The lack of action, or even a clear direction, on social care reform in England was a disappointment of Labour’s first six months in office. With the recruitment of Lady Casey to lead a review, the government has now made up its mind on how to approach one of the stickiest policy questions. But the proposed timeline is far too extended. By ordering further investigation of the issues, rather than setting out proposals, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and his colleagues have opted to preside over dysfunction for several more years.
The upshot is that the problems it causes will continue to mount up, both for the unlucky people who need the most expensive forms of care and for overstretched parts of the health service. Mr Streeting says that changes will begin to be set in train next year, when Dame Louise delivers interim findings. Failure to follow through on this commitment would be a shocking dereliction of duty by a government that was elected on the back of promises to strengthen public services, particularly in light of the impact on hospitals of social care shortages.
