National Care Association respond to Prime Minister's pledge to reform sector
The organisation based in Kent say they're hoping to hear more about how it would work
Andy Burnham has reaffirmed his commitment to address the longstanding issues plaguing the adult social care system in England.
The Prime Minister criticised previous administrations for failing to reform social care, which often forces individuals to sell their homes to cover costs, contrasting it to the NHS's free point-of-use model.
He highlighted the plight of those with savings over £23,250 who miss out on council assistance for care costs.
Speaking to reporters, Burnham expressed dismay at politicians' inability to tackle this "major issue," calling it "damning" of his generation.
Labour, under Sir Keir Starmer, also faced backlash for scrapping a proposed £86,000 cap on personal care costs, citing feasibility concerns.
Burnham, who has personal connections to the system due to his father's Alzheimer's condition, is resolved to make reforms before finishing his term.
"Face it and fix it," he stressed, referring to previous delays as "not defensible."
Social care reform remains unfinished business for Burnham after attempts as health secretary in Gordon Brown's administration were derailed.
One person who worked with him during this time, was Nadra Ahmed, Executive Co-Chair of National Care Association, a group based in Rochester who represent small and medium sized care-providers across the country.
Talking to Greatest Hits and Hits Radio Kent Ahmed said: "We've had this promise, commitment, vision from successive prime ministers, I have heard it all before.
"However, I worked with Andy Burnham under the Brown government, he has always had an interest in social care. He's always talked about it. He crafted a white paper. He's committed to a national care service, so it will be interesting if he can actually convert that vision that he has and make it happen.
"We are going to be very focused on trying to understand what it is he wants to do and to support him to make sure that we've got a robust option for the people who need care and support."
On the scale of demand for a new system Ahmed added:
"Social care is probably the least known of the health services. Everybody knows what the NHS does. And God forbid, anyone needs that sort of acute attention. They know where they can go.
"When you need acute services, you go to the NHS. When they've dealt with those services, then your recovery starts in social care.
"that could mean that you are given support in your own home, or it could mean that you go into a care service, or you have physios, mental health teams that support you.
"We go across all genres. We employ more staff than the NHS and we employ more, we look after more people than the NHS on any given day."
On how the new plans for local authorities across areas such as Kent could pose a challenge to this she said:
"There is a postcode lottery element of it, there's no doubt about it.
"With the Prime Minister wanting a devolved way of working, we know that there are going to be scenarios where even Kent, for example, is going to be further devolved into authorities.
"So I think it's really challenging.
"It can't be run from a centre because the north-south, east-west divide is very different.
"There are some very small counties, and of course there are some very large counties.
"If we are going to be looking at unifying it in any way, then it should be around the individual that we support. So there should be a really clear pathway as to what level of care and support any individual should be getting once they've been assessed as needing care.
"And if we've got that figure right, then the rest could be up for grabs."
But overall, the organisation expressed optimism that the government could bring about meaningful changes.