Caring and sharing

Well, at least the principle of a cap is established. But clearly at 75k it is significantly above the 50k Dilnot said was the absolute maximum it should be set to make a real difference. So the campaign goes on. The Social Care Alliance, which draws together many ACEVO members, statement is worth reading:

“Having campaigned strongly for the Dilnot model, the Care & Support Alliance anticipates tomorrow's announcement as an important step forward in starting to protect families facing huge bills for care and support services. Although if reports are correct and the cap has been set at £75,000 and thus far higher than the original recommendation of £35,000 from Andrew Dilnot - it establishes a significant principle that families should have some protection from losing almost everything to care costs.

But the high costs of care, plus the cost of board and lodging will still cause real fear and anxiety for older and disabled people and their families so we urge the Government to urgently set out a timetable for making care more affordable.

Families struggling now with the costs of long-term care should also not have to wait four years for change. Some of these reforms can be delivered now and we urge the Government to take the earliest opportunity to at least introduce the rise in the means-test.

"However, this is only part of the answer for how the care crisis is tackled. A critical part of the Dilnot proposals was delivering sufficient funding to ensure enough care was available to meet growing demand. The funding gap for care is growing – this means that older and disabled people and their families are going without vital support. To end the crisis in care Government must also urgently deliver a sustainable funding solution that makes sure care and support is available to all who need it."

So this will require review and we will be making a forceful case for the political parties to go further when they are drawing up their manifestos for 2015.

It’s a clear anomaly that if you are ill in old age you receive free care on the NHS, as should be, but if you require care and support to remain at home or in residential care this can cost you dearly.