Care is a word we hear a great deal about in a wide variety of contexts. The Greek language has seven different words for care depending upon which definition we are thinking of. As we might expect, it is not a new word although we have chosen to interpret it in different ways with the passage of the years.
We can first think of care as a noun. The modern interpretations seem to focus on care in two rather distinct ways. The first refers to what is necessary to provide health, welfare, maintenance and protection of something or someone. The second refers to the serious attention or consideration which is applied to do something correctly or to avoid damage or risk. I'm sure there are other interpretations but these seem to be the main ones.
After the noun comes the verb and these interpretations are equally interesting. The first refers to what we feel in terms of interest or concern or simply to attach importance to something. The second speaks of our need to look after and provide for the needs of others.
It is quite clear then that our contemporary interpretations of care fall in to two distinct categories. The first seems to centre on care as being our concern or interest related to the health, welfare and maintenance of our fellow man. The second, by contrast, seems to relate to the attention which we give to the first definition.
The Greek language has several words for care of which the most prevalent is frontida. Latin uses the noun curae whose meanings include care, cure, pains, concern, treatment and charge. The Chinese use the word 關懷 which extends the meaning to showing concern. The German language has at least 11 words which they use to mean care. The German word die pflege specifically refers to care, maintenance, nursing and nursing care whereas their word die fursorge refers to care, welfare, social security and ministration. The arabic version refers to patronage and the Hindi version specifically refers to the word thought.
In Wales, we are very fond of using a word very similar to care. The word is caru and quite simply, it means love. Of all the languages, it is arguable that the Welsh word caru comes closest to defining what care is all about.
So why waffle on about care? Ever since the publication of the Francis Report in the aftermath of the Stafford Hospital scandal, care has occupied a central position in the national debate about the sort of country we are and the sort of country which we aspire to be. Only this week, the world famous Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge has become the latest hospital to be placed in "special measures". Quite what that means remains a mystery to me but as with much of modern life, it is arguably another case of words being used in such a way as to try and avoid the real issue. I would have thought that every hospital was in "special measures" as a matter of course. But the real issue at Addenbrookes was one of staffing and not one of care. Of course, requisite staff numbers are needed before proper care can ever be delivered. So rather than place the hospital in "special measures", why not just staff it properly in the first place? This isperhaps where the German definition assumes greater relevance. Their reference to social security, welfare and nursing is perhaps at the root of the issue when discussing our hospitals in "special measures".
The word home is equally emotive and means something very special to all of us. Interestingly, the Welsh word for home is cartref. The logical root of the word cartref is a joining together of the words caru meaning love and the word tref meaning town. The Welsh have the word ty for house and the word cartref for home. So cartref is a really telling word when we consider the words "care" and "home". It literally translates to something akin to "Love home dwelling for loved ones". That is pretty powerful by any measure. A stroll through various languages finds that the English word home means pretty much the same things; residence, abode, dwelling, home and household.
So when we consider the English "Care Home", the Welsh have one word which says it so much better; Cartref. This is all the more interesting where I live in Denbighshire because in my local community, we have three local authority Care Homes which are highly prized and valued. There is scarcely a family in Denbigh, Ruthin or Corwen whose family doesn't owe a huge debt to the care which has been provided in those homes. My own family is indebted for the care of my late Grandmother, my late Great Aunt and my 97 year old Great Aunt who continues to receive the highest standards of care.
As I write this, our Local Authority is about to announce a consultation period for local people to have their say. They have announced their intention to take Dolwen in Denbigh in to the Private Sector to provide EMI care. They plan to dispense with 24 hour care in \Awelon altogether instead favouring a four times a day warden service. The third Care Home Cysgod y Gaer in Corwen is earmarked to become a community hub for the more rural Corwen area. This is a very sad state of affairs.
As Councils up and down the land are being asked to make savings from Central Government, some hard decisions are being made. But I have now attended two public meetings in Corwen and Ruthin and it is obvious that local people in my county of Denbighshire would walk over broken glass to keep these Care Homes under Local Authory control. Even the latest inspection reports of all three Care Homes are glowing in their praise for the way they are run and the care which they provide for our elders.
If I am lucky enough to reach a decent old age, I would like to think Dolwen, Awelon and Cysgod y Gaer would still be there for my generation. In the next few weeks, we will all have the chance to stand up and speak up for these highly prized community assetts. I will be doing just that and I hope that the people of the Vale of Clwyd and the Dee Valley do likewise. We will have one chance to get this right and we can't afford not to. We have to keep in mind that Welsh word "Cartref" and let our decision makers know what it means to us.
