The elderly dying from the cold

jsmoke

jsmoke

jsmoke

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Just wondering your thoughts. The figures are unbelievable, 23,000 died from cold related illnesses in one winter period, yet the executives of the energy companies are being paid millions in bonuses. One thing that the UK do have the natural resources for is to create energy so why is this happening.
 
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I don't know about others but my Granddad has dementia and is very, very tight so he turns the heating off. My dad goes round on an almost daily basis to check up on him and turn it back on.
 
jsmoke said:
Just wondering your thoughts. The figures are unbelievable, 23,000 died from cold related illnesses in one winter period, yet the executives of the energy companies are being paid millions in bonuses. On thing that the UK do have the natural resources for is to create energy so why is this happening.
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Sources? just quoting numbers apparently at random will do you no favours.

One thing that the UK do have the natural resources for is to create energy so why is this happening.
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Really? as much as I hate to use this phrase "google is your friend".
Although having said that the fact that most of our energy sector is foreign owned doesn't help much.
 
You make it think that many people care...

Deep down, no one really wants to be old and there is nothing more appealing than falling asleep and not waking up, no pain and suffering to deal with.

Alongside the unfortunate cost of the living elderly, especially in these recent years, people will probably just turn their attention away from it.

There are other reasons obviously.

I'm not a utilitarian person, simply stating reality. :(
 
Isn't it more the case that old people die because they are old rather than just being the cold?

No one has "old age" put on there death certificate for method of death. When my Grandma died for example the official cause was pneumonia which was something I only associated happening from the cold or wet (probably too many warnings from my mum about going out in the rain as a child) yet she was in a nice warm hospital at time.
 
If the executives of your energy company each got paid a pound and all the savings were passed on to the customer you wouldn't notice the difference in your energy bill.
 
jsmoke said:
http://metro.co.uk/2009/10/26/23-000-elderly-die-from-the-cold-322115/
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Report from 2009 which, despite the usual alarmist headline, actually says that there were 25700 more deaths in the winter of 2008 than during any other season that year.
So, what they are saying is that more people died in winter and that the vast majority of them are over 65..really? no ******* way!
I do agree that some will be avoidable if energy costs were lower, of course they would, and I am very sympathetic to that. But I would wager that the majority of them would occur anyway because of winter virus outbreaks etc etc
 
Is it confirmed that all of the cases are caused by the person not being able to afford the heating? Being tight is a different thing, I mean actually not being able to afford the bill. I honestly don't know which is why i'm asking. It would be good to know.
 
jsmoke said:
Just wondering your thoughts. The figures are unbelievable, 23,000 died from cold related illnesses in one winter period, yet the executives of the energy companies are being paid millions in bonuses. One thing that the UK do have the natural resources for is to create energy so why is this happening.
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The elderly get various winter fuel allowances. I'd put money on none of those who died being unable to afford to heat their homes. They might be too tight to turn the heating on, but this has absolutely nothing to do with how much a few executives get paid.
 
delta0 said:
Is it confirmed that all of the cases are caused by the person not being able to afford the heating? Being tight is a different thing, I mean actually not being able to afford the bill. I honestly don't know which is why i'm asking. It would be good to know.
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No, because if it were there would be outrage, and rightly so. Even if we had free heating for everyone over 65 there would still be more deaths in winter. Having said that I do not doubt that some are attributable to lack of heating.

From the same article
Steve Jones said:
The numbers of excess winter deaths may well be falling, but the rates of fuel poverty are climbing. Despite these new figures, many pensioners still agonise about whether or not to heat their homes in the cold weather. In the world’s fourth richest country, this is simply shameful. The Winter Fuel Payment of £200 and the Basic State Pension have both failed to keep pace with rising costs of energy.
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I'm still alive but I have taken to wearing my Wooly hat indoors & in bed. :D
 
But what is the answer? Reopening the collieries would cost hundreds of millions, nationalising the energy industry could be an option, but what would that prove?

We've got to start pursuing alternatives, ground heat pumps, wind and solar, but they're all too damn expensive!
 
It's been happening since the dawn of time, and unless we can find a way to heat and care for every elderly person (many of which should be helped by their families but aren't), then it'll always happen sad as it is.
 
Im suprised there's no daily mail article being quoted in this type of thread about those evil overlorn energy companies beating up pensioners for energy bills.... Load of tosh
 
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