PM Pledges Reform Of Elderly Care

As the percentage of the population in the older age categories expand, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has pledged "fundamental reform to social care of the elderly and disabled" in England as the Government warned that the system is facing a £6 billion funding gap within 20 years.

While figures released in a Government discussion document state that in the next 20 years the number of people over 85 in England will double and the number over 100 will quadruple, the PM said it was "essential" that those people who worked hard and saved for their retirement were treated fairly in the provision of social care but he warned there was "no easy solution" to the problem.

"Of course, helping relatives is a challenge that most families rise to - however difficult it becomes," he told a breakfast meeting of leaders in the social care field, held at the King's Fund in central London.

"But that doesn't make it any easier. Nor does it remove family worries about providing physical care that is needed - or take away people's concerns that at some point in the future they may have to sell a treasured home to pay for their own care."

Mr Brown's remarks came as a six-month public consultation on how the state, families and taxpayers should tackle the future provisions and funding of social care was launched.

The document also says that advances in medical knowledge and practice mean disabled people can live longer and can lead healthier lives.

"We expect over 1.7 million more people to have a need for care and support in 20 years' time," the report said. "A radical re-think of the care and support system is needed to address these challenges."

Mr Brown said he "fully" understood people's anxieties over the issue of social care. "We can - and must - look to give people the opportunity and the support to save for their old age in a way which insures them and protects their houses and their inheritance," he said.

He said he wanted the system to be more responsive to demands for independence and it must be made easier for people to stay in their own homes. He said social care reform went to the "heart" of the Government's ambition to create a fairer Britain.

As state support for social care is means tested, many people who have worked, saved and made provision for their own retirement are severely disadvantaged and often forced to sell off or surrender assets in order to fund care that will be given freely to those who have not accumulated any such resources.

Meanwhile, the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson signalled his support for some new form of social care insurance as the debate on future support services for the elderly got underway.

Although he insisted that there was no "blueprint" for the scheme, he said people wanted certainty that care would be provided.

"If we are running out of so-called free personal care – which even the Liberal Democrats have dropped as a commitment – then you are looking at some kind of insurance that can be provided by the state or the individual," Johnson told reporters.

(BMcC)