What the papers said in the week ending 30 April 2022
Matters relating to older people have figured during this week:
- While the world still struggles with Covid and the escalating war in Ukraine Ukrainian cities take heavy shelling as top US officials meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv | Ukraine | The Guardian
- A court ruling has said that the discharge of untested patients from hospitals to care homes, which was often followed by infection of other residents, was illogical and illegal: Covid care home discharge policy was unlawful, says court | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- The need to source sufficient supplies of HRT has led to the appointment of a Tsar Sajid Javid to appoint HRT tsar to address acute shortages | Menopause | The Guardian
- Women risking their health to source HRT amid shortages, UK GP chief warns | Menopause | The Guardian
- We learn that life expectancy amongst both men and women in the UK is falling – and more so amongst the least well-off. Just a few years ago we were safe to assume that life expectancy was increasing year on year and every would speak to the advantages of equality Growing gap in healthy life expectancy between poorest and richest in England | Health | The Guardian
The Windrush Scandal has not been resolved appropriately, leading to resignations from the committee tasked with seeing it done Windrush group pair quit in protest at ‘fig leaf’ response to scandal | Windrush scandal | The Guardian
More positively we hear of the ambitious project of Vienna Camlmarota who, at 72, plans to walk the 13,700 miles from Venice to Beijing in the steps of Marco Polo. She will talk of peace to everyone she meets during the journey which she believes will take her until December 2025 to complete: Italy. From Venice to Beijing on foot. 72-year-old Italian Vienna Cammarota will walk for three years – Polish News
The Pope speaks again for the virtues of Mothers in Law: Be kind to your mother-in-law, the victim of ‘cliches’, urges Pope | Pope Francis | The Guardian
Elsewhere we have to be saddened that Mental Health Services for people of all ages have fallen below acceptable standards: NHS paying £2bn a year to private hospitals for mental health patients | NHS | The Guardian
- ‘Woeful scarcity’: NHS psychiatrist decries lack of mental health beds | Mental health | The Guardian
- The Guardian view on mental health privatisation: unsafe spaces | Editorial | The Guardian
- Patients pay a price for shortage of NHS mental health beds | Letters | The Guardian
With so many pressures from the direct and indirect effects of Covid and other matters on the world scene and the environment, it will take clear thinking and determination to sort out this mess and to rebuild a competent and trusted matrix of care – from prevention, to treatment and on-going care.
Economics are harsh and many people of all ages are beginning to struggle: Almost nine in 10 British adults say their living costs are rising | Cost of living crisis | The Guardian
- There is rightful frustration that some people have taken advantage of schemes designed to protect people during lockdowns – and are being allowed to get away with this: Fraud in Covid bounceback loan scheme not being addressed, say MPs | Crime | The Guardian
Loss of quality information and entertainment will not be accepted without a fight: BBC to cut number of programmes it makes, says director general | BBC | The Guardian
Natural disasters add to the stress: Huge wildfire sweeps across Canford Heath nature reserve in Dorset | Wildfires | The Guardian
Making space available to refugees is not easy – We want the quality of accommodation and support to be of a good standard – and to take account of the impact on the resident population ‘Guantánamo-on-Ouse’ plans to place 1,500 asylum seekers in Yorkshire village | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
There is comfort to be found:
In the arts: Previously unseen Lucian Freud etchings to be published for first time | Lucian Freud | The Guardian
In reflections on local and historic dialects: Still whanging? Dialect hunt aims to update prized English language archive | Language | The Guardian
In other nostalgia: The last phone boxes: broken glass, cider cans and – amazingly – a dial tone | Society | The Guardian
In sleep: Seven hours’ sleep is ideal amount in middle to old age, study finds | Sleep | The Guardian
In appreciation of what has been achieved by homely talented creativity: Charlotte Brontë’s $1.25m ‘little book’ of 10 poems returns home | Charlotte Brontë | The Guardian
In the inspiration which comes from the joy of a garden on the balcony of an 18th storey flat in Manchester: From the 18th floor to cloud nine: high-rise gardener gets Chelsea flower show spot | Chelsea flower show | The Guardian
What better model can there be for the message that it is possible to succeed in the most unpromising circumstances?
David Jolley Chair of Christians on Ageing, in a personal capacity
