Family urges PM to see social care firsthand

Relatives and care home bosses have welcomed the prime minister's plan to change the social care system - but called for quicker progress.

Andy Burnham has pledged to reform the adult social care system in England and met Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders to try to find "common ground".

Caroline May, whose mother-in-law Wendy is a Scarborough care home resident, called for care to be "free to us, with our contributions" and urged Burnham to "take a trip up to the Yorkshire coast and see firsthand what's happening".

The Department of Health and Social Care said the government was "creating a National Care Service with clear consistent standards of support for everyone who needs it".

May, 53, said families like hers faced a financial burden since social care was not funded in the same way as NHS treatment.

She said it was difficult enough seeing her mother-in-law move into a care home because of her dementia, without the added worry of how care would be paid for.

She said she would like to see a funding model for social care which is "the same as the NHS was set up, where we all contribute money for care in the NHS to be free to us, with our contributions".

"When the NHS was set up so many years ago, people weren't living as long and the burden now on social care and the needs are so much higher, yet it's not funded in the same way," she said.

Mike Padgham, who owns five care homes in Scarborough, including Wendy's, agreed Burnham should visit the town to hear directly from families and urged him to bring forward plans to reform the system.

Padgham, who also chairs the Independent Care Group, which advocates for the sector in North and South Yorkshire, also called for NHS resources to be diverted into social care, which he said would free up hospital beds by allowing people to stay at home for longer.

"Let's try and cut the bureaucracy, which is making things worse for the people in care," he said.

In a speech last month, Burnham praised those caring for his father, who has Alzheimer's, and said he wanted to deliver changes to help "my dad and the millions like him".

He said it was a "major dereliction of public duty" that successive governments had failed to address social care, adding there would be "difficult decisions" on funding but he was determined to "get it right".

He announced that a review of social care by veteran Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Casey would be published next summer instead of 2028, and it would look at how to pay for social care reforms.

May said she was encouraged by Burnham's personal experience of the care system.

"He does seem to be really looking at changing things quite fast," she said.

"But I think the next step is for him to start really doing something proactive immediately in the care sector."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Caroline's experience reflects exactly why this government is taking action on social care.

"As the prime minister and the health and social care secretary have said, too many people are being let down by a broken system, which is why this government is creating a National Care Service with clear consistent standards of support for everyone who needs it, and we have brought forward the timeline of Baroness Casey's Independent Commission into adult social care.

"It is crucial we get this right and we have made over £4.6bn additional funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, we are establishing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care workers, and we have published a cross-government unpaid carers action plan to give them the support they need."

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