|
|
|
Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly |
Proceedings of the Oral Evidence Hearing regardingTHE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE FUNDING OF LONG TERM CARE FOR THE ELDERLYheld on Thursday, 24th September 1998 at Forte Posthouse Regent's Park London W1
Commissioners present: |
| Chair: | Sir Stewart SUTHERLAND Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Edinburgh |
| Commissioners: | Paula RIDLEY Chair, Liverpool Housing Action Trust since 1992 |
| Professor Mary MARSHALL Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling | |
| Joel JOFFE Barrister. Chairman of Swindon Health Authority and Swindon and Marlborough NHS Acute Trust | |
| Claire RAYNER Medical journalist, agony aunt, writer and broadcaster. President of the Patient's Association. Originally trained as a nurse | |
| Robin WENDT Former Secretary of the Association of County Councils and Chief Executive of Cheshire. Former civil servant at DHSS | |
| Dr Iona HEATH GP at Kentish Town Health Centre since 1977. Vice-Chair of Royal College of GPs since 1996. Represents RCGP on the Council of the British Geriatrics Society | |
| Professor Robert STOUT Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Provost for Medicine and Health Sciences at Queen's University, Belfast | |
| Len WOODLEY, QC First black silk and bencher of the Middle Temple. Chaired the Laudat Mental Health Act Inquiry | |
| Dame June CLARK Professor at the University of Swansea Department of Nursing |
|
CHAIRMAN'S OPENING REMARKSCHAIR: Good morning and welcome to this day of hearing for the Royal Commission on the Funding of Long Term Care of the Elderly. We appreciate many things about the groups who will meet us today to give evidence, and also those who are sitting with them listening to that evidence and to the questions. We appreciate your willingness to be here in London and to be at this meeting today. We appreciate the way in which, I think, all of you here have given evidence to us in one form or another already. This is an opportunity for us to build on that very strong platform of evidence. I think as many of you know, we have been very assiduous, we believe, in seeking the views of others. We have had over 2,000 pieces of written evidence, some 500 pieces from groups, interest groups, groups who have done research. We have had, I think it is about 1,700 letters from members of the public. This evidence has given us a very strong platform on which to build our views of what the situation is. The Commission is intent on meeting its timetable which means finishing our work within this calendar year. Today is a crucial day for us in, as I say, putting some of the issues back to the groups who have given substantial evidence, putting these issues back to them, asking them if there are amplifications now that they wish to make and helping us as we approach what I can only call "make up mind time". We have not reached that stage yet but we will have to very shortly indeed, as a Commission. Can I just tell you something about the running order of the day? You have in your information packs details of the programme. We are going to run this for a good reason -- they have a lot of experience on this -- as if it were a Select Committee Hearing in the House of Commons. That is to say, there are groups coming to give evidence, Commissioners will have the opportunity to ask detailed questions, but I am afraid it does mean that those sitting in what I have to refer to as 'the audience' will not have that opportunity, but you will have the opportunity, perhaps, to speak to Commissioners over lunch and at the end of the day. It is important that we hear the evidence of the groups that have come with specially prepared pieces for us. The process will be that each group who has been invited, after discussion, to come in will have an opportunity for a maximum of ten minutes to present a piece. They may wish, however, simply to take the whole hour in discussion and make their comments at the outset very short. That is a matter for each group in question. So it will be ten minutes or up to ten minutes maximum starting and then questions from the Commission. I have asked various Commissioners to be prepared to lead off the discussion in particular cases, but Commissioners will have the opportunity to raise questions with any group who come to see us today. I hope that covers the details of how we are going to go ahead. Commissioners have to come and go to some extent. Occasionally there are the exigencies of local or national transport and there are one or two Commissioners still on the way, but one or two may have to leave, not least for BBC interviews and other media interviews, but will return after these interviews are over. So we will be coming and going just as the groups before us will. We are probably running a few minutes behind time but there is enough slack built into the process to ensure that each group gets the allotted time slot that is listed in your programme. That being said, can we now move to the evidence from the first group, from Age Concern and I simply want to start by saying to Age Concern, you have helped us from day one. You have submitted evidence over a range of issues to us. We appreciate very much the work that has gone into that and I now give you the opportunity to make any official presentation that you would like.
Portable Document FormatTo download a copy of the the evidence in Portable Document Format (PDF) click on the reference below. You will need the
appropriate version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader program to view the file. |
|
