Care news

• Nearly 70,000 may die waiting for adult social care before Johnson plan kicks in

  12-09-2021 20:00
  
  Exclusive: Labour says analysis exposes ‘gaping flaw’ in PM’s plan to resolve social care crisisNearly 70,000 people in England are likely to die waiting for access to adult social care before the changes revealed this week by Boris Johnson come into force, reveals analysis that Labour says “exposes a gaping flaw” in the plan.Criticism has continued to mount after the prime minister announced a 1.25% tax to be paid by workers and businesses aimed at finally resolvin
  
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• Great British delusions | Brief letters

  12-09-2021 17:42
  
  The Proms | Pétanque | Tennis | Social care | Jeff BezosSinging Rule, Brittania! and brandishing flags at the Proms may be a tasteless bit of musical comedy (‘Rewrite Rule, Britannia!’ What would you do with the Last Night of the Proms?, 10 September) but it is nothing like as dangerously delusional as ministers labelling everything from foodstuffs to railways as Great British. Presumably, this silly designation would be off-limits if Scotland unfortunately went independent?Ge
  
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• Unison chief warns this could be year of industrial action

  12-09-2021 13:00
  
  Christina McAnea points to rise in national insurance and says PM is pushing social care sector towards collapseThe general secretary of the UK’s biggest union has warned this could be the year of industrial action over pay as workers “feel they have had enough” with low wages, a national insurance rise and universal credit cut after working hard during the pandemic.Christina McAnea, who took on the role at Unison in January, also told Boris Johnson that his “smoke-and-mi
  
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• Boris Johnson’s generation game: the young and poor pay for the old and rich | Andrew Rawnsley

  12-09-2021 10:00
  
  His new levy is an unfair tax that won’t resolve the social care crisis it is supposed to fixReforming Britain’s creaking provision of social care has long been treated as a political “third rail”: an issue so charged that no politician dare touch it for fear that their reputation and popularity will be electrocuted.Tony Blair and David Cameron stayed well clear. Theresa May came up with a plan that caused such a jolt that it cost her a parliamentary majority when she sud
  
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• Experts warn of large hidden costs in UK’s social care shake-up

  12-09-2021 09:30
  
  Government plan to cap contributions at £86,000 may still leave people facing significant bills for living expensesMany people will still rack up sizeable costs when it comes to paying for social care, experts say, despite government pledges to protect families from “potentially catastrophic” bills.Ministers last week announced a huge shake-up of adult social care and how it is funded – but, as with many financial deals, there is plenty of small print that could catch out
  
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• Social care: tax hikes, broken promises and more pain to come

  12-09-2021 09:00
  
  Boris Johnson has imposed a ­manifesto-busting 1.25-point rise in national insurance, taking public spending to its highest ever level in peacetimeBoris Johnson appeared, on the surface at least, super-confident as parliament returned last week to tackle the vast backlog of challenges that Covid-19 has left piled high in ministerial in-trays across Whitehall.On a visit to a care home in east London, the prime minister cheerfully clasped a mug saying Love Social Care before heading, full of e
  
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• Rightwing media hang Boris Johnson out to dry on social care

  12-09-2021 09:00
  
  The prime minister’s usual allies in the press have turned on the burdensome funding of his reformsThe parliamentary vote on social care passed pretty comfortably for the prime minister, but a nasty war over the funding of his social care reforms rages on in the Tory-leaning press. Accusations of treachery and “disgrace”, of addiction to tax hikes, of being an ideological void – and even of murdering conservativism – are all being laid at Boris Johnson’s door.
  
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• Social care plan will help just a tenth of UK’s older people in need

  12-09-2021 08:15
  
  Campaigners say proposals fail to tackle unmet needs in a sector already in crisis, while ‘red wall’ MPs fear a backlash from votersBoris Johnson’s flagship plan to fix social care will benefit a fraction of the people who need help, the Observer can disclose, as charities and campaigners urge ministers to act now or see thousands being left without any care at all.After it comes into effect in 2023, the new policy will directly help about 150,000 more people at any one time, a
  
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• Care sector: staff are quitting, flu is coming and the elderly are fearful

  12-09-2021 08:15
  
  Recruitment crisis has left families struggling to find help – and put more pressure on overstretched carersThere was a hollow laugh last week when the Observer asked a social care official about the crisis engulfing the sector. “Crisis? Which one?”Recruitment is one. The sector employs about 1.5 million people, but the number of vacancies is at about 120,000 and growing. This leads to crisis number two, unmet need. Continue reading...
  
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• The Observer view on the weaknesses of Boris Johnson’s social care levy | Observer editorial

  12-09-2021 07:00
  
  The PM’s flagship package to fix the care crisis looks like a job half done in leaving it woefully underfundedBoris Johnson’s plan to “fix the crisis in social care” has arrived after 18 months of procrastination and decades of heartbreaking complaints from dementia sufferers and disabled people denied the care they need. A health and social care white paper is imminent, possibly before Christmas, that will explain how the crumbling patchwork of social care providers, mos
  
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