After countless consultations, two commissions, various white papers, new legislation enacted, suspended and then abandoned, it now transpires that the reforms to the social care charging system will not go ahead until October 2025, dashing the hopes of thousands of people in England and Wales who were waiting for October 2023.
That was the date when the £86,000 cap on care costs and the £100,000 means-test were due to come into force, finally ending the widespread practice of families spending thousands of pounds each year on hefty residential or homecare fees.
Yet, few people will be surprised by the news of this latest deferment, as we have been here so many times before. Most did not expect anything substantial to change. Nonetheless, there was hope. That hope now has been extinguished for those approaching the end of their savings as they will be gone by the time these key reforms are enacted.
Those people who are unfamiliar with long-term ill health and the threadbare social care system might tentatively suggest that the affected could save themselves thousands of pounds each year by looking after their ailing relative themselves. All they would need to do is draw up a rota and get the whole family to pitch in.
As well-meaning as this sounds, the latest survey by the Carers Trust shows why this would be a wrong move. Not only would it lead to impoverishment, but poor physical and mental health would swiftly follow as family carers receive minimal support from the state, despite saving the UK economy a staggering £130 billion annually.
So, what’s to be done? One solution is not to get ill in the first place. The second is to encourage family and friends to prioritise their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. If they are already ill, support them to do everything they can to improve their health. There are around 540,000 people in England waiting for a care assessment, care review or social care package, on top of the 7.1 million people languishing on NHS waiting lists while they wait for treatment. It’s best to avoid joining either of those lists.
With the NHS now on its knees following decades of underinvestment and a nurses strike – the first in the Royal College of Nursing’s 105-year history – expecting any sort of timely health or care service now is fanciful thinking. So, taking your health in hand, while you can, makes accepting the calamitous state of NHS that bit more palatable, and frees-up the hard-pressed health service for those who most need it.
