Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made social care reform his first major policy initiative, speaking at Jewish Care in north London about his personal connection to the issue. Burnham's father has dementia and requires daily care, a fact he shared with the audience of care workers and media.
Personal connection
Burnham acknowledged that previous governments have avoided social care for 30 years, with a royal commission and 22 reviews failing to bring change. He said the system is failing and needs hard choices. The prime minister spoke unscripted, admitting that some may be cynical after past warm words that came to nothing, but he pledged to make reform his mission.
Three proposed changes
Burnham announced three changes: bringing the review forward to be completed next year, converging the social care and NHS workforce, and starting cross-party talks. He revealed that Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey had written to him over the weekend, and he invited them to be part of the consensus. Nigel Farage had not written, Burnham noted.
During the Q&A session, Burnham fielded questions directly, acknowledging that some costs could be met from efficiency savings but that hard choices on tax would be inevitable. He called for consensus and dropping political point scoring for the bigger picture.
The prime minister highlighted problems in the current system, including 15-minute care packages, emergency calls, bedblocking, care homes profiting from misfortune, and the random nature of who can afford care. He compared the unfairness to the US health system.
Burnham left the event with a smile, noting that starting the ball rolling was better than ignoring the issue. If he fixes social care, he said, he would have achieved more than most other prime ministers.
