Too little, too late?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his Government will not wait to solve the aged care crisis that “every government has flunked for the last 30 years”.

“We will end the injustice that some people have to sell their homes to finance the costs of their care while others don’t,” he said – suggesting consumers will be asked to contribute more to the costs of their care.

“We are finalising our plans and we will build a cross-party consensus.”

The PM added that the government “must work fast” to plan its response and to fix the problems that were “most brutally illuminated” during the crisis, including the “problems in our social care system”.

However, there is doubt about Mr Johnson’s commitment to this pledge.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock told a daily briefing on 2 June that it would not be “straightforward” to meet the Prime Minister’s target of getting the long-awaited reforms under way this year. Prior to the pandemic in January, Mr Johnson had said reforms could be five years away.

A recent survey of Conservative voters by financial services company Just Group found less than half (43%) believe the PM will produce a social care policy in this Parliament, dropping to 35% who think he will be able to actually put it into practice.

The same report also found the despite the huge number of confirmed cases and deaths across the UK’s aged care homes, only half (52 per cent) believe that agreeing on a social care policy will become a priority for the Government.

The Government was due to publish a green paper on the future of social care in 2018, but so far, nothing has been released.

Another £500 million (AUD$899 million) was allocated in December last year for adult social care in 2020-2021, but proposals by the sector for a ‘Care pension’ or a ‘Care ISA’ (an individual savings account for care) and a sperate suggestion by a thinktank for tax measures to fund care have also failed to be taken up by the Government.