A community response to our ageing population

Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney is joining with churches and community groups to invite people with an interest in how we can care better for our growing elderly population to an event at Church Lane Evangelical Church on Saturday 27th March.

A number of organisations, both statutory and voluntary, all involved in the care of the elderly, will have stalls in the morning 10-12.30. There will be talks and workshops from 12.30-3.00

The afternoon session will look at the demographic challenge of an ageing community, the changing needs of individuals and the impact on our health and social care services.

Mr. Anthony Sumara will talk about the effect on our hospital of a rising proportion of very elderly patients. David Kidney will introduce the Government’s White Paper on the proposed new National Care Service, and how this can help put the funding of care on a more realistic basis.

This event is something that has come out of several years of work with the many organisations within Stafford who are very focused on how we need to care better.

Diana Smith explains how the event came together:

“I have been acutely aware of the impact of old age on our society for over 10 years. My mother’s stroke left her with dementia for the last 8 years of her life, and this gave me ample opportunity to experience first-hand the help that is available through Housing, Health, Social Care, and the Voluntary Services. I could not have coped without this help, but it was not always a good fit to the needs of my mother and me. It is clear to me that if we are to meet the needs of the growing numbers of families who will now find themselves coping with frail elderly relatives, for long periods, then we need to start thinking differently.

“David Kidney has been the key to making this happen. Because he understood the challenges that I had faced, and that other families are facing too, he has been working with key groups, the churches, the councils, the voluntary sector, the university, the hospital, to help them move towards greater understanding of the issues. He has also for the last five years been working towards solving the key question of how we fund the care we will need in old age. We are expecting many of the ideas that have come from all this work to form an essential part of the White Paper on the National Care Service, which is now due out within days.

“No one owns the “Stafford cares” event. It is a community response. People with an interest in better care coming together under one roof, for an exchange of ideas. This event is open to anyone who wants Stafford to care well!”

There is no need to book a place. If you want to find out more just come along, have a coffee, and talk to stall holders in the morning, and stay to help us think through ideas in the afternoon.

There will be a report produced after the event. If you would like a copy of this please contact
kidneyd@parliament.uk  or ring David’s constituency office at 01785 224444