Social care funding and the cost of short-term thinking | Letters

A royal commission recommended the extension of free care as long ago as 1999, says Robin Wendt; plus Gillian Dalley on private sector planning; David Herriott on a ‘death tax’ and Bernie Evans on short-term thinking in government generally

You suggest (Editorial, 17 October) that “the gradual extension of free care, starting with critical care and extending to those with substantial needs as money became available” would be a key part of the reform of social care funding. A solution on these lines has been available to governments since 1999 when the royal commission on long-term care (of which I was a member) recommended that the costs of intimate personal care should, in principle, be met by the state from general taxation, with individuals being responsible like the rest of the population for their housing and living costs subject to means testing.

The unassailable justification for this proposal is the gross injustice whereby cancer sufferers have all their needs met by the state while others, notably Alzheimer’s sufferers, are liable for their own care costs unless they have negligible resources. However, the proposal was brusquely rejected by Westminster, though adopted in Scotland, where it works effectively. Had it been accepted back then, “free care” would now be a seamless part of health and care provision covered by mainstream funding.
Robin Wendt
Chester

Continue reading... October 22, 2017 at 11:08PM