This show gives me hope for humanity

We were, and are, propping up a system that was intentionally busted up for profit, not morality. I had to do that for over thirty years, thanks to the NHS run local care facility being closed down in favour of private, which I couldn't afford. Caring for someone who has dementia as well as other disabilities is NO HOLIDAY, and ten years after she passed, my physical and mental health is still shattered and sleep interrupted by nightmares within which I am right back there again. Then that 'bit rich' the other day said that those on UC and PIP spend the money on booze, cigarettes and gambling, none of which I have 'indulged in' in my entire life. if she dared come to my door and started to try saying that, she'd get a damn ear full that she wouldn't forget in a hurry. I was really fit, I'm only semi-ambulatory now. You're not living your own life when you're caring for an invalid. You're helping someone else live at the expense of your own and that severely drains you.

I’m always baffled by the idea (pushed by the opposition to any Social Care reform) that somehow the status quo is free.  We are all paying for this broken system right now…… why don’t we reform it and pay for a much better system!

Just SO informed & brilliant, as ever. Thank you.

There is also the situation that women like me have been unpaid care-givers for more than one relative, have no savings, don't own a home, and because of part-time and ad hoc work, not enough contributions for a state pension. I now care for my husband who has PIP, a small private pension and a state pension. If he predeceases me, I'm buggered and if I predecease him, he's buggered.

The expression as "I've read it so you don't have to"...subtle but denoted suffering. 😂🙏🏻

The problem of the constipated hospital, finally getting discussed! So many elderly people waiting on acute hospital wards for admissions meaning that more people have to wait for elective admissions (eg for surgery) and piles of patients breaching waiting time targets in A&E and reporting back to their GP repeatedly about problems that could be a simple fix but need a bed for 2 nights.  You've always got to fix the outflow.

That's a better studio. Well done.

It's not just about the elderly.

My daughter bed-blocked a mental health ward for more than 6 months because she had nowhere to go.  She was in her twenties!

Thank you all.

I LOVE this show.

We had social care system and Margaret Thatcher sold it all.

8:44 i’m a Community Matron in a particularly deprived part of North London and I’ve been screaming at politicians to grow up and get the country to have this difficult conversation with the public. Going into any form of care is extremely difficult for any person and their families but for many it’s somewhat inevitable and we can’t keep kicking conversation down for the next, completely different government. That was a very educational conversation you’ve just had that I’m going to share with my colleagues who might not be aware about the history of our national conversation around social care.

Love this show!

Brilliant as usual , thanks .

As a musician, I'm also bombarded with AI generated messages and emails promising huge exposure for an up front payment. There's also AI generated music swamping platforms likes Spotify and agentic accounts on places like YouTube creating channels that repost music and then issue copyright strikes against the original creators of that music. Fun times.

Interesting story about those images of Diana working out.  I used to run a youth hostel and I was told by the owner, one day, that the pictures taken were from the gym opposite  It turned out that the hacks had rented one of the private rooms, level and opposite that of the gym and taken the picture at their leisure, from there.

It can a bit of intellectual navel gazing, slanted & nit picking of a conversation at times, but I still can't help myself enjoying this pod every listen 👍

There is a situation now where not only do we have a confused and messy financial support system, but we are confused about how we as a society should deal with it. I looked after my mother as she drifted into dementia over several years. She refused to have carers, so I cared for her (which pretty much killed what was left of my career - I was no longer reliable, which in the media is unforgiveable). She had good savings, so there was no reliance on the state - which included me. While she was not having carers etc, I couldn't claim anything either. But why SHOULD I have done? She and I lived off our savings. Mine ran out first but I did inherit from my mother's estate (remainder of savings and house) when she died.

My aunt down the road was also lost to dementia at the same time. (Both in their 90s and made it past 100, just). She had no children, but had full time carers, paid for out of her pension and savings. I kind of ran around informally managing it. (By the way, full marks to the community nursing team who pretty much carried me through all this when they noticed that I had zero support for me.)

But, these are my family. I am not religious, and I don't think that families are the source of all good. But we are far more spread out these days. I have siblings, but they all live many miles away, are older, and have their own problems. When you live to a hundred, your kids could be in their seventies!

So how much of our social care problem is not because there is not enough money in the system, but because families no longer live in little tribes, close to each other, and automatically care for the elders. It is not so hard to look after an old lady if there are several of you to take turns.

And if that is the case, is any financial solution really going to work?

Well done team.