Social care for elderly should be 'free at point of need'

A new report has argued that an overhaul is needed in elderly social care which would see social care matching access to the NHS and care being ‘free at the point of need’.

The report, published by Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and compiled by Lord Darzi, the ex-Labour health minister and Lord Prior, a Conservative health minister until 2016, says that if ministers backed the move it would ‘eliminate catastrophic care costs of over £100,000, which at present impact on around one in 10 elderly people’.

The think tank claims that a commitment to ‘bold reform’ would see the annual bill for the social care system more than double from £17 billion at present to £36 billion by 2030. Abolishing means testing of social care would end the scandal of people with significant care needs facing bills in the hundreds of thousands of pounds for care.

The final report of the Lord Darzi Review of Health and Care also recommends adding a penny to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for employers, employees and the self-employed, as part of a wider settlement for the NHS as well as the creation of up to 10 new Health and Care Authorities (HCAs), to replace the current 195 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and five NHS England regions.

Lord Darzi said: “The NHS and social care have done well to improve or maintain quality over the last decade. But the cracks are now showing. We need bold action to ensure that the NHS is fit for the 21st century. This will mean caring as much about social care and public health as the NHS and embracing reform as much as additional funding. The gift the NHS needs on its 70th birthday is a pragmatic plan to secure it for future generations.”