End scandal of social care NOW

THE Daily Express and campaigners for the elderly have laid down the gauntlet to all major political parties to commit to a national strategy to end the social care crisis.

- Martyn Brown

We are demanding they include a pledge for a dedicated social care plan in their General Election manifesto.

Campaigners say urgent action is needed to stop the suffering of thousands of older people every year.

Malcolm Stephenson, a member of the Silver Voices campaign group for the over-60s, said his mother Rita had to sell her home to pay the "astronomical costs of residential care" after being diagnosed with dementia.

The former NHS worker ended up paying £150,000 over the four years she was in the care home. She passed away in 2021 at the age of 96.

Scandal

Mr Stephenson has thrown his weight behind the joint "Stop Homes Being Sold To Pay For Social Care" petition on the Change.org website.

He said: "I am supporting the campaign to get politicians to deliver their promises, so that this plight is not suffered by thousands of other older people each year.

"The social care system is in urgent need of radical reform, which keeps getting put off."