Care summit brings political parties together - but is a long term solution any closer?

By Tony Watts - Editor - 10/03/2010

A cross party care summit on social care reform has been held by Age Concern and Help the Aged - bringing together Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham MP, and Shadow Secretaries Andrew Lansley MP and Norman Lamb MP. The aim was to provide a neutral platform for the main political parties to debate how the current social care and support system could be improved - and while there was consensus on the challenges being faced, there was less harmony on possible funding solutions.
 
Chaired by Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, the summit addressed the current challenges for the care system - incorporating speeches from the three spokespeople; a question and answer session with an audience of older people, carers and care experts; and an opportunity for the politicians to participate in in-depth discussion groups.

“Our care summit did exactly what it set out to do," said Andrew Harrop, Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Age Concern and Help the Aged.  "It provided all three main political parties the neutral platform that was needed to re-open dialogue about reforming the current care and support system.
 
“The three health spokespeople each spoke outlining their proposals on reforming care, and then participated in debate with older people, care users and experts.
 
“It is clear from today’s debate that the parties largely agree on the problems facing the current care system, with everyone accepting that there is chronic under-funding and need for urgent reform.  There is also agreement about some of the key building blocks for reform, including much better joint work with the NHS.
 
“However, the parties continue to be bitterly divided on whether there should be new compulsory payments to fund care in later life.  All the options being discussed require more public money, in one way or another and politicians need to say where it will come from. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
 
“In our view, none of the parties have yet set out credible proposals for comprehensive reform of the care system. In particular, they need to say how they will improve the quality and availability of services.  We urge them all to set out their plans in full before the election to give voters a choice. Politicians owe it to all of us to maintain the momentum behind care reform and come up with long-term solutions.”
 

A new poll for the charity revealing the extent to which care reform has risen up the political agenda shows that eight out of ten adults believe it is among the most important issues in the coming election.  15 per cent of people say it is the single most pressing question for the election, with this number rising to one third among people over the age of 65.
 
Following the recent political spotlight on care reform, findings show almost a fifth of over 55s believe care is the most important issue for politicians to improve the lives of people over 65 and  nine out of ten adults think that the political parties should work together to reach an agreement on care reform.