The Queen’s speech at the state opening of Parliament on 18 November – the last before the next general election – has echoed Gordon Brown’s recent pledge to provide free personal home care to the UK’s neediest elderly and disabled people. Around 280,000 people can expect to benefit from the move – although 160,000 of these already receive free home care. However, a further 130,000 could receive cash from a second initiative, the ‘re-enablement allowance’, which would provide funding to help people live independently in their homes for longer, through adaptations such as stair lifts. The changes, which will form part of the new National Care Service, will be rolled out from October 2010 if Labour remains in power. However, charities including Counsel + Care and Age Concern and Help the Aged have questioned the Government’s ability to fund these new services, which would cost an estimated £670m per year. They have also criticised the proposed system’s failure to benefit the UK’s 400,000 care home residents as well as voicing concerns that many younger disabled adults could potentially miss out on funding. Jane Ashcroft of the English Community Care Association commented: ‘It is unhelpful to just have one piece of the jigsaw. Ultimately, the proposals could lead to an even greater drain on public resources without having a tangible impact on the quality of life of our older people.’

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
10:00

The charity Counsel + Care has published a new and improved handbook to provide essential information for anyone who is considering entering a care home, or who is making care home arrangements for a relative or friend. The 56 page ‘Care home handbook’ includes a foreword by care minister Phil Hope and can be downloaded free of charge from the charity’s website. Topics covered in the book include: a person’s rights, what choices there are for people in different situations, and retaining control and independence. It also provides guidance on funding options for care home residents and gives helpful tips on how to choose a care home to suit a person’s individual needs and preferences.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
09:59

A group of care home owners has formed a coalition called the Fairer Fee Forum to try and bring to an end the differing fee levels that they say they are forced to charge. The providers have admitted that self-funders are paying considerably more per week – sometimes more than £200 – in order to subsidise state-funded places. However, many people who should qualify for free care are also being charged top-up fees averaging £250 per month. The care homes maintain that this situation has arisen because local authorities are not paying enough for state-funded places, so they are forced to charge both self-funders and state-funded residents extra fees to cover their costs. The coalition has instructed Cherie Blair, QC, to take all 150 local authorities in England to the High Court to make councils pay care homes a fair price for state-funded places. The move has been welcomed by a number of charities that campaign for the rights of the elderly, including Age Concern and Help the Aged, which commented: ‘We hear a lot of complaints, both from those who are self-funders, who are paying too much, and those who are funded by the local authority, but forced to make huge top-ups, but often they don’t want to cause upset in the home where their elderly relative is living.’ More information about the Fairer Fee Forum and their legal campaign can be found at their new website.

In related news, Counsel + Care and the National Care Forum have launched a joint research report in response to the Green Paper on the future of social care funding. The report concludes that ‘more resources are needed to fund better quality care’. The research looked at the variations in care quality across providers and found that those with the highest star ratings were spending up to 20% more than other providers on staff salaries and training as well as basing all their activities around the needs of service users. It found that, due to variations in local authority funding, some care home providers are able to spend, for example, three times as much as others on meals for residents. Stephen Burke, Chief Executive of Counsel + Care, comments on the report’s findings: ‘The underfunding of care in this country means that many staff are poorly paid and poorly trained. Older people and their families are the real losers. The government’s consultation on the future funding of care must address urgently the need for extra resources for unmet needs now.’

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
17:26

Stephen Burke, chief executive of the charity Counsel + Care has urged the Conservative party to consider their stance on the future shape and funding of the social care system. Writing for the Guardian, Mr Burke anticipates a Conservative victory in 2010’s general election and asks how they are preparing themselves to take over the work done so far by Labour on its National Care Service. When Labour’s Green Paper was published in July 2009, launching the nationwide Big Care Debate, the Conservatives responded by criticising Labour for its delayed action on reforming social care rather than countering the ideas put forward in the Green Paper with concrete plans of their own. With the Conservative party conference looming, Mr Burke suggests that social care should feature strongly on its agenda – especially given that almost half of people that will turn out to vote next year are aged over 60 and so will be among those most affected by changes to the current system. He reiterates that the main issues to be tackled are the inconsistencies and unfairness that dog the current system along with the key problem of deciding how social care should be funded in future. The article closes with a call for ‘a groundswell of public support’ for social care reform which will ensure that any future government is forced to face up to its responsibilities.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
14:55

Below is a selection of official responses to the Green Paper on the future of adult social care in England that was published on 14 July. To read Cheselden’s official response, click here. [link to response in Media section]

Social and health care sector responses

‘The NHS is responsible for funding the nursing care of patients who have health needs, regardless of whether they are in hospital, a care home or their own home. We would fiercely oppose a system where responsibility for meeting the costs of nursing care was shifted onto the patient and subject to means-testing when it should be free on the NHS.’

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing

‘Sharing the financial responsibility is the only way that good social care can be afforded. The case for change has been made and we must all respond to the green paper because there are huge implications. This is a long-term issue; it’s about what happens over the next quarter century and it also affects the NHS, housing and benefits.’

Allan Bowman, chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence

‘The green paper, we hope, points the way towards ending a system in which people find it hard to understand what they are entitled to and what financial contribution they will have to pay towards the cost of their care. Any new system which emerges must be open, transparent about costs and what people can expect to pay and are entitled to receive wherever they live. And it must enhance the continued transformation of social care in a way which helps individuals take greater control of their lives, and care budget.’

Jenny Owen, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services

‘The current system of care is unsustainable in the future and even today has woeful inadequacies… There has been chronic under funding of care services for decades. The sector can rarely put into place the improvements it wants and its customers will expect. A National Care Service in England must also go hand in hand with improvements in quality of care. We urge people to respond to this green paper and to highlight that any new system must drive up quality if it is to command the confidence of citizens.’

Professor Jill Manthorpe, director of the social care workforce research unit at King’s College, London

Charity responses

‘Creating a national care service on a par with the NHS is just what this country needs to meet the demands and expectations of our ageing population. Filling the care gap is one of the biggest challenges we all face. We simply can’t do nothing and ignore the needs of this and future generations of older people…Any new funding system must be fairer, simpler and transparent for all. A ‘care duty’ on people’s estates as a one-off payment to fund comprehensive care has the hallmarks of a better system. Better care is key to building a better country for everyone.’

Stephen Burke, chief executive of Counsel + Care

‘What we need to do now is to test these ideas with the public and importantly, with families – disabled and older people and the people caring for them. They need to tell us what they think will work. It is time for the public to make their views heard in this big care debate. We must make this one of the most important policies of the decade since it touches so many people’s lives.’

Imelda Redmond, chief executive of Carers UK

‘High quality care must be available to all who need it regardless of where they live and whether they are rich or poor. With time now short, the government must set out a clear timetable to move from debating options to agreeing and implementing specific proposals.’

Michelle Mitchell, director of Age Concern and Help the Aged

‘Today the Big Care Debate begins on three new models of funding social care, an essential lifeline for millions of people. Only a system that delivers good care at a fair price will succeed. Currently, if you are unfortunate enough to be amongst the one in three people over 65 who die with dementia you could face enormous bills for poor quality care. This is a gamble people shouldn’t be forced to take…A national care service is a bold vision and it will take courage to see it through. It cannot afford to fail.’

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
12:48

Labour is drawing up plans to levy a one-off tax of up to £12,000 on everyone in England and Wales in return for state-funded long-term care. The proposal aims to reduce the number of family homes and inheritances that are lost to pay care home fees with the Government said to be in favour of spreading the cost of caring for an ageing population more fairly. The new system would either involve the fee being deducted from an individual’s estate after death or becoming payable on retirement. The proposed tax will be included in the forthcoming Green Paper on adult social care funding, where it will be one of several options to be put forward for funding reform. Although concerns have been raised that the levy is little more than a ‘stealth tax’, focus groups have shown that up to 80% of people would prefer the option of a state-run insurance system to the prospect of selling their home to pay for care. Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt commented: ‘I have always thought people would be willing to trade a certain amount of inheritance tax for the reassurance of knowing that their elderly parent was going to be looked after free of charge.’ Charity Counsel + Care also gave their support to the proposed tax, stating that the £2.9 billion that could potentially be raised is the fairest way to spread the cost of funding care for the elderly.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
12:59

The charity Counsel & Care has published two new guides to help older people cope financially during the recession. Counsel & Care has produced the guides in response to the increasing number of calls to the charity from elderly people who are struggling to pay for household essentials such as kitchen appliances and housing maintenance. The guides give advice on the financial assistance that is available from the Government and from charitable organisations, as well as advising how to get access to help. The first guide deals with the social fund, which is money provided by the state to help people on low incomes to deal with unexpected expenses. The fund is divided into the Regulated Social Fund, which provides money for specific costs such as winter fuel, and the Discretionary Social Fund, which provides grants or loans for other purposes. The second guide describes the different kinds of charitable funding and grants that are available. It also gives advice on approaching specific types of charity where appropriate, such as those that support ex-servicemen and women or people who suffer from a particular illness.

Both guides stress that applicants for social or charitable funding must be receiving all the benefits to which they are entitled before their application for assistance can be considered. You can read about the different state benefits and how to apply for them in Cheselden’s Factsheet 8.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
18:05

The charity Counsel & Care has urged the Government to look again at how inheritance tax could be used to fund care costs for the elderly and prevent people having to sell their homes to pay for care. Counsel & Care’s Chief Executive, Stephen Burke, made the call during the charity’s annual ‘Right care, Right deal’ conference on 25 February. Mr Burke described how the Government could help to fund a better standard of care for the elderly by levying a ‘care duty’ on estates. A duty of 2.5% on estates valued between £25,000 and £312,000 could raise at least £1.7 billion per year to help bridge the growing funding gap. The move would need to be accompanied by other reforms such as better use of existing funding, giving more support to carers and helping people to make the best use of their own resources. Mr Burke commented that the economic downturn is causing huge problems with the funding of care and the situation will only worsen if the Government does not take steps towards a drastic reform of the current care system when it publishes the long-awaited green paper in spring 2009. To find out more about Counsel & Care’s ‘Right care, Right deal’ campaign, visit their website. You can also download their press release about the 2009 conference from the site.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
11:30

The charity Counsel and Care has reported that the number one reason for callers to ring their helpline is because they are worried about how to meet care home costs. 30% of all calls made to the helpline in 2008 were from people concerned about having to use their savings to pay for ever-increasing care costs, a situation made worse by the recent economic downturn. Counsel and Care’s report, ‘Finding and Financing Care in Hard Times’, also looks at the difficulties that people face when they need to choose a care home, claiming that they are left ‘in the dark’. The charity feels that there is not enough information available and urges the Government to overhaul the entire system of care and make it simpler and clearer for people to understand. It also recommends that the care industry be better-regulated, which it considers could prevent large annual fee rises. The report is published as the Government creates a Green Paper on the future of long-term care. In response to the report, the Department of Health comments that ‘The Government will work closely with local authorities and care providers to ensure they are able to meet their statutory responsibilities and protect the welfare of care home residents.’

Counsel and Care’s report can be read or downloaded from their website.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
16:11

The Right Care, Right Deal coalition consists of three UK charities – Carers UK, Counsel & Care and Help the Aged. They are campaigning for the Government to stop councils taking decisions on an adult’s eligibility and entitlement to social care. They want the Government to create a national system for England. To find out more, visit their website: www.rightcare.org.uk.

Right Care, Right Deal’s call for reform comes as the Department of Health reveals strong public support for a national system, arising from its six-month public engagement process on the future of adult care. The public engagement process, which ended in November 2008, will inform a green paper on long-term reform to the system in England next year. To keep up to date on progress, visit the Government website www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk.

posted by Cheselden Continuing Care at
13:26