Labour reveals goal to make care for older people 'one service, one team, one person to call'

Labour has promised to integrate health and social care as part of a ‘new beginning’ for the NHS if it wins the next election.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has put forward the party’s plans for the NHS at Labour’s annual party Conference by pledging to rebuild and integrate social care into the NHS.

Aging society

The Labour party committed to helping more older people receive long term care in their own home and claimed this would not only improve the lives of patients but save the NHS money by preventing unnecessary hospitalisation.

Mr Burnham said: “The ever-increasing hospitalisation of older people is no answer to the ageing society.

“Bringing social care in doesn’t add to the financial burden. It is the key to unlocking the money. But it will mean change and you need to know what that means for you. And this is what I will say for any family caring for someone with long-term needs, one team around you.

“No longer should frail or vulnerable people be shunted around the system, from ambulance to A&E to noisy ward. Instead, this team will come to you. You will have a care plan personal to you and your family.”

Davina Ludlow, director of carehome.co.uk, a leading online guide to care homes, said: “Every winter, tens of thousands of elderly people end up spending long periods in hospital beds, rather than receiving the care that’s right for their needs. This could be delivered in their own home, or in a care home.

preventing national scandal

“Older people deserve a health and social care system that is seamless. The current, uncoordinated system is nothing short of a national scandal.

“It is crucial that the NHS works more closely with care homes, who work tirelessly to care for and support some of the most vulnerable people in our society, so that we can improve their quality of life. “So-called ‘integration’ of social care into the NHS is an encouraging step for older people, which can achieve better outcomes for them. But only if politicians back their words with the money needed to fund it properly.”

Janet Morrison, chief executive of Independent Age said: “We welcome a vision of the NHS that would create an integrated health and social care system that’s fit to meet the needs of an ageing society. Since older people are the most frequent users of NHS services, better coordination of care at home and in hospital makes sense.”

End 15 minute visits

Mr Burnham said Labour would put an end to 15 minute home care visits and end the stigma attached to the caring profession by making it part of an NHS workforce working to higher standards.

The Alzheimer’s Society welcomed the move to integrate health with social care but called for the next Government to address overall funding, claiming the party has not explained how it will fund the cost of integrated care.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society said: “We shouldn't assume that everything the NHS does is right and everything care providers do is wrong. A new system must take the best of both and put the patient and the carer's interests first.”

“People with dementia should have as much right to state funding for the support they need as people with other conditions such as cancer. Simon Chapman, director of Public and Parliamentary Engagement at the National Council for Palliative Care also welcomed the pledge and said: “Every minute someone in the UK dies, but too many people aren’t currently getting the end of life care that is right for them, which is why we welcome Andy Burnham’s vision of a health and care service that is truly there for people from cradle to grave.”

The Shadow Health Secretary wants the NHS to offer care to people which takes them from ‘cradle to grave’ with Labour planning to do this by improving support to carers and providing free care for terminally ill people and those with the greatest care needs.

Extra suport for carers

He said: “Today we announce new support for carers: protected funding for carer’s breaks; the right to ask for an annual health check; help with hospital car parking for carers; and we will go further.

“A national health and care service truly there from cradle to grave - from a new right to have a home-birth and a right to be in your own home at the end of your life, surrounded by the people you love, with your care provided on the NHS and no worry about its cost - starting with those who are terminally ill with the greatest care needs.”

Simon Chapman, director of public and parliamentary engagement at the National Council for Palliative Care said: “Every minute someone in the UK dies, but too many people aren’t currently getting the end of life care that is right for them, which is why we welcome Andy Burnham’s vision of a health and care service that is truly there for people from cradle to grave.

“Supporting more of us to be cared for and die in our place of choice, which for many of us is our own home, is a key part of this. We welcome Andy Burnham's desire to make this happen, through his proposals for greater investment in home care capacity and support for carers, as well as joined up health and social care services that work better together.”