Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced he will fight the next election on radical plans to introduce an NHS-style social care system, funded by tax hikes. The move has prompted a doctor to explain why prioritising social care over the NHS is "so important".
On Saturday (September 26), Mr Burnham revealed his intention to fix social care, a decision that will cost the taxpayer. The Prime Minister previously told the Sunday Mirror how his own experiences shaped his stance, recalling the same failures that affected his grandmother 25 years ago when his dad Roy needed care while battling Alzheimer's disease. Mr Burnham senior, who had been living in a care home, died earlier this month aged 86.
Doctor explains why the decision matters
Dr Michael Trueman has explained why the PM's decision is "so important". "One of my biggest takeaways from working for the NHS was the lack of social care actually undermines the whole system," he said.
Dr Trueman elaborated: "People with care needs who have been treated in hospital need a safe place to be discharged to - you can't just discharge somebody if there isn't somewhere appropriate for them to stay."
He went on: "All of that care comes from the social care system and this is a huge problem in England. There are two million older adults right now who have unmet care needs in the community - so there's a massive, massive need for good social care."
Impact of inadequate care in the community
Dr Trueman pointed out that without adequate care in the community, patients have to stay in hospital, resulting in what is known as "bed blocking".
"That means that patients who come through A&E can't move up to the appropriate ward... that means they stay in A&E... that means the people in the waiting rooms stay in the waiting rooms... and the people in the ambulances stay in them," he continued. "And that leads to terrible things."
Dr Trueman summarised by backing Mr Burnham: "So if you can fix social care, it means the people who are fit for discharge can leave the hospital immediately, people in A&E can move up to the ward for appropriate treatment [and so on]. It would be a far more efficient system that works in a much safer manner."
Burnham sets out his vision
Speaking as Labour's annual conference got underway in Liverpool on September 24, Mr Burnham told the BBC: "I am talking about a system that works on NHS principles because that is the only way you can make it work. There is free personal care elsewhere in the UK. I don't think it's right that people in England don't get the same and it's not something we're going to rush."
The PM is expected to spell out more details of his plan, which is being developed alongside a review by Baroness Louise Casey, in his speech to Labour conference on Tuesday, including a timetable for rolling it out.
Mr Burnham hopes to put the plans "clearly" to voters at the ballot box, in the hope of neutralising political opposition to the thorny issue of funding social care. "I am prepared to put myself in that position, recognising that it might be difficult or unpopular with some," he admitted.
Meanwhile, he rejected an estimate by the Health Foundation that free care in England could cost taxpayers £18bn a year, adding: "It's not that high."
The PM argued people were paying the price already, through a system in England where people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with care costs from their council.
