CAROLINE Ansell MP has welcomed the new social care plans:
“Those families caught up in today’s system of almost unlimited social care costs will see the proposals in the Government’s Health & Care Bill this week as a significant step forward.
Its introduction starts the parliamentary process where the Bill will be amended and improved over the incoming months. There is also an important impact assessment to come before any final vote next year.
Some aspects are immediately welcome like raising the threshold above which people must meet the full cost of their care from £23,000 to £100,000—more than four times the current limit. It would also be fair to say that other aspects of the Bill require much closer scrutiny. Successive governments have not delivered, this government is taking it on.
Beyond work on funding formulas, there are other serious issues to address too – how do we attract and develop those in the care workforce?
Thinking of unpaid carers too, often family members, this week also hosts Carers’ Rights Day and I would like to pay tribute to the team, volunteers and fundraisers of our local charity Care for the Carers. They do sterling work supporting carers in our town by bringing carers together in what can be a very isolating experience and signposting help in what can be a complex landscape to negotiate.
Carers UK see the Bill as an important opportunity to improve carers’ rights and so it is. I look forward to working with them.
Meantime, let’s make a special point of reaching out to friends today who are carers, a kind word can make a real difference. I was intrigued to learn, at Sussex’s 60th Birthday celebration this week, that there is a Professor of Kindness at the University!”