National Pensioners Convention http://npcuk.org The campaigning voice of Britain's pensioners Wed, 09 May 2012 12:50:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Queen’s Speech delays decision on social care reform – again http://npcuk.org/902 http://npcuk.org/902#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 12:48:49 +0000 admin http://npcuk.org/?p=902 … See more ›]]> Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) has expressed its frustration at the government’s decision in the Queen’s Speech to produce a draft bill on reforming adult social care, rather than much needed legislation.
Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Everyone agrees that the current social care system is bust, but no-one seems prepared to do anything about it. Over the last 14 years we have had 20 separate reports and investigations into the problems that people face such as the postcode lottery of charges, poor standards of care, rationing of services and inadequate support for carers – and now we will have yet another draft bill that will further delay any decision being made. In the meantime, up to 1m older people are without the care they need and around 1m more are being treated unfairly by a social care system that shifts the responsibility and cost onto the individual rather than society as a whole. We urgently need a National Care Service funded like the NHS to solve the problems that people face – but today’s announcement merely means more bits of paper that can gather dust on a shelf in Whitehall.”
ENDS
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