Medilink

By 2026 one in five people will be aged 65 or over. The ageing population is on average getting older, and between 2008 and 2032 the number of over-85s will have doubled. In 2032 there are projected to be 3.1 million over-85s (Office for National Statistics, 2008). Increased morbidity will increase the need for health and social care services. An estimated 1.7 million more people will have a need for care and support in 20 years’ time. This highlights the needs for a fair and affordable system. It also brings in to questions how we will meet and fund the rising care expectations of an increasingly older populace.

Social care reform is at the top of the Government’s agenda. According to Care Services Minister Paul Burstow “The current system is unsustainable – it cannot go on as it is” (20 May 2010). The Coalition: our programme for government, published on 20 May 2010, outlines the government’s commitment to reform the system of social care to provide much more control to individuals and their carers, and to ease the cost burden that they and their families face.

A new independent commission will be established to advise the government on the future funding of long-term care. The commission will consider a range of ideas, including both a voluntary insurance scheme to protect the assets of those who go into residential care, and a partnership scheme. The government will also break down barriers between health and social care funding to incentivise preventative action; extend the greater roll-out of personal budgets to both older and disabled people and carers to give more control and purchasing power; and increase direct payments to carers and better community-based provision to improve access to respite care.

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