Progress Report, Week 2

I've been sidetracked by other things for the past few days, so I haven't had much time to devote to trying to drum up support for the petition. All I can really say is that this morning's total of 54 signatures means that we're making steady progress at a rate of 27 signatures per week. I had hoped for something rather more substantial by now.

I can't say that I'm particularly pleased with the results from MySpace either; I think it's probably time to focus elsewhere.

The Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly

Earlier today someone reminded me about the Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly which reported in 1999. This was followed by a statement from the Commissioners in 2003.

The central plank of the the original report was a recommendation for free care for all, and the 2003 statement lamented the government's failure to act on this.

It is now nearly ten years since the Commission was set up and one of the most significant changes in British society since then has been the rapid development of the pensions crisis which will have serious economic implications for us all if it means that the present generation of carers become a burden to the state in their own old age.

What is needed now is a new Royal Commission which can address all aspects of the plight of the elderly and their carers, taking full account of all the developments of the last few years.

The Commission's terms of reference in relation to carers merely stated that it should have regard to their views, but much deeper scrutiny is now needed. The cost of carrying out that scrutiny will be much less than the cost of ignoring the problem and hoping that it will go away.

Please Write to your MP

Somebody just asked me why I hadn't suggested that people who signed the petition should write to their own MPs about this issue. The answer to that is that I've been paying so much attention to small details that something as glaringly obvious as that didn't occur to me.

So, if you've signed the petition, please consider contacting your MP, as he or she will probably pay more attention to one of their constituents than they will to me, and the more messages they get the better.

You can find MPs' contact details listed by name and by constituency on the UK Parliament website. Most of them seem to have an email address or a website, so if you do write, please include a link to the petition.

For the record, I've now had two replies from MPs. One (Conservative) has signed the petition, whilst the other (Labour) has refused.

Progress Report, Week 1

The petition has been up and running for a week, and I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed to have only collected 27 signatures. I always knew that it was going to be difficult to get support, hence my decision to allow a year for collecting signatures, but...

I'm also not too sure about the usefulness of MySpace. I'd hoped to show that it can be used to achieve something positive, but although the petition has got 81 friends, there are still only those 27 signatures.

I think that the sign-up procedure on the 10 Downing Street website may be causing some problems. When you add your name to the petition, you should receive an email containing a link which you have to follow before your name is actually added. The email usually arrives fairly quickly, so, if you haven't got it, it may be in your spam folder; if it isn't, and you've emptied the folder recently, I'm afraid you'll need to sign up again.

Politicians

Over the past couple of days I've been emailing politicians (38 MPs and 1 MEP so far) in the hope that some of them will support the petition, and it's been quite an instructive process.

I've been working from the list of MPs on the UK Parliament website, and I've been quite surprised to find how many of them don't have an email address, let alone a website. Whatever happened to online democracy?

A major obstacle is getting past their researchers who seem only too keen to explain that an MP can't take up your case if you're not his constituent; that's fine, but I don't want anyone to take up my case, all I want is support for the petition.

So far, I think one MP has signed up (thank you, sir), but, in common with many others, he seems to have missed out on the email with the link confirming his details.

I think I can see a flaw in the system...

Please Follow the Link

A number of people have told me that they've signed the petition, but their names haven't appeared on the website yet.

Once you've entered your details on the site, you should receive an email message containing a link which you need to follow before you name can appear on the petition. The email usually arrives very quickly, so if you haven't received it, you may need to check to see if it's in your spam folder.

Who Cares?

I'm a carer and I'm very worried about the way the the elderly and their carers are treated in the UK.

The care system here relies on the goodwill of carers who have made great personal and financial sacrifices to look after elderly relatives. Many have had to give up their own homes and jobs, and, with limited pension prospects and financial resources, they face a grim time in their own old age.

This situation clearly isn't good for any of us, or the country, and something needs to be done about it soon.

I decided to see if I could do something to prod the government into taking some kind of action. They seem to be very keen on online government, so I've set up a petition on the Prime Minister's website asking him to establish a Royal Commission to investigate the whole issue thoroughly.

This isn't just another internet petition; it's been set up using the government's own petition system and they do seem to take some notice of such petitions. Don't forget that a recent petition on road pricing received 1,811,060 signatures, something which seems to have given the government pause for thought.

I realise that many of you will tell me that I'm mad or stupid and that this is a totally pointless course of action, but I hope that you'll still sign the petition when you've done that. Something needs to be done to improve the care system in the UK, and if enough people sign up we might just be able to take the first few steps towards making those improvements.

The petition is at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/carecommission/, but I'm afraid that you can't sign unless you're a British citizen or resident. You must also give your real name (which will be shown on the website), your address and email address (which won't be shown). Once you've signed up, you'll receive an email message containing a link which you must follow before your name is entered on the petition; if you don't receive the message, you may need to look in your spam folder.

One final thought: you may not think that this affects you, but, sooner or later, it probably will, and it almost certainly affects someone you know right now.

Thank you, and if you agree that something needs to be done, please tell your friends about the petition.