Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said it was a “major dereliction of public duty” that politicians had failed for decades to resolve the crisis in social care. The blame lies with “my generation of politicians” who had not got to grips with the problems posed by an ageing society and unfairness in the system, he said.
Mr Burnham, who spoke about the care received by his father, who has Alzheimer’s, said care workers should be “the best-paid people in society, not the worst”.
Accelerated review and reform pledges
During his speech, the Prime Minister said he had accelerated Baroness Louise Casey’s review of social care so it will report next year. He promised reforms to improve the “strength and the capability” of the social care workforce, and confirmed he would begin cross-party talks with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, insisting it was the “right thing to do” to try to find a consensus.
He acknowledged there would have to be “difficult decisions” on tax as part of social care reform, but vowed to “be honest with people” and “do more” within existing resources first. In an “ideal world”, he said, people would not be forced to sell their homes to fund their care.
Political failure and NHS costs
“It’s a major dereliction of public duty that Parliament has not faced up to this of all challenges, something so fundamental to life as this,” Mr Burnham said. “It’s shameful, to be honest, that politicians have put point scoring before fixing this issue, but that’s what’s happened. It’s created a feeling in Westminster that this is too difficult, and if you take it on, you’re taking on too big a political risk.”
The Prime Minister said the savings to the NHS from fixing issues around social care could help fund a reformed system. It costs the NHS around £2.5 billion a year to have people who are medically fit to leave remaining in hospital because there is no care available in the community. He also suggested the lack of a “preventative front-end social care service” stopping people from needing to go into hospital in the first place was costing the NHS “several billion pounds a year”.
Tax and election pledge
He said “I think we owe it to the public before we talk about tax rises” to “do more with what you’ve got”. But he acknowledged that “some of what we want to do in the fuller sense will require difficult, difficult decisions” and “we will be honest with people about those”. In an indication tax hikes to pay for social care could be in Labour’s next election manifesto, he said: “We will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent.”
Before his speech, Mr Burnham, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper and Baroness Casey met residents at the care home in London where he delivered his speech. When Mr Burnham told one he was the Prime Minister, the resident replied: “A new one? They keep changing.”
