· The number of over 75’s is according to the office of National Statistics expected to double by the year 2040. This is at a time when an estimated 900 care workers a day quit their jobs, of which 60% leave the industry altogether. A consequence is that both time and consistent care in the industry cannot be given.
· The governments answer is that an extra £2bn is being provided to the sector over the next 3 years. That said there are not enough people to perform the caring jobs which already exist. The Governments Green Paper in the autumn on adult social care needs to address this issue amongst the many other problems the industry faces.
· The Green Paper could do worse than look at the thought processes which are on-going in Japan which, like every country in the world has it’s own similar crisis in adult social care.
· The Japanese ageing population will need 1m new nurses by 2025. The problem they have is that they do not have enough people in the country to train. As a consequence they see a solution as being to introduce care giving robots, “the human support robot” to assist. Robots of this nature already exist in Japan. They can obey voice commands to fetch medication, draw curtains, stretch with their extendable arms to get items which are high up and pick up objects.
· Clearly developments in the Robotic world are on-going. Help for many from a Robot can be seen as more dignified than from a human. Also it saves importing people from other countries and which in turn deprives those countries of their own caring resource.
· One question is, will our culture be prepared like the Japanese to consider Robots as a partial answer to the crisis in the sector. Is their the will and of course the funding to explore this route. Certainly and at the very least the Governments Green Paper needs to discuss this possible partial solution.
· The above is an overview only. For a free appointment and to find out answers to the questions that need answering and to get the care you or a loved one need email Andrew Douglas or his team on ajd@awdrys.co.uk or call on 0800 072 8636. We have offices In Marlborough, Royal Wootton Basset, Devizes & Chippenham. Alternatively visit our website www.abdcare.co.uk
--------------------------
