So what is all this hogwash from the government about giving people a fairer deal on social care?
It’s the old tale of Nero fiddling while Rome burns, and all that...
Ever since New Labour stormed to power, the government has promised to review the care system with a view to reforming it. It’s a story that started in 1997 just as Tony Blair moved into 10 Downing Street.
This week, some 11 years later, Gordon Brown announced to a population weary of government obfuscation that six months of public consultation on social care is to begin in earnest. Meanwhile, a Green Paper on social care, first earmarked for publication in April, is not even on the horizon.
This is a typical government fudge designed to kick the social care agenda into touch until the run up to next general election. At that point Brown, or whoever else is running the Labour party, will issue a new social care manifesto amid much fanfare and vote catching headlines: “They care after all”. The government has probably already booked a slot in 2009 on the Andrew Marr Sunday show. Election 2010: you read it here first.
Meanwhile, back on planet earth, a brace of surveys has damned the way social care is organised in England and Wales. People are worried about how to pay for their care, worried about moving into care homes and very worried about the current means-testing system. One survey by Caring Choices found 90% of people want to see the back of it.
And as the government procrastinates, the malaise in the social care system intensifies making reforms more difficult to implement. Local authorities become more cash-strapped, cutting off vital services and politicians continue to obfuscate where possible because they have no answers –and because they can.
And while Nero fiddles and all that… real statistics on social care relating to real people’s lives will continue to do the rounds. Some facts to date: by 2028 there will be a £6 billion shortfall in care funding; at the same time a quarter of the UK’s population will be over 65 years old and those over 85 years old will have doubled. Meanwhile more than 1 million will have dementia. Who will be caring for all these people and how is that going to be paid?
Remember, we’re not talking here about your mums, dads or grandparents – the next generation is you and me.
By Andrew Chilvers
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Social care funding: who cares?
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3 comments:
Great stuff from Andrew. We all know that it will become increasingly difficult to fund care, and we're adult enough to accept that some hard decisions will have to be made, either to increase revenue through taxation or social insurance schemes - or to cut services. But, continually delaying decisions whilst at the same time stoking up expectations of publicly funded care is a dangerous game....
There is no easy solution to this. Whatever the government decides on is not going to please everyone, but whatever they come up with, it should be done quickly - the current system is creaking badly and people are suffering because of it.
What do you expect from Brown and his croniies. Delay it for as long as you can, then delay it some more then tell everyone it's going ahead after a period of discussion. It was TS Eliot who said, decisions and revisions which a moment will reverse.
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