Help The Aged Response To Conservative Information On Care Funding, UK

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 30 Jan 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Responding to information obtained by the Conservatives using the Freedom of Information Act which revealed wide variations in whether councils require patients to sell their house before moving into a care home or not. Kate Jopling, Head of Public Affairs for Help the Aged, says:

'This new information comes as no surprise. Realising you may need to sell you home to pay for care is often upsetting and this will be compounded by the knowledge that some people elsewhere may not need to.

This is not the only example of local variation. Postcode lotteries exist all though our care system and this is well recorded and acknowledged throughout the sector and in Government. If the social care system is to meet the needs of the millions of older and disabled people who miss out on support, we need to start moving to a national system of eligibility criteria.

'Local control of care has led to a system which is inconsistent and patchy. Guidelines are not enough to ensure fairness or the most equitable allocation of resources. A national system of care entitlement would ensure people across the country could be clear about what care and support they would get and could also plan their financial and other arrangements accordingly.'

Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation, neglect and ageism. It campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues affecting older people and to bring about policy change. The Charity delivers a range of services: information and advice, home support and community living, including international development work. These are supported by its paid-for services and fundraising activities - which aim to increase funding in the future to respond to the growing unmet needs of disadvantaged older people. Help the Aged also funds vital research into the health issues and experiences of older people to improve the quality of later life.

Help the Aged urgently needs donations and support to help it in the increasingly challenging fight to free disadvantaged older people from poverty, isolation and neglect.

Help the Aged

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