By Sandy Johnstone Long-term care provision in the United Kingdom has been the subject of much debate and analysis over the past decade, yet the issue of how to fund the cost of that care for future generations remains unresolved. Much of the debate has revolved around how the State should address the problem. As a consequence, the general public are unsure as to where their responsibilities and liabilities lie. The author reviews the current options.
Workers in Britain have collectively taken off around 78 million working days in the last 12 months, with some 13.9 million people having taken at least one day off due to sickness. These findings emerge from research by The Benenden Healthcare Society. The research also revealed that two million people or about 8% of the working population admitted to taking more than three weeks off sick in the last 12 months, totalling a loss of more than 30 million working days for their employer. Women were more likely to take time off than men, with 54% of women having taken at least one day off, compared to 46% of men.These figures from Benenden Healthcare are in line with a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which revealed a rise in sick absence. It showed that public sector employers are hit harder than the private services sector. The gap between the number of sick days taken in the two sectors has widened by more than half a day since last year’s survey. Average absence levels in the public sector stand at 10.3 days per employee per year compared to 6.8 days in private services sector. The cost of absence in the public sector is 645 pounds per employee each year, rising to 1060 pounds within the health sector.
The number of places available in care homes for the elderly and for people with disabilities fell by 8,700 in the year to April, according to a report out today. The “Care of Elderly People Market Report 2005”, published by Laing & Buisson, shows the number had reached 476,200 places across the private, voluntary and public sectors, putting capacity across all sectors at some 100,000 places lower than the peak in 1996.At the same time levels of demand also fell by 6,700 residents as local councils continued to rein back on placements, the report says. That meant occupancy rates in independent care homes reached almost 92 per cent. But the report says care home demand may be set to rise, contrary to Government opinion.
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