CARE SECTOR IN CRISIS

ARE the three main parties tackling the question of social care wearing a combination of blinkers and rosetinted glasses, by throwing taxpayers’ money at existing systems?

Even the best care homes (which are few and far between) wouldn’t be even a remote path that individuals would wish for before they reach an age when ‘inevitability’ determines their closing years.

Equally, ‘care in the home’ is a misnomer, as it is a box-ticking exercise that offers little in terms of a palliative approach by very poorly-paid, mostly well-meaning staff, who initially are strangers in very personal situations.

We need a different model for the care of our ageing population.

In the past, the family took responsibility for the care of their parents, but this was when most households had one adult not at work.

We’re told care home and care at home costs are eye-wateringly high, so would there be an economic case to pay to a family an amount that would be enough to encourage families to care for their own?

Bearing in mind that the relevant family member is able to give up work with an option to return to employment at a later date.

Such a model may not cover 100%, but I would guess more than enough to have a real impact.

I’m not privy to an analysis of the present expenditure, but, reading between the lines of the Chancellor’s Budget speech, the extra £2bn over three years will be spun as a sticking plaster, and I believe Philip Hammond knows this and is buying time to introduce a more sustainable and hopefully caring solution.