Pressure grows to reform care for the elderly

10 Jan 08
The government has come under renewed pressure to introduce root-and-branch reform of long-term care for elderly people, following the publication of a report criticising means testing and the postcode lottery of care.

11 January 2008

The government has come under renewed pressure to introduce root-and-branch reform of long-term care for elderly people, following the publication of a report criticising means testing and the postcode lottery of care.

The consultation of 700 service users and carers by a coalition of 15 think-tanks and charities found that people felt the current system was both unsatisfactory and unfair, especially when means testing penalised those who had made provision for their old age.

Nine in ten respondents to the 'Caring Choices' consultation thought everyone should be entitled to some funding from the government, but the vast majority believed that they should also personally contribute to their care.

One option favoured by respondents was for people to receive a baseline entitlement, regardless of their income and wealth, with the individual also paying a contribution.

The research, led by the King's Fund and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is an attempt to influence the government's green paper on care, which was proposed in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the King's Fund, said: 'I hope the forthcoming government consultation will draw on the Caring Choices initiative to help us finally achieve the fair, effective and affordable system that is so necessary.'

The Alzheimer's Society agreed that people were willing to make a financial contribution towards the cost of care, but said that many believed that they were being 'ransacked' to prop up a failing system.

The number of people needing long-term care is set to rise by 50% by 2026.

 

PFjan2008

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