22 May 2009
By Paul Gosling
Northern Ireland Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has reiterated his commitment to free personal care for elderly people despite it being ‘currently unaffordable’.
He blamed the delay in implementing the policy — first pledged in 2007 — on other ministers for rejecting his request for additional funding in the last Budget round. Currently Scotland is the only part of the UK implementing such a policy.
The minister’s statement coincided with the completion of a review of care provision, which estimated the cost of providing free care at between £30m and £40m a year. Around 16,000 people receive free personal care in Northern Ireland, either in care homes or their own homes.
‘Over the next 50 years, the number of people over 65 will more than double from almost 250,000 to half a million people,’ said McGimpsey.
He added: ‘We already spend over £630m a year supporting our older people, a spend which is second only to funding for acute services.’
