Tag Archives: Older care
The ticking time bomb of elderly care costs
There is a postcode lottery in this county on care
OVER the last week, the reality of perhaps this county’s greatest challenge — how are we going to pay for the care of our increasing number of older people – has begun to dawn.
And as I have written before, I regard this challenge as Gloucestershire’s demographic time bomb.
Now, that time bomb really is ticking.
But I am afraid that the government promises when they announced their White Paper on care for the elderly last week seem to be very hollow.
Use left-over NHS cash to pay for elderly care, say MPs
Left-over cash from NHS budgets should be handed over to local councils to pay for care for the elderly and disabled, according to MPs.
By John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor
7:00AM BST 16 Jul 2012
A cross-party group of MPs and peers is calling on the Government to allow money allocated to health but left unspent to be used for social care rather than being simply absorbed back into Treasury funds.
They calculate that less than half of the current annual NHS underspend would be enough to solve the immediate funding crisis in social care.
The call comes in a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Local Government, chaired by the Tory MP Heather Wheeler.
It comes in the week after the Government set out plans to overhaul care for the elderly.
Age UK response to Social Care White Paper
On Wednesday, the Government finally published its Social Care White Paper.
Source : Age UK
Published on 11 July 2012 01:00 PM
On Wednesday, the Government finally published its Social Care White Paper.
Age UK warmly welcomes the Government’s plans to reform the care system, although we are disappointed the Government did not set out how the changes will be funded and delayed the decision to the Comprehensive Spending Review expected next year.
If funding is forthcoming, today’s announcement is welcome news for the millions of care users now and in the future, and is something Age UK has been working towards for many years, most recently through our Care in Crisis campaign.
The main proposals for reform are listed below:
Improving access to social care
Introduction of a national eligibility criteria ensuring minimum level of support and continuity of care, portable between local authority areas.
