89 per cent of public reject current social care system finds Care and Support Alliance
89 per cent of English adults believe that older and disabled people shouldn’t have to bear all the costs for support with everyday tasks such as eating, washing and dressing, even if they have a small amount of savings, a poll finds.
The Care and Support Alliance commissioned the poll one year after the Dilnot Commission’s report into the funding of long term care.
The results represent rejection of the current system, in which if you have more than £23,500 in savings and need support with basic tasks like eating, washing, dressing or leaving the house you have to pay the full costs of that care, say the Care and Support Alliance.
It continues: “At present, every adult in England has a one in two chance of needing care costing £20,000 or more in life and a one in ten chance of needing care costing £100,000 or more. Once you move into a residential home the value of your house is included in calculating your savings.
“Under the Dilnot proposals, a suggested £35,000 limit would be placed on the amount of money that an individual would have to pay towards their care.”
The ICM poll also showed that:
• Almost seven out of ten, (68 per cent) believe that older and disabled people who need support with basic tasks don’t currently receive enough support
• 46 per cent know of someone in their family who has needed care and support with basic everyday tasks such as eating, washing and dressing and a further 4% had needed it themselves The ICM poll of 1000 English adults was commissioned by the Care & Support Alliance, a coalition of more than 65 organisations representing older and disabled people.
Simon Gillespie, chair of the Care & Support Alliance said: “The clear message from this polling is that the current system of unlimited costs for care is unacceptable to the public.
“This gives extra weight to our call to the Government for urgent reform of the social care system which leaves too many of our most vulnerable members of society without the support they need or terrified of spiralling costs.
“A year after the landmark Dilnot report into social care funding, we are still waiting for the Government to publish its long awaited White Paper on Social Care and, equally crucially, plans for how a future system would be funded.
“The longer they hold off on reform plans, the longer older and disabled people and their families continue to go without the support they need to live decent and dignified lives.”
The Care & Support Alliance is urging all those who care about the future of social care to write to their MP expressing their concerns and fears about the current system.
