POLITICIANS meeting at the Conservative and Labour Party conferences must be bold and go beyond Liberal Democrat proposals to provide an extra £5bn a year for social care, campaigners have said.
The Independent Care Group has called on the two other main parties to promise at least the extra £8bn a year experts say is needed to get social care back on track.
They say some of the extra money could come from savings made to NHS budgets because of better care in the community.
ICG chair Mike Padgham welcomed the extra £5bn a year promised by the Liberal Democrats at its conference in Bournemouth but warned that it wasn’t enough.
“All the experts say a minimum of £8bn a year is needed just to get social care back on an even footing and to begin meeting current demand,” he said. “So we need the political parties to be bold and promise at least that.
“This need not be all new money because some of it could come from savings made to NHS budgets once social care is properly supported and people are able to get the care they need in the community rather than in expensive acute hospital beds.
“Spending on homecare and on supporting care and nursing homes is an investment in keeping people well and out of hospital.
“The Liberal Democrats have nailed their colours to the mast on social care with a £5bn a year pledge for the sector. But we need to see the Conservatives and Labour better that proposal when they meet for their conferences.”
The ICG has produced specially-branded editions of its blueprint document, the Five Pillars of Social Care Reform for the three parties. It has written to the Conservatives and Labour, urging them to put social care on their conference agendas.