As Chief Executive of LifeCare, an Edinburgh based charity supporting older people (and trustee of VHS), it should be no surprise that my blog focuses on the impact of health equalities for this group.
As Scotland’s population continues to age, the sad fact is that people are likely to spend more years of their lives in poor health, impacting their quality of life and putting additional strain on an already overstretched NHS and social care system. Older people often live with two or more long term conditions (comorbidities) and an estimated 1 in 5 are unpaid carers (the health inequalities faced by this group could easily be a whole other blog).
Health inequalities exist all year round, but at this time of year the impact on older people cannot be underestimated. Darker nights and colder weather brings the stark reality of difficult choices that highlight the inextricable link between health and wealth.
Age Scotland’s The Big Survey 2023 found that 70% of respondents were cutting back on energy/heating, 38% were socialising less increasing social isolation and loneliness, added to this 9% of respondents were skipping meals. These three areas have a significant impact physical and mental health and wellbeing.
In the last few weeks, the energy cap has risen, increasing energy prices by an estimated 10% and added to that, winter fuel payments will now be means tested! We know that pension credit is an underclaimed benefit. Older people are often proud, having worked all their lives, and don’t claim because of guilt and a sense that others need it more, or feel that the system for claiming is simply too complex. Those older people that fall just outside the pension credit threshold will receive no winter fuel payment, meaning this winter they are a whopping £300 worse off. To add to this, they will now have to find an additional 10% to cover the cost of their energy bills, with little to no time to prepare for the winter, given the timescales of implementation on these decisions.
Last week in our community Café, I was chatting to customers who were describing heating only one room because of the worry about the cost, and going to bed early with extra blankets, as they weren’t heating their bedroom. This winter we expect to see a 30% rise in demand for our free Meals on Wheels delivered hot to older people’s doors – for some the only hot meal they will have that day. If we really want Scotland to be the best place in the world to get older, then tackling these health inequalities must be a top priority despite the challenging financial situation.
VHS has a vital role to play in helping organisations like ours raise the often-unheard voices of those they support, highlighting the gulf between policy ideals and the day-to-day realities of older people in Scotland today. Cuts in local authority funding are seeing very real pressures on organisations like ours, struggling to meet the widening gap between income and expenditure and rising need. Many locally based organisations doing amazing work are having to cut their community services, those that often provide the early intervention and prevention work, support wider wellbeing and are so often referred to as pivotal in addressing the challenges within health and social care at present.
VHS can be our voice at a national and local policy level, helping share the work we do every day in helping to tackle health inequalities, evidencing our impact and influencing policy and financial decision making. Together we change lives for the better!
Sarah Van Putten is a VHS Board member and Chief Executive Officer of Lifecare Edinburgh.
