, and demanding – but in reality we need to be changing our image and stereotyping of older people. How can one possibly lump a huge segment of society together and classify them all as “older people” – as if they all have something in common any more than we can talk about young people – as in “….the problem with young people today…..”. We live in a society – certainly in this country – where there is a necessity to constantly label people – poor people, rich people, working class, middle class, young, old, indigenous, immigrant, obese, etc etc. It would be wishful thinking to believe that this obsession with labelling will one day disappear. However we do need to be more accepting of the fact that in this sense there is no such thing as “older people”. We should also bear in mind the fact that hopefully one day we are all going to be “old”.

Older People

Leon A Smith — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:16:36 +0000

Nightingale Hammerson, one of the community’s leading charities, is entering into one of its most exciting periods. The 1st anniversary of the merger of Nightingale House and Hammerson House will be celebrated in April. One year in to the merger there are extensive development works either in hand or being planned. We will be talking a little bit more about these plans in the coming weeks in relation to Hammerson House.

Although I have made the point previously that the physical environment and care are closely interlinked, ultimately our purpose in life is to provide care for those older members of our community in need.

I was interested to read in the news this week that life expectancy in the UK at just under 80 for men is marginally less than it is with many other comparable Western countries. Whilst that may be an unpalatable fact, it clearly is true. From where I sit, however, running two care homes those figures are difficult for me to identify with. The average age of residents at both Nightingale House and Hammerson House is 90. We have many residents who are in their mid-90s. At Nightingale House we have 15 residents aged between 100 and 106. Hammerson House has one resident who is 109 One could say so much for life expectancy of 79! However, the truth of course is that we are only seeing those older people whose health has deteriorated to the extent that they do need support and care. The average age of people entering care homes has also increased very considerably. Most people today coming into a care home are not making a life-style choice but are there out of necessity and often in circumstances which have been pre-empted by a crisis of some kind.

I have often opined about successive governments lack of vision in storing up problems for the future in terms of care of older people. The number of serious attempts to grasp the nettle and deal with the issue of funding for ever increasing older people can be counted on one hand.

There are many things in the future which we cannot forecast and many decisions relating to the future must of course be based on assumptions. But there are some factors which are inevitable

• Hopefully we are all going to be old one day.
• Despite the life expectancy figures, there is a very high chance that many of us will continue to live into our 90s
• As more of us live to a much greater age, more of us are going to have complex health problems both physically and intellectually
• There is going to be an ever increasing number of older people

These are inevitable facts!

The last seismic recognition of this and change in government policy came in 1993 with the passing of the Community Care legislation. It will have taken from 1993 to 2017 - a period of 24 years – before further fundamental change would have taken place. Even then, this would be dependent on the government at the time making sufficient funds available to ensure that this change really can take place in a meaningful way.

Yet the economist and author of the report on funding, Andrew Dilnot, argues that the actual sums of cash needed to adequately fund care are within the context of our Gross National Product minimal. If indeed this is the case, then one can be left with no other conclusion than the fact that older people are simply not considered a priority within our society. This may not come as a startling revelation to many of my readers as we are all aware of ageism in the workplace, within the National Health Service and within other of our National Institutions. It is unrealistic to think that the perception of older people is going to change overnight. The only thing which will happen, however, is that with the passing of time older people, how ever they may be defined, will make up an increasingly large proportion of our society. All political parties will be well advised to keep this in mind.

This week marked a personal milestone for me of having worked for this Charity for 40 years. I am deeply proud to be associated for so long with what I consider to be an organisation which is a shining example of providing quality care to those in need.

Market research

Leon A Smith — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:25:24 +0000

It’s now a couple of months since the white smoke above the United Synagogue offices in Finchley has begun to evaporate and fade and we now look forward with great optimism to Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis taking up the role of Chief Rabbi later this year. Lord Sacks will be a hard act to follow as indeed was Lord Jakobovits before him ….etc…etc.

It is extremely difficult to refrain from making a comparison from one personality to another for the obvious reason that any leader, be they religious, political or managerial, will bring their own style, strengths and personality to the role. Whilst there must of course be a formal job description for all of these roles, there would be a natural tendency for people to play to their ownstrengths and particular areas of interest. Indeed, this is the case throughout society. It applies to managers such as Chief Executives of charities! Trustees, school governors, etc….etc.

It is interesting to measure to what extent management style impacts upon the nature of an organisation. Indeed, can a body as amorphous as a charity have a personality and if so what is that personality like? It is very difficult for me to determine the personality of my own charity as I am clearly far too close to it. Gathering feedback therefore from customers and/or potential customers is very important to us.

In my blog last week I spoke about the importance of demographic research - and general market research is just as important. Why do clients choose to come to one of our two homes – either Nightingale House or Hammerson House? It’s always interesting to understand what made them reach that decision. Choosing a care home can be a major “purchase”. Not as big as buying a house, but bigger than buying a car. Making the right or wrong decision can have huge ramifications which of course are by no means all financial. Indeed, how does one put a value on the quality of life that might be enjoyed in one home as compared to another?

It is interesting for me running these homes to understand not only why people choose to come here but also why people choose not to come here. We are therefore shortly going to be doing some further research with people that have made enquiries about coming into one of our homes but for whatever reason have decided not to do so.

This information is invaluable as is the demographic research which I referred to last week in helping us to plan our services for the future. We are aware that it is likely that increasingly in the future people are going to be more informed and sophisticated in making their choices, particularly with so much information being available on the Internet – indeed, an infinite amount of information !

There is talk of the possible establishment of a Trip Advisor type websites where people can rate their own experiences of care, in much the same way as in a restaurant or hotel. We all know how valuable and/or otherwise such websites can be!

One thing is sure, however, we must never be complacent. I am proud of the standards of care which we offer and the range of facilities in our homes. We need to strive to be the best and information plays a very important part in equipping us to do so. Equally important of course is our ability to attract quality staff to our organisation. Whilst unemployment is still far too high, there is still great competition amongst care homes and health providers generally for quality staff. That’s another reason we need to make sure that we are offering excellent care in order that we can have a justifiably strong reputation to attract such quality staff who want to work for a quality organisation.

Our philosophy is “you have to be special to work in our homes!”

Census data

Leon A Smith — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:56:36 +0000

As further analysis of the 2011 Census data starts to trickle through, it’s fascinating to watch. Based on the information which we have, we see the gradual movement of the epicentre of our community – whilst on the one hand the Haredi community continues to grow rapidly primarily in North East London and in Manchester, at the same time there is another phenomena at play. This is the gradual drift of the community further north to South Hertfordshire. Whilst this has been a trend which has been in play now for many years, the population movement is now becoming very significant. Similarly the community in certain parts of Manchester continues to expand rapidly.

Such information is enormously valuable to those providing services within the community. One needs to know where demand for services is likely to come from in the future and where it is likely that demand will decline. Yet whilst this information is invaluable to us, one must also recognise the limits of that data. That excellent organisation, JPR, has already done first class work in producing the information which we have thus far and in the fullness of time will be doing further analysis as more and more information becomes available.

Any charitable organisation providing services in the community must be appreciative of the value of this work. Yet numbers of course do not tell the whole story. In the first instance we need to remind ourselves that the question regarding religion in the Census is an optional one. We can therefore assume that not every Jewish person in the country has chosen to answer this optional question – albeit demographers are able to make assumptions on the likely response rate to that question and therefore are able to make further projections.

Another factor for consideration is just because somebody identifies themselves religiously as being Jewish, this does not necessarily mean that they will automatically avail themselves of services provided by Jewish organisations. There may be a whole host of other factors or criteria that apply in deciding whether or not to use these services. These criteria might include quality, reputation, cost, location, and many other factors.

We must therefore ensure in planning our services for the future that we recognise the science of projecting services for the future is not an exact one and as such demographic data which is available to us should be seen in a wider context.

I am particularly interested in the demographic data that exists for South London where surely analysis is somewhat complicated by the fact that the Jewish community is far more widely dispersed than it is in North London – ie there are no high concentrations of Jewish people in any one constituency or ward – rather they are more thinly spread across the whole of the area. Whilst I am not a demographer, I would summise that drawing meaningful conclusions from this data may be somewhat more complicated.

My reference to “other criteria” which may help people decide what services to use may be helped by the community survey which is about to be put out again by JPR. That will of course give us more indication and information of people’s attitudes towards the use of Jewish services and facilities.

Watching the population drifts of the Jewish community is something which I find fascinating. It is truly remarkable to see the flow of communities over a number of decades. Ultimately one must assume that this is largely because of economic factors and the ambitions of successive generations to enhance their own quality of life and move into areas where property is more affordable and/or at least provides better value for money. One sometimes wonders where the population drift will end. Could it be that one day the population will drift so far north that the south of Birmingham will become the new centre of the Jewish population!

Information is vital to service providers but must only be treated as a guide. Any kind of formal planning needs to be seen in this context and still needs decision makers having to make an enormous number of different assumptions.

The all time greatest leak

Leon A Smith — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:59:58 +0000

It’s always startling to see the extent to which the government find it necessary to leak/trail the announcement of any new policies in an attempt to soften the impact of a stark announcement in parliament. The coalition government’s response to the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission would surely win a prize for the “All time greatest leak”. It was leaked extensively, repeatedly and with a very considerable degree of accuracy. Therefore when the news was announced in parliament on Monday, we already knew everything that there was to know. I have long been extremely cynical at the attempts of successive governments to stall on the question of funding long term care by setting up repeated commissions of enquiry and then sitting on the often unpalatable results of those enquiries. That’s what happened with the Royal Commission in the late 90’s and to a lesser degree that’s what’s happening now. The coalition government came into power in 2010, yet any changes to the funding system will not take place before 2017 – which is after the next general election. Who knows which party may be in power at that time!

Notwithstanding this and not wishing to be churlish, the government’s acceptance of some of the principles of Dilnot are to be welcomed – the principles being (a) a cap on any one individual’s liability for fees; (b) a raising of the absurd and artificially low limit at £23,250 – above which people have to pay for their own care. I would like to examine first the £75,000 cap. The first thing to recognise is that this is not a “cap”. It’s £75.000 plus the costs of what might be termed as “hotel costs” – a combination of food etc, which could easily come to another £15,000 per annum. If for example somebody were to stay in a care home for 3 years, the real costs to the individual would therefore be £120,000. Jeremy Hunt has said that “nobody will have to sell a property”. The detail has not been published and therefore it is difficult to understand exactly how this is going to be achieved.

Many people paying fees in care homes do not have assets of any significance other than their property. Quite how somebody in their late 80’s is suddenly going to raise £120,000 is something of a mystery! There was a vague hint – details of which have not yet been specified – that perhaps the government or more likely local government will “cash flow” the care paying the fees on behalf of the client so that they do not have to sell their home and later claim back what is owed to them from the estate when the client passes on. It is heartening to think that by 2017, local authorities will have sufficient cash to be able to do this.

Having said that I have welcomed the government’s response – indeed, any response is welcome after so many years of inaction – I still believe there is an element of smoke and mirrors at play here. I return to the £75,000 “cap”. Would one be able to make a free choice that that £75,000 should be spent in one year in the most luxurious and the most expensive care home in London? That would be great news because it would mean at the end of the year the government would effectively pick up the tab for care. Somehow I don’t think this is what the government have in mind. The reality of what they are going to be doing is “have a cap of £75,000 but this cannot be spent at a rate of more than a certain sum – for example £30,000 per year”. The effect of this of course is to elongate the date by which local authorities will have to take responsibility. If somebody really did want to go into a care home that would cost £75,000 a year, then they would presumably then have to pay the difference between £30,000 and £75,000 themselves, regardless of the cap. (I do hope, reader, that you are still following me!).

From a care home provider’s point of view and particularly a charity such as Nightingale Hammerson, this is not good news. What it means is that effectively clients who are currently ineligible for local authority support are now paying us a “full” rate. Once they have reached their “cap” the local authority becomes involved. The local authority will then be paying us at their rate which is going to be very different and certainly very much lower.

For those of you who may not be following this somewhat technical discourse, the bottom line is that from the perspective of the charitable provider, we are going to be receiving less money from clients across the board. Again, this therefore, puts further pressure on charitable providers who have no other means of generating income beyond this other than seeking charitable donations from the community.

We await to see details of the proposals and of course we also await to see whether this government will return to power in 2015. Having said that, criticism from the opposition has been somewhat muted and in my view it is unlikely that a Labour government will move a 1,000.000 miles away from this policy.

For the avoidance of ambiguity, I state my case. The news of some activity in this long neglected area is welcome. Rather sadly, it’s too little and it’s coming much too late.

It’s just a bit cold with a little bit of snow

Leon A Smith — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:57:45 +0000

Once again the light dusting of snow wreaks havoc in London. Newspapers have been full of despairing comment pieces relating to public transport problems and the closure of schools. Thousands of schools have been closed for reasons which are not always totally comprehensible or transparent. How many times have we heard that schools need to be closed? One of the reasons often referred to is the fact that there are health and safety issues and that “it’s no good having all of the children turning up to school if some of the teachers can’t get there”. One wonders how determined are they to make that effort in order that they can be in their workplace to further the education of those in their charge?

I run a large care home of almost 200 residents. All of these people are old, vulnerable, frail and many are in need of 24 hour assistance. Unlike a school, I cannot close the care home and send all of the residents home because the staff might not be able to get to work! Staff do come to work. It’s not easy.It’s disruptive. It’s cold and unpleasant and it would be much easier to stay in bed! But people don’t. They make the effort because they have a sense of responsibility to those for whom they are caring.

They know the high degree of dependency which our residents have and if they, the staff, are not present, the consequences would be critical. One therefore wonders why in one sector of public life, staff are unable to get to work and in another sector, a sense of responsibility is shown and people do get to work.

I am sure these comments will be an anathema to many teachers reading this but it is an inescapable fact that many people today – particularly younger people – are closeted, wrapped in cotton wool and simply not exposed to the real world. Cold weather and snow is the real world! It’s not extreme. We are not in deepest Siberia. It’s not Antartica. It’s just a bit cold with a little bit of snow. Are school pupils really that fragile they cannot be put through that sort of risk?

You will hear numerous people of my own generation saying that we “never had school closures in our day” and truly I cannot ever remember a day when my school was shut because of bad weather. But to our parents' generation the behaviours displayed in society today must seem almost laughable. When one looks at the hardships so many of our parents generation have suffered – physically, financially and emotionally – the thought of schoolchildren today being protected from the cold and wet surely beggars belief.

That does not mean of course that everything a generation ago was either acceptable or desirable but the truth is that the senior generation today are clearly much more hardy than the generation of tomorrow are ever going to be. The vast majority of our children and grandchildren will not have suffered true hardship or never have been exposed to the serious rigours of life such as poverty, hunger, persecution or worse. Whilst on the one hand protection and consideration for the wellbeing of our children and grandchildren is a laudable aspiration, this must be balanced against the dangers of over protecting them from the real world.

Older people come to the Nightingale Hammerson homes because they need care, protection and warmth. It is our responsibility to deliver that. Children go to school to be educated. It is the responsibility of education authorities and those running schools to ensure that they receive that education without unnecessary interruption. The young have so much to learn from the old – I always welcome the opportunity of bringing together groups of younger people with groups of our residents. The interaction is always of the highest quality and stimulating for both groups. I suggest that the more that these two generations interact, the better.

On a vaguely related note, I am delighted that Nightingale House is hosting the Board of Deputies Jewish Way of Life Exhibition and during the coming weeks hundreds of local school children will be visiting the Home, hosted and guided by a number of our volunteers and staff. Again, this gives enormous pleasure to our residents to see so many young children in our building.

Culture and not religion.....

Leon A Smith — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:25:51 +0100

As a long standing employee of Nightingale House (now Nightingale Hammerson) I’ve now chalked up some 39 Jewish (lunar calendar) new years! The new year is of course the time for making positive resolutions. Therefore, as I celebrate both the Jewish new year and secular new year, like so many of us I have the opportunity of making new resolutions and then promptly breaking them – twice during any 12 month period. This isn’t something which gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction – it just happens to be a fact!

Of course new year is also a good opportunity for reflection and looking back on the past year – and indeed past years. I obviously need to look back on many “past years” here at Nightingale House. During the years which I have worked here I have of course seen enormous changes and some of which I have oft referred to including change in the environment, change in clientele, but most of all the change in norms and expectations. As recently as 20 years ago residents were being accommodated in multi-bedded hospital type wards which was very much a norm and was common place throughout the care sector. 20 years later, it would be unthinkable to ask our residents to share their room with anybody else other than their spouse. When our charity created a new building with single rooms in the mid-1970s it was at that time looked upon by some as heresy. But standards and norms change. Now it is not considered heresy and in fact the rooms which we created in the 1970s are too small and in some cases insuitable for disabled use. This clearly creates a problem and one which we have to deal with as quickly as we possibly can. That is why we are about to embark upon a major refurbishment programme starting with the Ronson Floor – the 2nd Floor of our large red brick building at Nightingale House known as The Gerald Lipton Centre.

The project will provide much larger bedrooms, large wet rooms and a very considerable amount of communal space. Unfortunately this will have the impact of reducing the number of people that we can accommodate on that particular floor.

Doing nothing at this point in time is not considered to be an option!

Standards do not stand still. They are constantly changing and we are therefore constantly striving to attain those standards. No sooner is one building project completed then we are turning our attention to the next in the never ending pursuit of excellence for all of our accommodation. Whether one actually attains that level of excellence uniformly is debateable.

Not only do expectations change, social behaviours change as well. 40 years ago there was in place a fundraising scheme here at Nightingale House called the “52 Club”. This was an innovative scheme whereby sponsors/supporters were asked to cover the cost of a Friday night chicken supper. Furthermore the donor was then invited to come along to the supper to be present with residents for the Friday night meal. It was then customary for the diners to queue up at the end of the meal to thank the benefactor for his/her munificence.

The fact that the donors were prepared to give so generously and the fact that they were actually prepared to come and eat with the residents was admirable. However, in today’s world this practice would be considered to say the least patronising. In other words, why should our residents be expected to have to express their gratitude to the Charity. Also it was a time when entering into a care home such as Nightingale House (then called The Home For Aged Jews) was very stigmatised and 95% of residents were being supported either by local authorities or then DHSS! How things have changed! Today that particular social stigma of coming into a charitable care home does not exist and people from all walks of life and all socio-economic groups will come into our Home where they feel they can get the best possible standard of care.

Fortunately Nightingale Hammerson (Hammerson House and Nightingale House) is a provider of choice for many members of the community. One of our great challenges is not only to meet the standards and expectations of today but to try and forecast those of tomorrow. This maybe particularly demanding as we know that the demands and expectations of the “baby boom” generation as they come of age are going to be considerably higher than the generation that went before. As we know the “baby boom” generation is considered to be the “fortunate” generation in that they are considered by many to have much higher standards of living than their parents and possibly higher than their children.

The Rosh Hashana synagogue services at Nightingale House were greatly enjoyed by a large number of residents and indeed I was delighted it was necessary for us to move our synagogue services into our concert hall as the synagogue was not big enough! Once again, the attendance of so many people – many of whom may not necessarily be particularly religious – at the synagogue was further evidence of the cultural bond that binds our residents together. As I so often point out it’s often culture and not religion which attracts residents to our homes.

Finally may I take this opportunity of wishing all Jewish volunteers and staff working in our two homes a very Happy & Healthy New Year. At the same time I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of our staff and all of our volunteers who do so much to contribute towards the wellbeing and high quality of life which we offer to our residents.

Thank you also to all of our supporters and donors, without whom our charity would look very different.

Reflecting on the past year

Leon A Smith — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:09:47 +0100

As we enter the new year, Rosh Hashana is a time and opportunity to reflect on the past year and to look forward to the next. Life at Nightingale House/Nightingale Hammerson has been to say the least full. This year our two charities merged and formalities were completed on 30th April. We are a significally sized charity providing care in both North and South London to over 250 residents. We employ over 400 staff and have several hundred volunteers. We therefore feel ourselves to be significant players in the field of care within our community.

These are exciting and yet difficult times for our charity. We have extensive plans for improving the environment on our sites and are dependent on the generosity of the community to support us in our ambitions. The situation regarding support from local authorities in relation to the care of our residents is becoming increasingly difficult and challenging. Some local authorities have now moved the goal posts so far that it is nigh on impossible obtain funding other than effectively for end of life care. Only this week, we heard of a family living in impossible conditions who despite their serious need of help were denied this by their local authority.

Nightingale Hammerson is a charity which exists to provide care to older members of the Jewish community and notwithstanding the mean spiritness and heartlessness of that unnamed local authority, our charity will be taking in this person in need – because that is why we are here. It is no wonder that some people feel let down by the State. One instinctively knows whether a family are in genuine need. For a local authority to deny that badly needed support is nothing short of callous. It’s sad that this is what we have come to. One is tempted to contrast this with the generosity that comes from so many parts of our community. So many people respond generously to our appeals particularly at this time of the year. And other people are kind and thoughtful enough to remember us in their wills. We are indebted to these people for their generosity for which in most cases we have not been able to thank them personally.

Nightingale Hammerson is a community and at no time is that sense of community greater than at the Jewish holidays – such as Rosh Hashana. As we approach the Festival there is a feeling of warmth and togetherness which whilst hard to define is most tangibly there.

I cannot let this week’s blog go by without mention of my good friend, Howard Strowman – a wonderful friend and supporter of our Charity who tragically died in a terrible accident this week. My thoughts are very much with his family at this impossibly difficult time.

May I take this opportunity of wishing my reader(s) a very Happy & Healthy New Year and I look forward to writing this column again next year

A metaphoric voice

Leon A Smith — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:16:54 +0100

To say that the performance of the athletes at the Paralympics was an inspiration would be an understatement. What sheer strength and strength of character is required for athletes living with a significant disability to be able to perform at the highest possible level in a wide variety of sports. Athleticism, bravery, determination, are but a few of the adjectives which must apply

Having had the pleasure of attending the Paralympics it was inspiring, indeed humbling, to see what the human spirit can achieve. As is often the case in such situations, it helps us considerably in contextualising our own lives. The challenge of course is to remember on a daily basis just how lucky we are that we are not affected by physical or intellectual disabilities.

Many older people who come to live in our care home have serious physical or intellectual health issues. Indeed, by definition, in the main that is why they are here. Yet so many of our residents, notwithstanding these impediments in their lives, still manage to remain positive, cheerful and philosophical about their situation. Many older people seem to possess the ability to remain philosophical and strong. Yes, many older people will say that they feel that they have lived their lives and do not wish to live any longer. But somehow they keep going, and still manage to smile!

Sometimes I feel that the reasons why many of our residents are able to be positive in this way is because they have known such hardship and suffering in their own lives that this has created in them a level of resilience which is not perhaps obvious in younger generations. In reality, of course, one cannot generalise in that way as everybody clearly has their own experiences which help form their character and personality.

Most people enter a care home because they need to do so, because there is no other choice and it is physically impossible and indeed dangerous to remain at home, depending on particular sets of circumstances. Yet there is one choice that still has to be made, that is assuming mental capacity remains, whether or not one is going to be positive about the experience of living in a care home and/or whether one is only going to see the negative.

I like to think that we run excellent care homes at Nightingale Hammerson – but we are not perfect. And certainly anyone wishing to be critical can find things starting usually with the food and indeed as I have mentioned before food can simply be a medium through which to voice more general frustrations.

Some people, however, never complain. They accept their situation, their reality and take a pragmatic view to accept it. It is perhaps these people more than others that we need to look out for. Many older people cannot or will not assert their own views, preferences and/or opinions and it is these people of whom we need to be very aware. Indeed, it may well be that they need advocates to act on their behalf. Advocacy takes many forms. It could be a relative or a friend speaking up on their behalf in order to obtain the service or satisfaction to a complaint. How difficult is it for us to achieve satisfaction when we are dealing with the customer services department of IKEA or a mobile phone company if we experience a problem. How difficult must it be therefore for an older person to be able to articulate themselves in order to gain satisfaction.

That is why it is incumbent on us at all times to ensure that we as a care provider go the extra mile to ensure that not only our residents are receiving the best possible service but they are also given the opportunity to give us their feedback. There are a number of different fora in which feedback on clients can be gathered including surveys (albeit these can be logistically difficult for
residents), open forum meetings or one-to-one interviews.

I know that we are privileged to be working and caring for those older people who need our care and it is vital that we ensure that at no time regardless of health that they ever lose their “metaphoric” voice.

In society generally the voices of older people are not well heard. Indeed one cannot help reflect that if older people were to vote on “older people’s” political issues the government may well sit up and take notice of their concerns. Sadly that is unlikely to happen.

Volunteers and donors

Leon A Smith — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:59:07 +0100

A big “thank you” to Esther Rantzen who kindly visited Nightingale House last week to chat and schmooze with our residents. Her presence brought an enormous amount of pleasure to everybody who came into contact with her and we are indebted to her for sparing the time to be with us.

Indeed, Nightingale House has been extremely fortunate in the past in having a number of celebrity visitors who come to meet with/talk to and get to know our residents. I only mention this because many celebrities do indeed give very generously of their time. They do this quietly, without the gaze of publicity and do it simply because they want to do it. Others may do it because they feel a sense of obligation. Others do it because they may have been “encouraged” by friends. In the end it really doesn’t matter – the most important thing is that our residents here at Nightingale House are benefitting regardless of motive.

I wonder whether the same could be said for volunteers generally. We all know that following the Olympics there has been a huge surge in recognition and valuing of voluneers. There can be no question that the incredible spirit of the volunteers throughout the Olympics added enormously to its success. They were people who were doing what they were doing because it was something which they wanted to do. Again, it doesn’t really matter why they wanted to do it. Was it a sense of obligation? I doubt it. It was probably more a sense of wanting to be involved in a major landmark event. Let us hope that this spirit of enthusiasm for volunteering will remain, both amongst those who volunteered during the Olympics and the wider public – and one would very much hope that there is now a significant increase in those offering to volunteer on a regular basis throughout the country. Certainly the 70,000 volunteers who participated in the Olympics will now have a great feeling of satisfaction from what they have contributed to the event and may well want to experience an ongoing feelgood factor through more regular volunteering. Anybody who is thinking of volunteering would be very welcome at Nightingale House or Hammerson House!

I have spoken before about the motives of those who make donations. Most people make charitable donations because they genuinely and truly want to support a particular organisation whose work they admire or respect. Other people may do so on the basis of religious obligation; others through peer pressure; others through guilt etc etc. Indeed, there may well be thousands of different reasons why people are motivated to support charities.

Again, does it really matter to the recipient? Charities such as Nightingale Hammerson could not exist without the generosity of a huge number of very generous people within the Jewish community. Everybody gives according to their ability yet a £10 donation from one person could be more of a sacrifice for that person than a £1,000 donation from another person. But as recipients we do not rank donations in order of the amount of sacrifice that the donor has experienced in giving to us. Neither does it matter to us why that person has given. The important thing is that they have given, the charity benefits and therefore the charity’s beneficiaries do as well.

Some people who give to charity want to be thanked. Others don’t want to be thanked. Some want wider recognition Others want no recognition. Some people donate during their lifetime. Others donate through their will, therefore receiving limited or no gratitude or appreciation from the benefitting charity. Indeed, it seems a great shame from a charity’s perspective that we are unable to thank those extremely generous people who have left us significant sums in their wills. In many cases here at Nightingale Hammerson we do not even know some of the people who have generously bequeathed us legacies, let alone being in a position to have thanked them during their lifetimes. How nice it would be if everybody who left us a legacy were kind enough to tell us this was indeed their intention so that we could say a real thank you to them whilst they were still alive.

In the America one particular concept of “giving” is through something called “planned giving”. This is where a person may make a financial commitment to an organisation, part of it to be received during their lifetime and the balance to be paid from their estate. This is really a nice practical way of giving, because it does mean that the donor may have the pleasure of seeing during their lifetime the real added value that their donation has made. It will also be satisfying for them to know that their gift will be acknowledged and remembered after they have passed on. This is not a concept which is widely used in the UK but perhaps it is something which needs further publicity and encouragement. Why not enjoy some of the recognition and thanks if that is what people want whilst they are still alive rather than this being experienced through their surviving family.

Ultimately what matters to Nightingale Hammerson is the wellbeing and quality of life of those for whom it cares. We are indebted to celebrities, volunteers and donors alike. Without their support and generosity the lives of our beneficiaries would be very different.

A psychological block

Leon A Smith — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:07:46 +0100

I mentioned some time ago that I thought myself to be one of a very small and elite group of people who were both Jewish and supporters of Bristol Rovers. A recent visit to Barnet Football Club indicated to me the ratio of Jewish supporters/followers of that club were probably significantly higher. The reason that I concluded this was twofold. Firstly the fish and chip shop adjacent to the football ground proudly proclaims that it fries its fish in matza meal and secondly the Jewish News considered it was worth their while to invest in advertising behind the goal in the ground. All of this of course is clearly stating the obvious, given that Barnet Football Club is situated in the London Borough of Barnet which has the highest Jewish population in London.

Clapham, where Nightingale House is located, does not have the second highest Jewish population in London or, indeed, the third or the fourth – albeit the density of the Jewish population is heightened by the location of Nightingale House which accommodates nearly 200 older people..

A feeling which I have often covered in past Blogs is the perception in the minds of many North West Londoners that there is no such thing as “Jewish life” in South London. This viewpoint is always very galling to hear by those of us who are both resident in South London and, indeed, know only too well that “Jewish life” does exist South of the River. Jokes about “needing a passport” to travel across the River and to South London contain no element of humour and say more about the speaker’s parochialism than their knowledge of Jewish life in London.

The establishment of a Jewish Free School in South London to complement the excellent nursery which exists here is a further sign that Jewish life is prospering. There are numerous synagogues South of the River and, indeed, interestingly many of them even talk to each other regardless of their particular shades of Judaism.

Suffice to say, even though the South London Jewish community covers a vast area, there is very much a feeling of community albeit the distance between communities is significant. Nightingale House itself acts very much as a hub for the South London community through the involvement of residents, relatives, volunteers and others.

These communities may not be growing in the same way that Borehamwood or Bushey are but suffice to say, Jewish life exists. It is vibrant and active.

Following the recent merger between Nightingale House and Hammerson House, our Charity is no longer a “South London charity”. It is a charity which exists to provide care to older members of the Jewish community and has two sites – one in North West London and one in South West London. Both homes welcome incoming residents from anywhere in London and the South East and/or indeed anywhere else in the country.

By the way, if you have not visited either of our homes and would like to do so please make contact with us to arrange a visit. You will I know be very pleasantly surprised.

In the meantime I can do no more than hope that the psychological block experienced by some in North West London will over a period of time reduce and disappear. I suspect however that that day will only come when travelling time from North West to South West becomes as short as the travelling time from South West to North West!

Jewishly, how were the Games for you?

Leon A Smith — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 07:22:53 +0100

On Wednesday night HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was taken to hospital suffering from a bladder infection. How extremely unfortunate and unpleasant for His Royal Highness particularly following on from a similar infection immediately after “Jubilee duties”.

Prince Philip is indeed a remarkable man. He has incredible energy, stoicism and enthusiasm for everything which he does. Indeed, he’s a inspirational figure and a wonderful advertisement for old age. One may even go so far as to say that there’s an element of luck and good fortune that he’s able to remain so active right into his tenth decade.

It was interesting to hear on yesterday’s radio news various specialists being interviewed to get the exact details of what a “bladder infection” is, what are the symptoms, how long do such infections last, and what are the treatments available.

Sadly such unfortunate infections and a massive plethora of other inflections, illnesses, disabilities, conditions and diseases are all too common amongst older people.

It’s quite true that society has benefited from increased longevity but to many that longevity is only of value when accompanied by corresponding quality of life. Ill health is of course a major detractor from quality of life amongst many older people. Care homes such as my own do an excellent job caring for people – protecting them, offering TLC and making their lives interesting and meaningful. Yet there are times when illness means a referral to a hospital as either an out patient or as an in patient – the latter often in emergency circumstances.

There are elements of the National Health Service of which we should be truly proud and indeed even shout about at the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

But there are other elements, sadly, which are less attractive and which foster a much lower level of respect. I refer particularly to the whole process of admissions to hospital through A&E. How often do we hear of older people being left to sit in A&E departments for 5-6 hours with only the very basic triage before they are actually seen by a consultant or admitted to a ward. This is not the way we should be treating older people. Accident & Emergency departments are cold clinical places which are often full of a very diverse group of people! These are hardly the ideal circumstances for frail older people – sometimes even with dementia – to be spending hours on end often on their own.

Quite rightly – children are prioritised in A&E and so they should be. Equally so should older people. It is unfair, verging on the inhumane, to leave people to fend for themselves in such circumstances, often going for hours on end without any food or drink. (I recently had such an experience with a family member).

My belief is that older people should be fast tracked through A&E wherever possible in order to minimise any further ill effects which they may experience as a consequence.

The connection to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is perhaps a tenuous one. Suffice to say, we would know that we had “arrived” if all older people were to get the same level of attention and be treated with similar respect as His Royal Highness.

I was pleased to see that the event in memory of the Israeli athletes murdered in Munich passed off successfully last week. The Olympics have now come and gone. There was no minute’s silence but there was an event at Guildhall attended by the Prime Minister. No Israelis won any medals. There were very few Jewish athletes identified by the Jewish Chronicle and kosher food only appeared to be available in a somewhat covert manner. In short, there was nothing very Jewish about the Olympics. There was a communal website and there were elements of communal hospitality offered to visiting athletes and visitors.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone on what the take up on such hospitality might have been- and/or to put it another way, Jewishly, how were the Games for you!?

A vast untapped pool of knowledge

Leon A Smith — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:32:08 +0100

It was sad to read this week of the passing of Sir Bernard Lovell – Sir Bernard was an astronomer who was best known for having created the famous radio telescope at Doggerel Bank in Cheshire. The Times Obituary tells of the “………construction of the radio telescope which was was his main task from 1950 and he tackled it with characteristic energy, imaginative foresight and single mindedness…..”.

1950 was a long time ago yet his creation and contribution to astronomy lasts until this day and will continue to do so in the future. Sir Bernard died at the age of 98. For many who are not involved in the world of astronomy we have not heard his name for many a year or decade – albeit we will almost certainly have heard of Doggerel Bank.

It is interesting that a man that has contributed so much to our collective knowledge has had such a low profile in the latter several decades of his life. Sir Bernard must have been a brilliant, gifted and dynamic man. Yet how many people who were born, shall we say, since 1980 would ever have heard of him simply because his major achievement took place at an earlier time.

The same could be said for so many older people. People who may die at an age well into their 90’s, possibly having lived with dementia for many years, will be remembered by some as just that – an older person with dementia. Yet we do a disservice to so many people who have contributed so much to society by not remembering their achievements as they were in their prime. Memories can be short and an individual’s contribution to society can soon be forgotten. Yet it does not make sense that in latter years we should be any less mindful of just what debt we owe to all older people. Everybody will have made their contribution in their own way to their own family, to their businesses, or to the businesses of others, or to society generally through volunteering and/or other similar commitments. How often do we read an obituary of somebody who is well known, only to learn many facts about that person that we never knew – simply because certain events may have taken place earlier in their lives and they are therefore not in our every day consciousness.

If we are to value older people we must be mindful of the lives that they have lived and the contribution which they have made as opposed to simply looking upon them as “older people”. This enormous group of people are often marginalised in society. How often do we see “older” people on TV or generally in the media. Life generally now is run at such a fast pace that it is in many respects difficult for older people to keep up. But are we doing enough to ensure that we slow down and/or to give them the wherewithal to keep up with us? I am referring to the ability of older people to access parts of our society both in terms of social access and physical access.

The Olympic Games by definition is clearly a younger person’s event but how much have we done to encourage the involvement and engagement of older people in this amazing event – unfortunately very little. There were no specific arrangements to enable groups of older people to visit and so many would have liked to have done, having been present at previous Games.

Old age is not sexy or romantic or appealing – yet millions of older people living in this country still have so much to offer. They are a vast untapped pool of knowledge, information and wisdom based on their life experiences. In my view more should be done to tap into this fantastic resource and more should be done to ensure that older people are warmly welcomed into the main stream of society rather than being marginalised around the edges.