Sir Derek Wanless, Author of King's Fund report on the funding of long-term care has commented on the system:
“The current system is chronically under funded. Budget increases not even keeping pace with demographic change have squeezed care services, and people with moderate needs have suffered most. With little or no support, people’s chances of staying healthier for longer are reduced."
The postcode lottery is alive and well in social care, with large inequitable differences in local authority charging. There are perverse incentives encouraging excessive use of care homes rather than care at home. Poor people with assets less than £21,000 are left with £19.60 a week personal allowance after care costs. It is the exact opposite of the rhetoric about independence and dignity.
Today, up and down the country, relatively few older people are eligible for NHS continuing care. The benefits of ‘free’ care have been replaced by means testing. This shift began more than 20 years ago, but it is a policy largely introduced by stealth, noticed only when people need help."
Long term care insurance: News update: May 2007
