Hunt: Now is time to fix broken social care
COVID must not be used as an excuse to delay social care reform, a major report warns today.
More than a year after Boris Johnson promised to fix the broken system ‘once and for all’, the Health and Social Care Committee says action can no longer be put off.
Its damning analysis concludes the system perpetuates ‘profound unfairness’ – whereby many are forced to sell their homes to pay for support just because they are diagnosed with dementia, for example, rather than cancer.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is chairman of the committee, last night called on the Prime Minister to seize the chance to ‘right an injustice’.
Praising the Daily Mail’s long-running campaign on social care for shining a spotlight on the issue, Mr Hunt warned the Treasury not to be put off by the cost
END DEMENTIA CARE COST BETRAYAL
of reform. And he said acting now, after more than two decades of failure, would prove to labour supporters that the Conservatives are the true party of health and social care.
Fixing the system would also be popular with the ‘ Red Wall’ voters in the north, he said.
‘I think this is a perfect opportunity for the government to show that it has got a big vision for the country that goes beyond Brexit and beyond picking up the pieces after the pandemic,’ Mr Hunt said. ‘I feel this is our moment.’
The committee’s report warns social care needs an addition £7billion a year as a ‘starting point’ to avoid collapse.
And it proposes a cap of £46,000 to the total costs each individual has to pay for care – which would cost around £3.1billion by 2023-24. Mr Hunt said the Chancellor must see past the cost alone.
The Mail has been campaigning for an urgent solution to the care scandal – particularly for those with dementia, who make up two thirds of those in care.
experts and politicians from across the political spectrum have backed the campaign, calling for an end to a situation in which 21,000 people a year have to sell their homes to pay for care.
Mr Hunt is concerned that a decision last night to delay a longterm spending review, with a mere one- year fiscal plan to be announced next month, means real reform will be put off until next year. He added: ‘Of course the pandemic has cleaned out our national coffers, but many would be deeply concerned if the result was to kick the issue into the long grass yet again.’
Mr Johnson pledged on his first day in power last July to fix social care ‘once and for all’. The Treasury
is thought to be behind the delay – with the huge cost of solutions, combined with Covid costs, said to be slowing a sign-off.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We remain absolutely committed to ensuring everybody is treated with dignity, and nobody has to sell their home to pay for care. We know there is a need for a longterm solution for social care and are looking at a range of proposals as part of our commitment to bringing forward a plan that puts the sector on a sustainable footing for the future.’