A new White Paper report has been launched, ‘Building the National Care Service’.

A White Paper detailing a new social care framework has been announced that will see the end of a postcode lottery for care, billed as the biggest change to the welfare state since the creation of the NHS in 1948.

Eight out of ten people in the UK will require care at some stage of their lives. By 2026 the number of 85-year-olds is set to double, and in the next 20 years 1.7 more million people will need care. The current social care system is simply not equipped to cope with this increase.

The proposed new comprehensive National Care Service (NCS) will be free for all adults with an eligible care need, based on a principle of shared social insurance and will be funded by contributions “from everyone in a fair way.” A consensus on how people should pay into such a system has not yet been reached.

It will be based on need, rather than the ability to pay, which will come as a relief to many, considering that a 65-year-old can expect to need care costing an average £30,000 during retirement. Sometimes, however, costs can escalate to as much as £200,000 for those who need extra care, such as those with severe dementia.

Andy Burnham, UK Secretary of State for Health, said at the launch: “This truly is a momentous day for elderly people and disabled people. The social care system is the only remaining part of our welfare state that is not organised collectively… There is an historic wrong here and we have to put it right.

“The government is committed to creating a National Care Service where care is free at the point of use – based on need. I recognise that too often the current system can be confusing and unresponsive. People get different levels of care in different parts of the country.”

Proposed changes to the system include:
•    From 2014 people in residential care for more than two years will not pay for their care.
•    People will be supported in their own homes if that is where they want to be.
•    There will be better support made available for carers.
•    The introduction of nationally consistent eligibility criteria for social care – dismissing the current “cruel postcode lottery”.

The current system of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will remain.

Michelle Mitchell‚ Charity Director for Age Concern and Help the Aged‚ welcomed the White Paper but voiced her concerns: “If it [the NCS] isn’t adequately funded‚ the vision of a new national care service cannot be delivered and will ultimately fail the most vulnerable people in our communities. Ministers must say how much it will all cost and how they plan to plug the immediate £1.75 billion black hole in social care funding expected to open up within the next two years.

“By the end of the next parliament‚ we’ll also need billions more to fund the growing need for social care; implement the new national entitlement, and fund the free care at home proposal.”