Pensioners must endure unfair social care system 'for a decade'
Pensioners must endure England's unfair and under-funded social care system for another decade before much-needed reforms are introduced, it is claimed
By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent
03 Mar 2009
A new report urges ministers to introduce relatively inexpensive changes to funding for nursing homes and home help now.
It warns that the process to bring in radical reforms through a Green Paper could take 10 years, particularly as the recession puts public spending under increased strain.
In the meantime, thousands more pensioners will be forced to sell their family homes to pay for accommodation in a care home, while a postcode lottery means that elderly people in some parts of the country receive far more support from their council than others.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has suggested four options that it says could make an immediate difference to those struggling to get help under the current "unfair, unclear and unsustainable" system.
The Department of Health is expected to publish a Green Paper on the future of long-term social care this year. It may propose that all adults must pay a new form of National Insurance or take out private policies in order to cover the cost of support in old age, as a result of the ageing population and increased dementia rates.
SOURCE: The Telegraph UK
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