The Government has announced the launch of an independent commission to review adult social care and how it is funded, which will be led by cross-bench peer Baroness Louise Casey.
Though campaigners for change have welcomed the news, reaction from the sector has been generally negative with many raising concerns about how long the review would take, with the final recommendations not expected until 2028.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King's Fund, along with many council leaders and care providers, have said the timescale "feels far too long" and have urged the Government to look at measures that could be implemented sooner.
Melanie Williams, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, agreed the "timescales are too long". She believes many options on how to reform adult social care are already known and worries that "continuing to tread water until a commission concludes, will be at the detriment of people's health and well-being".
Helen Walker, the head of Carers UK, which represents millions of unpaid people who provide care to family members, said families were "already under intense pressure and providing more care than ever before."
Health secretary Wes Streeting has responded to these comments by explained that, “the commission would finally grasp this nettle and set our country on the path to building a national care service that meets the urgent needs of our generation.”
When pressed for his view of how this might be funded, he added that he would “like to see people protected from the catastrophic costs of upfront care.”
When it comes to social care, successive Governments have been unable to deliver change. We are now 14 years on since the publication of Andrew Dilnot's report on paying for social care, which at the time attracted cross party support.
The agreed changes were passed by Parliament but were then delays and then in 2019 Boris Johnson stood on the steps of Downing Street and vowed to make reform of social care a priority. His Government introduced a 1.25% 'health and social care' levy, with the funds raised supposedly being ring-fenced. However, they were instead consumed to support the public finances after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since 1997 there have been no less than 25 commissions, select committees and white papers on social care. Despite these, our care system remains unchanged and its failings continue to have a significant knock on effect for the NHS as a whole.
After so many false dawns, it is hard to find the confidence that this time will be any diferent.
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