The Families Waiting on England's Social Care Reform
As ministers pledge to overhaul adult social care in England, families paying for care at home describe months-long waits for council decisions and mounting costs.
Families caring for relatives at home have described long waits for council funding decisions and steep private costs, as ministers set out plans to reform adult social care in England, the BBC reported.
Andy Burnham has pledged to overhaul the system, meeting the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in an attempt to find "common ground". His proposals include bringing an independent review of care forward by a year to 2027, significant changes to pay and conditions for care staff, and the creation of a national care service.
'A huge chunk of money'
Emma Riley, from Manchester, has been caring for her mother Carol, who has dementia, since her father died 18 months ago.
"She's a cracking lady, still with a sense of humour but she's living with this awful condition," Riley said.
She pays £34 an hour for a care company to visit the house three times a week. She described the cost as "a huge chunk of money", while saying she was happy with the standard of care being provided.
Six months and still waiting
Riley wants to keep her mother in the family home, but the commitment affects her own work as a dental nurse — a tension familiar to many people balancing employment with unpaid caring.
She applied to her local council at the start of the year for funding to support her mother at home. Six months on, she was still waiting for a final decision.
She was careful not to blame the individual handling her case. "It's not the social worker's fault, it is just the caseload," she said.
That distinction points to the underlying problem the reforms are meant to address. The delays families encounter are less about individual decisions than about the volume of cases moving through a system that has not kept pace with demand.
The funding question
The prime minister acknowledged that "difficult decisions" on tax would be required to fund lasting change, adding that in an "ideal world" no-one should have to sell their home to pay for care.
For families like Riley's, the practical measure of any reform will be simpler than the policy debate: whether the wait for a decision shortens, and whether the hourly cost of keeping a relative at home becomes manageable.
Reporting basis: BBC News, Your Voice.
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