The architect of the government’s delayed social care reforms told Sky News that politicians need to “grow up” and tackle the crisis in the sector.
In the midst of a bitter election dispute over public spending, Sir Andrew Dilnot said he believed the two main parties were reluctant to discuss healthcare reform for fear of being accused of engineering future tax rises.
Sir Andrew – whose 2011 report set out several key measures taken by the government – described social care as the “biggest unmanaged risk” facing the country.
He said: “Four out of every five people will need social assistance before they die, we must grow up and face it.
“I think politicians are reluctant to talk about this, firstly because they are worried about anything that means an increase in public spending and therefore potential taxes,” he said.
Sir Andrew Dilnot
The implementation of a cap on care costs, revealed by Boris Johnson, has been delayed from 2022 to October next year.
The policy promised to cap the amount any person in England will spend on personal care in their lifetime to £86,000.
Speaking to Sky News during the campaign, Rishi Sunak said the reforms called for were still “on track”.
Labor did not explicitly commit to the cap in its manifesto, but a party source confirmed it would also introduce the reforms as planned.
Although the Liberal Democrats have made social assistance a fundamental part of their political offering, the sector has barely featured in the campaigns of the two main parties.
The cost of unpaid care
Norman Phillips cares for his wife Ros – who lives with multiple sclerosis and dementia.
Initially he was able to balance work with his caring responsibilities, but as Ros’ condition worsened he took early retirement.
“It was the stress and strain of trying to work… and saying, look, I’m sorry, but I have to turn around and go back to Stevenage because I can’t find anyone to look after Ros… that was tolerated for a while because I I always got the job done… but then it went a bit pear-shaped and… I passed out in the street,” he said.
The couple had difficulty finding help and after Norman suffered an injury, they were forced to sell their home to pay off care-related debts.
“My kids learned a long time ago that their inheritance is gone…we don’t have any more money. We haven’t had any more money in a while,” Phillips said.
Ros is now subject to an ongoing NHS health plan after Norman suffered a nervous breakdown earlier this year and authorities decided he could not continue to care for his wife.
This includes 24-hour care for Ros – something Norman says would not have been necessary if a lower level of help had been available sooner.
He said: “They have six million of us unpaid carers. If they… help us, we can help the system.
“But what happened to me, you know, is that the system kept going back and back until I broke.”
The idea of a cap was first suggested by the Dilnot Commission and passed into legislation in 2014.
However, its planned implementation in 2016 was postponed by the David Cameron government for cost reasons.
An attempt to reform the sector during the 2017 election was widely seen as the reason Theresa May lost her Commons majority.
In his first speech as Prime Minister in 2019, Boris Johnson said he had a “clear plan” to “resolve the social care crisis once and for all”.
The reforms were announced in 2021 alongside an increase in National Insurance to fund the wider sector.
However, this tax rise was reversed under Liz Truss before the wider changes were delayed under Rishi Sunak.
This means that many people who require care are still potentially responsible for costs that can run into thousands of pounds per month.
Norman Phillips
Norman and Ros on their wedding day
Sir Andrew said the lack of adequate social care was also having a “repercussion effect” on the NHS, as elderly people were ending up stuck in hospitals.
“Many elective procedures depend on being able to have a bed and if you have an elderly person… in hospital for twenty days longer than necessary, that could easily mean that ten hip replacements can’t happen because there isn’t the space for the bed,” he said.
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Norman and Ros
Care bosses also highlighted staff shortages caused by low pay as another major problem in the sector, while councils called for more government funding.
Speaking to Sky News, Rishi Sunak said that £8.5 billion had been invested in the NHS and social care shortly after becoming prime minister and that his government had focused on “improving the link between social care and hospitals… but also in investing in the workforce”.
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A Labor source said: “The social care chapter in our manifesto includes a commitment over the next decade to build a national care service and the first steps towards a fair pay agreement for care providers.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also admitted he wanted a “more ambitious” social policy, but it had to be “affordable” to be included in the manifesto.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
