Campaigners for older people urge Government to 'turn a good Bill into a great Bill'

Ministers are being urged to welcome the recommendations of a Joint Committee on its Care and Support Bill, which released the conclusions of a cross-party group of MPs and Peers this week.

The recommendations included calls for a stronger focus on raising public awareness of care issues within the Bill, more provision of independent financial advice, a greater emphasis on prevention and an end to ‘contracting by the minute’. Focusing on the legal rights of the service user, the Committee also wants more protection for young carers and firmer safeguarding measures to prevent abuse and neglect.

Clare Pelham, chief executive at Leonard Cheshire, is among those to welcome the recommendations, commenting: “The Committee’s Report makes some hugely important recommendations. If the Government chooses to adopt these then they will turn a good Bill into a great Bill.”

She continues: “If they can also address the issue of eligibility, so that everyone who needs care and support receives it, then this Bill will become an historic achievement that puts dignity and compassion at the heart of care.

“Because we believe that every person should be able to live with dignity, we were particularly pleased to see the Committee recommending that the Government clamp down on unacceptable care. I hope that the Government will take on this challenge and end the disgrace that is 15 minute home care visits.

“I believe that we are on the path to care that we can all be proud of, and that this Report has given the Government some important directions for the journey.”

Jon Gooding, chair of the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO), too sees the publication as an important contribution to the future of care and housing.

He comments: “ARCO warmly welcomes the Joint Committee’s findings. Specialist housing has an important role in relation to an individual’s health and well-being. We believe that independent housing with 24/7 care delivered in a community setting presents an optimal solution for many older people in the UK. There is plenty of evidence to show that this model of housing and care works. The Committee’s call for pooled health, care and housing budgets across the NHS and local councils could unlock an entirely new way of working and would allow all partners to really deliver for older people, now and in the future.”

Chair of the Committee, MP Paul Burstow (the former Care Services Minister) defines the challenge for the Government as follows:

“We need care and support to be more focused on prevention and more joined up with health and housing. There is much in the government’s draft Bill to welcome; it cuts through a complex web of arcane legislation that people struggle with. But there is room for improvement.

“The government must take stock of its funding for adult care and support and think seriously about whether the transformation we all want to see can truly be delivered without greater resources.

“There is a growing imperative to join-up services so they fit around people’s lives and make the best use of resources. The whole system must shift its emphasis away from crises and towards prevention and early intervention. The draft Bill helps, but we believe it could do more.”

Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of care group Anchor hopes for a robust response and looks to reignite the debate surrounding whether England needs its own minister for older people, saying: “The Government desperately needs to move quickly on the points raised by the Committee. Without a joined-up approach to older people’s issues, we can’t deal effectively with the challenges that come with demographic change. An Older People’s Minister is long overdue, for the older people of today and tomorrow.”