The General Election is again being fought over the nation's health, with plans for the future of th...
The General Election is again being fought over the nation's health, with plans for the future of the NHS featuring prominently in party manifestos.
Huge investments have been promised, recruitment targets have been set and all parties have pledged to alleviate waiting lists. However, one factor appears to have fallen down the agenda ' and that is the issue of long term care.
With the retired population growing, and the older generations historically more likely to vote than younger adults, this lack of attention appears short sighted. The Liberal Democrats can perhaps be let off the hook. The party has promised to implement the Royal Commission's recommendation of free nursing and personal care for all and is working hard to raise awareness of the issue. The Tories have made vague reference to plans to reward individuals who ring-fence between £25,000 and £30,000 for LTC by picking up the tab when these funds run dry ' but without further details the proposal lacks substance. Worse still, Labour fails to even broach the subject in its manifesto.
In the last election Labour paid more attention to the issue, with a promise of a Royal Commission to investigate the best way forward for long term care in its manifesto. But the Royal Commission has come and gone. After months of stalling, its key proposals were rejected. Although plans to improve the provision of care and a commitment to fund nursing care have now been set in motion, progress has been slow. The Health and Social Care bill was finally squeezed through on the last day of parliament, yet with the Act only due for implementation in October the Government has failed to make any changes in an entire term of office.
The Scottish have fared better in this respect. Thanks to devolution, the Scottish Parliament has been able to take its own course of action and is investigating the financial viability of free personal care. However, those in England and Wales have every right to feel let down by a Government that promised much but changed little.
This situation has been highlighted by the Liberal Democrats in what it calls 'the scandal of long term care under Labour'. It cites that almost 70,000 elderly people have been forced to sell their homes to fund long term care costs over the last year ' an increase of almost 30,000 from when research was last carried out back in 1995.
Labour's failure to address these issues and to increase funding seems hypocritical. It maintains that healthcare provision should be based on clinical need and free at point of use, so it seems unfair that an elderly individual with Alzheimer's could be forced to sell their home to buy care in a nursing home.
So the Liberal Democrats should be congratulated for putting long term care firmly on the agenda, but in a minority position, its plans are unlikely to come to fruition.
The message is therefore loud and clear. We cannot rely on the State to resolve the problem of funding care in old age ' therefore IFAs have a vital role in encouraging the public to consider the alternatives.
