FAMILIES’ SOCIAL CARE BILL SINCE PM’S BROKEN PROMISE... £14BN

DEMENTIA victims and their families have paid a staggering £14billion for social care since Boris Johnson vowed to ‘fix’ the broken system.

The promise of ‘once and for all’ reform came on his first day in Downing Street in July 2019.

But 22 months later nothing has materialised – and the issue was again kicked into the long grass in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday.

Figures published today show that the ‘catastrophic’ £14billion paid out by families eclipses the £9billion contributed by the state since the Prime Minister made his pledge.

Sky-high bills for care homes, which can reach £6,000 a month, mean many will have lost most of their savings, making them unable to pass on the

family home to their children. Fiona Carragher of the Alzheimer’s Society, which researched the figures, said: ‘It’s nearly two years since our Prime Minister promised to fix our broken social care system.

‘People with dementia and their families are still forced to spend catastrophic sums which all too often still fail to provide people with the quality of care they need.

‘The Queen’s Speech was an obvious opportunity missed for the Government to give a clear plan on how they will help tens of thousands of families struggling daily without the support they need.’

She added: ‘Throughout the pandemic, family members had to pick up the slack when the care system has faltered and failed.’

Last night the Commons health and social care committee announced an inquiry into the ‘ catastrophic care costs’ faced by dementia patients.

Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative former health secretary who chairs the committee, said: ‘Every day new evidence is emerging of the crisis in our care system.

‘More delay to reform could be critical for a system already on its knees. Ministers must now bite the bullet and produce their long-promised plan.’

Under England’s current rules, pensioners must fund the full bill for their care down to their last £23,250. Only then will councils step in to help pay. The Alzheimer’s Society says families contribute 60 per cent of the cost of professional social care, with local authorities providing the rest.

It says families affected by dementia have paid out £32billion since Theresa May first promised a green paper on fixing the crisis in March 2017.

Since Mr Johnson replaced her the collective outlay has been £ 14billion – around £21million a day. On his first day in office he said: ‘My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care.

‘And so I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.’

Nothing has been forthcoming aside from a promise that plans will brought forward by Christmas. And, despite weeks of talks, No 10 and the Treasury have been unable to agree on how to fund a shake-up.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We have pledged to fix the social care crisis to give everyone who needs care the dignity and security they deserve and are committed to bringing forward a long-term plan to reform the social care system later this year.’

DOING the rounds in military circles is a joke dark with battlefield humour.

Ministers, the barb goes, won’t waste political capital ending the hounding of Northern Ireland veterans… because those old soldiers will die soon anyway.

With the creaking social care system, Boris Johnson has exactly the opposite problem. Because of Britain’s ageing population, every day of delay means the crisis worsens.

But for all the Government’s boasts about its dynamic legislative programme (a ban on adverts for elephant rides?), it devoted just nine derisory words of the Queen’s Speech to the emergency. Yet for countless vulnerable people and their families, it is a source of intense anxiety.

For two decades, politicians of all colours have pledged to stop the injustice of the elderly watching their hard-earned homes and savings disappear to pay exorbitant care bills. Then, spinelessly, they have punted the problem into the long grass.

Indeed, since the Prime Minister pledged reforms on his first day in No10, families have spent £14billion caring for relatives with dementia – more than the Government has paid. It is indecently wrong.

So why the paralysis? One reason is cost. The Chancellor blanches at such a gargantuan spending commitment when the pandemic has battered public finances.

The other is fear of spooking voters with expensive or unpopular proposals. Yet most surely accept this bullet needs biting.

The truth is, there is no safer time for No10 to take tough decisions. Yes, cross-party agreement is nice. But Boris has a whopping majority and, bolstered by the vaccine triumph, is surfing a wave of goodwill.

No solution – whether caps, insurance schemes or taxes – is pain-free. But our demoralised system can no longer be patched up with sticking plasters.

Fixing social care today is as vital as setting up the NHS was in 1948. If Boris is bold, it can be his era-spanning legacy.