89 Year Old Woman Dead For Five Years

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by forceten

But what about her electric and gas readings? I thought that by law they had to be taken every 18 months or so? I mean by the company that supplies the fuel to actuallly gain access and read the meter?

Many places have meters that can be read from outside the premises

[grannyclaret]

should her doctors surgery not have occasionaly checked on her health,given that she was 89..i am sure ours do

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by garinda

Sadly it's the sort of thing that could easily happen in our large cities.

Having lived in both London and Glasgow the population there is very transient, and especiially in London it usually takes twenty years befoe a neighbour would even return a hello, nevermind if you'd not been seen for a number of years.

Happily most of us in this area do have neighbours who care, and who we care for.

I have to agree with you on London Rindi, after the war my uncle decided to stay in the London area, he lived in Stanmore and came up here for his holidays every year. I can remember him saying that he'd live in Stanmore close on 20 years and the only people he knew was his next door neighbour. He liked a drink but stopped going to the local as he could stand at the bar for two hours without one person speaking to him, including the barman

[Mancie]

tragic.. was just thinking if we did have compulsory identity cards this sort of thing could be monitored.. just a thought

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Mancie

tragic.. was just thinking if we did have compulsory identity cards this sort of thing could be monitored.. just a thought

How

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by jaysay

How

It's plain that this lady had no family or freinds..if people over a certian age were on a national database they could be monitored.. for example every month...and that is what an identity card could be used for ..but then it calls into question peoples human rights.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I don't see how it would work either Jaysay.......Mancie, who would do the checks?
Just being on a database isn't something that would check the physical status of someone........and the old lady would have had to obtain an ID card....which she probably would not have done.

There were agencies who knew of this lady's existence(so she was already on some sort of database,the immediate one that springs to mind is DWP) but it didn't stop her demise, or for that matter, recognise that she was deceased.
As far as I am aware databases rely on human input.

Another question for you Mancie.....would all carriers of the ID card be checked on a regular basis, regardless of their age? And would this be done by a sort of ID police force?
Just interested in what you feel is appropriate.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Mancie

It's plain that this lady had no family or freinds..if people over a certian age were on a national database they could be monitored.. for example every month...and that is what an identity card could be used for ..but then it calls into question peoples human rights.

She's had her pension paid in the bank for five years and nobody seemed to notice, can't see a identity card making that much difference can you

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Another question for you Mancie.....would all carriers of the ID card be checked on a regular basis, regardless of their age? And would this be done by a sort of ID police force?
Just interested in what you feel is appropriate.

yes it could be checked daily.. but it would cost money and some people would say it's against human rights.. but you take it or leave it.. the the old days when people looked out for old people in thier street or flats are long gone in any city..and maybe it's time we had some sort of monitoring for people who have nothing and are lost in our society.

[Mancie]

and another thing..I've noticed when regular members on this site have stopped posting and nobody gives a toss... you lot gob on ... but you look out for yerselfs..the high and mighty brigade!..(punish 'em for me Eroll)

[Margaret Pilkington]

Mancie, it isn't true about long term members stopping posting that no-one gives a hoot........to illustrate my point there were posts to ask about Grannyclaret one month when her 'White Rabbits thread failed to appear....and there have been people asking after Jaysay too....some long term members who no longer post have informed the members of their intention to leave the forum.......and that is their right.

As far as checking on Id Cards, the cost of a daily check would be prohibitive........I think that it would not make one jot of a difference....because many of these older people are reluctant to let 'snoopers' into their homes and their lives.
There is a current system called Lifeline.....run by Hyndburn Homes, and it does cost money to run it. This is a system whereby an old person has a call button, and if they are in danger or are unwell they can use this and it puts a call through to a central receiving point and transmits a message to a designated person.
The problem being that with extreme age and the fact that families no longer stay in the same area anymore(jobs , houses etc, force a move away) there may be no-one to receive this call if, and when it comes.

In our street we have an ageing population, and while I am no spring chicken myself, my husband and I keep a regular check on our elderly neighbours.....not by being intrusive, but but offering assistance to do things like change a light bulb, post letters or get a bit of shopping.......we do this in the hope that if we were ever in need someone would do the same for us.
To the older person this is a far more acceptable method of keeping an eye out for problems.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Mancie, it isn't true about long term members stopping posting that no-one gives a hoot........to illustrate my point there were posts to ask about Grannyclaret one month when her 'White Rabbits thread failed to appear....and there have been people asking after Jaysay too....some long term members who no longer post have informed the members of their intention to leave the forum.......and that is their right.

As far as checking on Id Cards, the cost of a daily check would be prohibitive........I think that it would not make one jot of a difference....because many of these older people are reluctant to let 'snoopers' into their homes and their lives.
There is a current system called Lifeline.....run by Hyndburn Homes, and it does cost money to run it. This is a system whereby an old person has a call button, and if they are in danger or are unwell they can use this and it puts a call through to a central receiving point and transmits a message to a designated person.
The problem being that with extreme age and the fact that families no longer stay in the same area anymore(jobs , houses etc, force a move away) there may be no-one to receive this call if, and when it comes.

In our street we have an ageing population, and while I am no spring chicken myself, my husband and I keep a regular check on our elderly neighbours.....not by being intrusive, but but offering assistance to do things like change a light bulb, post letters or get a bit of shopping.......we do this in the hope that if we were ever in need someone would do the same for us.
To the older person this is a far more acceptable method of keeping an eye out for problems.

The alarm system run by 3 Valleys for HH is first rate Margaret, this was run by HBC prior to transfer and I used it on a few occassions during the night on medical emergencies. There is also the point that if people like myself don't post for a while (I'm usually on her every day) they may just be in hospital and its not really advisable to start open threads as there are people who trawl these sites and can pick up on people away leaving an empty property, there ar hundreds of none members look at Accy Web every week. People do care on here and I know that from personal experience.

[garinda]

(Paris, late C20th.)

Knock, knock.

'Yes?'

'Are you alright?'

'Yes.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

'Could you poke your identity card through the letterbox, so I can be sure?

(Muffled screams, as card is put through the letterbox.)

'Thank you Miss Garbo, see you tomorrow.'

(Louder muffled sreams.)

Fin.

[grannyclaret]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Mancie, it isn't true about long term members stopping posting that no-one gives a hoot........to illustrate my point there were posts to ask about Grannyclaret one month when her 'White Rabbits thread failed to appear....

Oh yes that was one horrible month.....and thanks to you all for careing about me

[Margaret Pilkington]

thank you for confirming that Grannyclaret.