David Cameron said forcing people who do not qualify for free care to finance it by losing their own house was "cruel".

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A nine-page special report on the Yorkshire Post's Sixty Against One event, at which David Cameron answered questions from an audience of 60 YP readers. To flick between pages, use the Next Page/Previous Page navigation links below each story.

To listen to the event in full, click here.
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Instead those who save enough to pay for one or two years' care could be freed from any further costs, similar to a system in the US.

The innovative scheme emerged during a question session with Yorkshire Post readers yesterday where Mr Cameron pledged to address the existing "unfair" system with firm proposals before the next election. But he ruled out making residential care free for all.

The Tory leader also launched a blistering attack on the Government's plans to open one-stop "polyclinics" across the country – grouping GPs together in a large clinic with other health services – branding it the latest Whitehall "fad" and a "huge mistake" as he marked health reforms as a major political battleground.

During the 75-minute session at the Yorkshire Post offices he also welcomed Bank of England plans to free up money markets, said he wanted farming to be viable and admitted local road tolls may be necessary.

He also said using the term the "War on Terror" gave victory to Osama bin Laden, on education declared himself a "behaviour freak" and defended school league tables, while in lively exchanges he dismissed calls to withdraw from the European Union.

Mr Cameron said one of the "greatest unfairnesses" for elderly people was that people who had worked and saved hard and "done the right thing" but had assets of more than £22,250 have to pay for all of their care home places, which leaves many with no option other than to sell their home to pay the bill.

Charities including Help the Aged have been campaigning for a fairer system, with more than one third of care home residents estimated to have to pay their own bill.

Mr Cameron called for a reduction in means testing but said it would be unrealistic to abolish it completely in response to a question from reader Don Burslam, and said adopting the Scottish system of free care for all was too expensive.

"I think what we can do is look at schemes like they have in American states where you say to people during their lives 'look, if you put a bit aside to pay for maybe the first year, or year and a half, or two years of residential care, and if you do that the state will guarantee that's all you have to pay for'," he said.

"It's like a partnership scheme. If we did that then we'd be able to say to people if you do that you will not need to sell your house to pay for residential care. I think that's one of the cruellest bits of the means test and one of the ones I want to address in our next manifesto."

The Department for Health said the system of paying dated back to the 1940s and the threshold had risen in line with inflation, but added that a green paper on social care will be published at the end of May which will cover how care is paid for as people live longer.

Meanwhile, pressed by Yorkshire GP Amanda Robinson on the Government's polyclinic plans, Mr Cameron said GPs are "one of the great strengths" of the NHS and said it should be down to them if they wanted to group together in single health centres.

"I think the Government's plan for these top down polyclinics is the latest fad that's going to hit the health service," he said, citing restructuring of primary care trusts, the overspending on the NHS computer and closure of local maternity and accident and emergency units as other fads.

"This could mean we lose GP surgeries right around Yorkshire, right around the country," he said. "It's not necessary."

But he rejected calls for cancer patients to be given free prescriptions, saying there is no big pot of money to pay for it.

Mervyn Kohler, special adviser to Help the Aged, said: "It's great to hear the Conservatives talking about partnership schemes for funding long-term care. All political parties must be involved in this debate."

Sympathy over cancer dilemma


David Cameron admitted he was "tempted" to allow patients to pay for some of their treatment privately without losing their right to free NHS care after a plea by North Yorkshire cancer sufferer Colette Mills.

The Tory leader said he would look into her case after being read a question from Mrs Mills, 58, who was too ill to attend yesterday's event. She was refused permission to pay for private treatment with the drug Avastin as well as receiving chemotherapy on the NHS to treat her breast cancer.

Mr Cameron said Mrs Mills's case was "powerful" but admitted there was a "really difficult argument" over co-payment because of fears of a two-tier health service.

Asked whether it should be allowed, he said: "My temptation would be to say in cases where it means more treatment will be made, then yes we should, but I'm going to have to go and look at that case."