Yorkshire Post Manifesto: Care for the elderly

But whichever party wins on May 6, the reality is clear – a new social care system is urgently required,so that thousands of elderly people do not have to sell their homes to pay for long-term care.

Under present rules, any elderly person with savings – including equity in a house – of more than 22,250 must fund their own long-term care. The rule means thousands of elderly people are forced to sell their homes every year to pay for care bills which are often thousands of pounds each month.

Meanwhile, people who have saved nothing do not required to pay a penny.

It is now well over a decade since Tony Blair pledged to put an end to the current system, and yet still the issue has not been properly addressed. For elderly people in Yorkshire, decisive action is needed as soon as possible.

n Nursing home care costs an average of more than 600 per week.

n Currently, anyone with savings of more than 22,250 has to pay for their own long-term care.

n 41 per cent of the 380,000 people in care pay for it.

n 45,000 people had to sell property in 2008 to pay for care home accommodation.

CASE STUDY: CARE INNOVATIONS

While many elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care, new systems being introduced in Yorkshire mean others are able to stay in their homes.

Audrey Wright, 82, is one of many elderly residents of North Yorkshire to benefit from her local authority's telecare system, which uses modern devices to enable her to stay in her own home in Harrogate.

She wears a special watch equipped with an emergency alarm to summon help. North Yorkshire County Council has also fitted detectors to alert her if taps are left on and her bed is also equipped with a sensor, so that when she gets out of bed during the night her lights switch on and off automatically.

The next Government will need to roll out innovative approaches like these across the whole country if a fairer deal for elderly people is to be achieved.