Burnham’s plans for social care and its workers are admirable but changes must come quickly | Heather Stewart
Money is needed now for a system that has left families including mine struggling their way unsupported and forgotten As one of many hundreds of thousands of people in the UK with a parent with Alzheimer’s, the passage in Andy Burnham’s speech about social care moved me to tears. My mother had not even been diagnosed when I watched Theresa May announce her 2017 general election manifesto in a…
Money is urgently required for a social care system that has left families, including the reporter's own, struggling and unsupported. Andy Burnham's speech about social care evoked tears, as the writer watched his mother enter a care home three years after Theresa May's 2017 manifesto promised funding. Burnham advocates for personal care to be seen as "social insurance," distributing the risk across families.
While personal care makes up a small portion of the overall cost, the majority remains unpaid for essentials like cooking, cleaning, and upkeep. Burnham emphasizes the importance of supporting care workers, expressing regret that the profession has been neglected. The national care service, aligned with the NHS, is still years away, leaving families in a prolonged waiting period.
Labour has allocated £500m for a pay uplift, but Joe Dromey of the Fabian Society believes more is needed. Tinkering with the triple lock or introducing a levy on estates or general taxation could help fund the sector, but Burnham's efforts may face challenges in achieving political consensus, as families have endured a system that has failed them for too long.
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