Social Care Reform and help got the elderly

travelsafar

Re bed blocking in hospital. A friend was recently in hospital for a few days with chest infection. On the day he was discharged he sat on the chair beside his bed all day until almost teatime waiting to go home. This was due to waiting for medications from the hospital pharmacy. The bed was not being used by anyone but until he left couldn't be allocated to anyone. Multiply that going on in hospitals all over the country.....what a waste!!!!!

I could never understand, when I worked in the NHS, why a comfortable allocated waiting room near pharmacy couldn't have been used.. it seemed that everyone being discharged had to wait for their medication..

Hmm.

Seems like the long grass to me. After 14 years in Opposition surely Labour had thinking time to plan improved social care. It's pretty obviously a device to put off spending big money on a failing system.

Its all to do with money; the lack of it. Where is the money to come from to pay for all this? How do you persuade people to work in the care sector for low pay because it cannot sustain high wages. Long life and care is a burden on a State that dares not put taxes up to the required level for fear of losing votes.

I work in the care sector Boz and have done for a number of years.A lot of us enjoy and are proud of what we do and the pay isn’t all that bad either.Being a shift worker has its benefits and there’s always some overtime to be had.
You’re right tho that the money has to be found for social care and in the end will have to come from working age people in the form of higher taxes.I’m so disappointed with Labour for putting off reforms for social care both by promising no higher taxes before they were elected, a stupid and cynical ploy in my view and now a commission to look at at this problem which in itself will take years .

I don't think they are shoving it into the long grass.

Just shoving more money into a complex failing system isn't the right answer. It sounds like they are looking into a possible overhaul including funding.

I'd certainly like to see whatever measures possible before 2028 but I think they are wise not to promise instant oven ready magical measures.

If there were some, they would have been taken by the last government, or specific measures in the labour Manifesto I am sure.

Oreo

Casdon

The funding model is what the Commission is to determine Monica. Regardless of which government we have, surely that nettle has to be grasped?

That’s the second time you’ve said ‘the nettle needs to be grasped’ which is a phrase beloved of politicians usually when they have no intention whatsoever in grasping it.
A commission is just another way of putting things off for years, in this case four years.After that there will no doubt be some sort of think tank set up to discuss the findings.Either Labour will be re-elected or another government will be the ones to also fail to grasp it.
I thought this new government were going to tackle ‘ the big issues’ as they constantly talked about it but have the sinking feeling that tinkering around the edges and blethering about black holes is all they will do.

I’m impressed that you read my posts so closely Oreo, thank you. To clarify, there has been no suggestion that additional funding won’t be put into the Social Care system in the interim before the commission decides what the future funding model will be, already proven by the additional funding announced today. The commission is about the model for the future.

If Labour had announced a future funding model today, with no involvement of the other parties, there is no way it would have been a long term solution. Previous governments of all hues have delayed and delayed, at least now there is going to be an all party process to decide what the model will be. How people can’t see that as a positive I don’t understand.

You are right, Oreo. It must come down to high taxation to run a good welfare state but can you imagine the kickback that will come from the younger generation who will surely resent paying?
A young Swedish woman I met was bitter and voluble on having to subsidise the Swedish State by paying very high taxes.

I can't see the British public taking on what would be an altruistic approach to taxation. They never have

Boz

You are right, Oreo. It must come down to high taxation to run a good welfare state but can you imagine the kickback that will come from the younger generation who will surely resent paying?
A young Swedish woman I met was bitter and voluble on having to subsidise the Swedish State by paying very high taxes.

I can't see the British public taking on what would be an altruistic approach to taxation. They never have

They did post war. Grabbed it with both hands.

It only needs constant information and publicity to convince peoplE of the arguments and what the alternatives might look like.

I wish these commissioned reports were time limited. Say 18 months max. Focus minds. Ready for action people! The report will be ready just as a next GE is due …. Then it’ll be ‘you have to vote for us so we can implement these changes blah de blah”.

Cynical, me?

There is no plan for the economy or growth. There is no plan for resolving the immigration crisis - legal and illegal. There is no plan for the NHS. There is no plan for social care. There is no plan for funding the Armed Forces. Just what DID Labour brain power come up with whilst waiting in the wings for 14 years?

Better to be realistic about how long an inquiry and report/recommendations of this kind actually do take rather than a repeat of long history of enquiries that have over run and extended and extended the release date.

I think some of the negative responses above are a shame.

Money is being given immediately, today, for areas of social Care, and as Casdon has said above

"To clarify, there has been no suggestion that additional funding won’t be put into the Social Care system in the interim before the commission decides what the future funding model will be, already proven by the additional funding announced today. The commission is about the model for the future.
.....
at least now there is going to be an all party process to decide what the model will be. How people can’t see that as a positive I don’t understand.

J52

Private insurance to cover care home costs is available, but it is extremely expensive.
30 years ago we looked into such insurance after my FIL died and we could see that in the future MIL might need care, although quite well at the time. The premium then was £18000, with quite a few exclusions. Goodness knows what it would be now.
She wouldn’t take it out despite being able to afford it, she was very independent minded!

I wouldn’t consider a private scheme. A relative had one but when push came to shove they argued and argued about the care she needed until she died before anything was agreed.

I’m not sure why I might feel more confident with a Government backed scheme though, but I would😬 Probably mistakenly.

But that future concern is stopping me from spending. Not essentials, just stuff like having the garden better landscaped.

Actually I think there’s money out there that could be helping the economy if only we weren’t so insecure.

To succeed in bringing long term reform to our health care system including social care, we need a national conversation and this is what is going to happen.

Of course we can stand on the sidelines and shout “ya-boo” but it doesn’t seem a very intelligent or valuable contribution to the conversation.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

I wish these commissioned reports were time limited. Say 18 months max. Focus minds. Ready for action people! The report will be ready just as a next GE is due …. Then it’ll be ‘you have to vote for us so we can implement these changes blah de blah”.

Cynical, me?

Quite cynical, yes, given it’s hugely complicated, which is why successive governments have sidelined it. If this report is completed within three years there will still be 18 months of the current government’s tenure remaining.

I don’t think three years is an unreasonable amount of time to gather accurate information, garner evidence and opinion and work out viable solutions.

There’s been too many knee jerk, instant unthought through actions in the past in my opinion.

I just hope the Government is then actually prepared to act on the findings . It doesn’t always work that way does it?

It hardly ever works out that way Lathyrus and this new government is very big on talking about setting up inquiries to look at things rather than actually having to implement anything.Talk is cheap in other words and they have no plan for social care.As Whitewavemark2 notes, after the war, the Labour government got going immediately on the big projects that the people of the UK had desperately needed for so many years and they don’t come much bigger than the concept of our NHS.They didn’t set up inquiry after inquiry, quango after quango to look at it, they actually did it.

Casdon 😁I read everybody’s posts closely.

I’d like it to be an impartial Commission that every party will sign up to honour regardless of who is in Government when it’s delivered. 2028 is a long way ahead in Politics.

I’d like to think it will be so considered and well thought out that it could be accepted by everyone.

I’m a bit of an idealist, aren’t I😬

Casdon

The funding model is what the Commission is to determine Monica. Regardless of which government we have, surely that nettle has to be grasped?

Yes, but the nettle has needed grasping for the last 25 years or more, and everyone has side-stepped it, and I just think that they will do it again.

Writing in the Guardian, Wes Streeting said: “It will take time, but Casey’s work will finally grasp this nettle and set our country on the path to building a national care service that meets the urgent need of our generation, guarantees quality care to all who need it, and lasts long into the future, no matter which government is in power.”

Good luck!

Perhaps people need to save, reform won't happen instantly.

I hope they get lots of input from Ed Davey...

Whitewavemark2

Casdon

The funding model is what the Commission is to determine Monica. Regardless of which government we have, surely that nettle has to be grasped?

Nothing can happen until that decision is made.

I’m still for a form of government backed insurance, but I am open to persuasion😊

Do you mean Government backed private insurance? Whitewavemark2. Personally I would be very much against that.

I believe in the value of utilising private companies and non-profit organizations when they can provide valuable services. However, when it comes to funding, I think that everyone should contribute so that everyone can access these services at no charge at the point of use.

Three years is certainly kicking the can down the road. The Blair govt commissioned the Dilnot Report and then baulked at implementation the recommendations. The issues are well known. The range of possible solutions isn’t infinite. A task-and-finish group for 18 months should be able to come up with sensible recommendations.
The sums proposed for the NHS and for social care need to be weighted more towards social care. There’s little point in hospitals being able to increase the nos of operations performed if there is no after-care to get patients back home, or indeed home care to prevent many hosp admissions in the first place.

So how quickly do you imagine it could be done in order to prfude a Care Service we would be proud of, winterwhite?