Time to act on care of elderly

THE 60 care campaigners and political activists who signed a letter imploring the Government, and the Opposition, to overhaul England’s “failing” social care system are not the first to do so – no less a figure than Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, wrote an impassioned appeal on these pages last month.

That said, the sentiment is the same and both use last year’s Dilnot Commission as their starting point, which concluded that people should pay, where possible, the first £35,000 of their old age care and be encouraged to take out insurance to cover that cost.

It is not a perfect solution – that is agreed – but it is the best offer on the table and should certainly be used as a starting point for cross-party discussions so the report does not suffer the same fate as the 1999 Royal Commission on elderly care which Tony Blair’s government then failed to enact.

The longer this issue is delayed lessens the likelihood of a consensus being reached, even though John Redwood, the Tory backbencher and former Cabinet minister, is among those to contend that the Dilnot reforms concentrate, unduly, on protecting an individual’s inheritance for their children rather than improving standards of care.

On the latter, Mr Redwood certainly has a point – the current system is creaking and, according to the signatories of the latest letter, risks leaving 800,000 elderly people “lonely, isolated and at risk”.

It is also welcome that Andy Burnham, the Shadow Health Secretary, has suggested a willingness to play a “constructive part” in any talks – Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, and Paul Burstow, the Lib Dem Care Minister, should now do likewise. At this stage, however, it should not be a matter for David Cameron. Each of the three main parties have their key lieutenants on health and these individuals should be entrusted to pool their expertise in a pragmatic way – the Prime Minister should keep a watching brief and only intervene if the talks become deadlocked.

Like pensions, politicians of all hues cannot keep talking around the issue and hope the day of reckoning for difficult decisions does not arrive. It has arrived – and it is now time for a statesmanlike response.

Pensioners, and all those heading for retirement, deserve nothing less.