Steve Brine has welcomed news that the Government has announced the biggest overhaul of social care since the creation of the NHS.
The new measures will mean that nobody will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for social care, and £200 million will be invested to create specialised housing for the elderly. Patients will also be given access to personal health budgets to improve choice and entitlements to care, and more care workers will be trained to ensure all elderly people are treated with the care and dignity they deserve.
Although deferred payments for social care are available in some parts of the country, recent figures show that this only applies to 17.8% of those paying for social care in Hampshire. From 2015, everybody will be able defer the costs of their residential care.
Steve Brine said:"Because of these changes, nobody in Winchester & Chandler's Ford should be forced to sell their home to pay for social care during their lifetime.
"This is the biggest overhaul of the social care system in more than 60 years and it will make a huge difference to vulnerable patients but there's a huge amount of work to be done now we have this framework from the Secretary of State. The challenge now for MPs, of all colours, is to encourage the Government and especially the Treasury to put the necessary resources in place to stand behind this policy. That must happen but it must happen in a costed and long-term sustainable way."
More information...
You can read the full Ministerial statement here and take a look at the Department of Health at www.dh.gov.uk.