In the Telegraph today, Paul Burstow expresses his concerns for social care under the Conservative Government. He writes:

Ninety per cent of NHS leaders now believe that social care cuts are directly affecting patient care, while social care leaders report that over half of the providers they work with are facing financial difficulties. This is not sustainable.

Social care has always been the poor relation of the NHS, but in the last Government, Norman Lamb and I made the reform of social care a priority, and, we made more progress in five years than the previous government did in thirteen. We secured an extra £7.2 billion, reformed social care law putting well-being and prevention centre stage, limited individual exposure to care costs and made sure no one should ever again have to sell their home to pay for care. And we laid the groundwork for bringing the NHS and social care together with one budget.

But he sees all that being placed at risk.

But against a backdrop of further deep cuts to local authority budgets, this could never go far enough. Social care has had it tough, but the next five years could make the last five years seem like the good days.

The Care Act was designed to end the postcode lottery of who was entitled to care and to significantly broaden access to publicly funded support – with the introduction of a cap on care costs and a much more generous approach to means testing. It also aims to drive improvements in the quality of care by discouraging 15-minute visits and putting well-being at the heart of everything.

But cash strapped Councils are struggling to make the change from crisis response to prevention. And will the cap on life time care costs and more generous means test due to start in April 2016 see the light of day? The Treasury could see this as a quick win for cashable savings, throwing the whole question of who pays for care in the air.

You can read the full article here.