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BURNHAM S WARNING ON COST OF CARING FOR THE OLD INDEPENDENT

Burnhams warning on cost of caring for the old

Forcing people to pay in advance is only way to ensure peace of mind, minister says

Saturday 20 February 2010

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A crisis in social care for the elderly has made it essential for the Government to force the public to fund growing retirement costs, the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, was warned yesterday.

He told delegates at his high-profile conference on social care yesterday that forcing people to pay for their future care costs may be the only way of giving peoplepeace of mind that they will not be left unable to afford their care bills.

Sources inside the meeting said there was consensus among the audience of social-care workers, councils and charities that the time had come for compulsory measures to be brought in to deal with the problem, seen as a looming crisis for Britains ageing population. There are warnings that major problems will emerge within seven years, with skills shortages also appearing as demand for carers outstrips supply. The Government has yet to finalise its plan to ease the crisis. It has only outlined options including compulsory and voluntary systems of payment. In a memo handed to delegates at yesterdays conference, Mr Burnham said that the most controversial option, a levy on a care patients estate when they die, wou...[more]