MPs accuse care services of letting down the elderly

In a hard-hitting report, they call on Ministers to carry out a major overhaul of elderly care, health and housing services to stop patients being “passed like a parcel” from one department to another.

The health select committee said funding pressures were making problems worse, triggering reductions in services “which are leading to diminished quality of life for elderly people and increased demand for NHS services”.

It said large bills run up by pensioners for services such as home helps when their health deteriorated came as a shock to many.

It called on the Government to accept the principle of a cap in costs following the recommendation last year in a landmark report for the state to step in when bills rise above £35,000 for any individual. Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell said the report was the latest dating back decades to stress the importance of co-ordinated services.

“It is impossible to deliver either high quality or efficient services when the patient is passed like a parcel from one part of the system to another, without any serious attempt to look at their needs in the round,” he said.

“This obvious truth has often been repeated, but seldom acted upon.

“The funding for NHS care, social care and social housing comes from different sources. Our central recommendation is that the key to joined-up services is joined-up commissioning.”

Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said the Government would announce reform plans in the spring but only promised a “progress report” on funding reform.

He added: “We know that urgent reform of the care and support system is needed. Integrated care should be the norm. What we have already done and continue to do is create the legal and financial conditions for more integration.”