With more of us living longer, the issue of care funding is an urgent one and North Norfolk has one of the country's highest roportions of over 70s. With baby boomers approaching old age, over the next twenty years the number of over 70-year-olds will double to nearly 10 million. But the funding for providing care for this growing number of elderly is shrinking thanks to hefty cuts to local authority funding: by some estimates, social care budgets have lost nearly £2bn in the last two years, forcing councils to ration their care funding for only the very neediest.
Ursula Errington goes on the rounds with homecare staff from one of the private companies that provide 80% of home care in the East. They say they try to keep standards high but are dogged by problems of recruitment. A care worker from another company tells us how 15 minute slots are allotted with no allowance for travel time; which is often simply not enough meaning clients can be left without proper care. Meanwhile, BBC Home Affairs Editor Mark Easton looks at some radical solutions to the problem of funding elderly care that do not involve the state. One scheme being tried in Essex places young people in houses with an older person needing care in return for reduced rent.
A chance to get a glimpse of a rarely seen world. The Rt Rev Graham James, AKA the Bishop of Norwich, is one of the front runners to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. But what does a Bishop actually do and what are the challenges facing the church in the 21st Century? The film follows Bishop Graham during his punishing schedule across the East. Show less