Aged care system seen needing overhaul

The care system for the aged is in desperate need of an overhaul, a coalition of specialists warned on Monday.

As the post-war baby boomer generation heads towards pensionable age, the 15-member "Caring Choices" coalition said the present system will buckle unless dramatic reforms are made.

The consortium, comprising caring and welfare groups, insurers, think-tanks and council bodies, urged the government to overhaul current funding practices so that future generations are not left weakened and vulnerable.

In a report entitled "The Future of Care Funding - Time for a Change" the group described the current system as not fit for purpose and unsustainable as the numbers of elderly people living in Britain is expected to rise by 50 percent in the next two decades.

Their conclusions, based on the opinions of more than 700 experts, criticized the use of "postcode lottery" and means-testing style of distribution of funding.

The report, led by charity the King's Fund, think-tank The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and welfare groups Help the Aged and Age Concern, called for better support for carers - especially unpaid ones - and the introduction of a part "user-pays" system to help cope with budgets.

The study, backed by other organisations including the Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation, also urged a rethink on means-testing, saying funding priorities should not just be given to people most in need but be spread more evenly across the community.

In comments released with the report, JRF director Julia Unwin said: "At present many older people and carers feel unsupported by a system that too often seems to be working against them, rather than giving them essential support at a time of their life when they are at their most vulnerable."

The government welcomed the report, saying demographic change was one of the major challenges now facing society and something it took seriously.

In a statement, Social Care Minister Ivan Lewis said the government would introduce a "radical agenda" for the sector this year including special budgets, better information for carers, as well as several new policy strategies due to be announced during the year.