Long Term Care

I have long been calling for an end the false distinction between nursing and personal care.  Please see below for some of my lobbying work on this issue.

May 2006

I tabled the following Early Day Motion to continue pressing the Government on this matter after two reports were published from Sir Derek Wanless and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation:

EDM 2171

LONG-TERM CARE FUNDING

Jones, Lynne

15.05.2006

That this House welcomes the recent investigations by Sir Derek Wanless and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) into the funding of long-term care; notes the key conclusion of both reports that the present system of long-term care funding in England is neither fair, intelligible nor sustainable; further notes the findings of the research commissioned by the JRF that the introduction of `free personal care' in Scotland as recommended by the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care has been containable within the Executive's resources and has brought real benefits; regrets the continuing failure of the Government to act fully on the Royal Commission's recommendations in England; welcomes the recent indications from the former social care minister that this issue is under active review; and calls on the Government to bring forward as a matter of urgency new proposals to address effectively a situation that causes distress and financial hardship to thousands of people.

 

April 2005

In recent months I have been working on this issue in liaison with the Alzheimer’s Society.  Last Session, I tabled an Early Day Motion (an ‘EDM’ is a type of petition for MPs) supporting their campaign and calling for charging for essential healthcare to be ended, particularly focussing on people who suffer from dementia.   The text of the motion is reproduced below.

In 1999 a panel of nine Royal Commissioners recommended that both nursing and personal care should be, in principle, free at the point of use, both in residential and domestic settings.  This was followed up by a further statement by the Commissioners on the affordability of the policy, in 2003.  To highlight their work, I tabled an EDM supporting the position statement put forward by the Commissioners, welcoming the decision of the Scottish Executive to implement the Commissioners’ proposals and calling on the Government to implement the proposals in the rest of the UK.  The text of this EDM is also below.

I have been sending all the communications that I have been recieving from constituents on this issue to the relevant Minister at the Department of Health, Stephen Ladyman MP, reiterating my call for the Government to urgently review its policy on charging for nursing and personal care.

EDM 1621

	ALZHEIMER'S SOCIETY CAMPAIGN TO END CHARGING FOR ESSENTIAL HEALTHCARE	08.09.04
	Jones/Lynne

That this House recognises that people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia have a physical disease of the brain and that their care needs result directly from that disease; notes that the Government's current definition of nursing care fails to include nursing care provided by care staff such as healthcare assistants specialised in providing nursing care to people with dementia; supports the campaign of the Alzheimer's Society to end charging for nursing and personal care for people with dementia; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government urgently to review its policy on charging for nursing and personal care.

 

EDM 230

	COST OF PROVIDING FREE PERSONAL CARE	08.12.03
	Jones/Lynne

That this House supports the position statement put forward by nine members of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care in September 2003 reaffirming their 1999 recommendation that both nursing and personal care should in principle be free at the point of use, in both residential and domestic settings; notes the statement by the Royal Commissioners that 'There are no overwhelming resource impediments to the implementation of the Royal Commission's recommendation'; further notes that the £1.1 billion gross annual cost of free personal care is modest in relation to the benefits that would accrue to older people, their families, carers and to the public as a whole; welcomes the decision of the Scottish Executive to implement the Royal Commissioners' proposals; and calls on the UK Government to implement the proposals in the rest of the UK.