The Hereford Times

Johnson calls for 'radical change'

8:39am Monday 12th May 2008

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has called for "radical change" in social care amid claims the system in England is heading towards a £6 billion funding gap within 20 years.

He stressed the importance of people using new technology to help manage their own conditions as he launched a consultation on the future of social care.

Mr Johnson said public funding was a "vital part" of the debate, but it was "also a question of individual choice, enabling people to live as independently as possible for as long as possible."

Innovation and technology should be at the "frontline of the NHS to help people manage their conditions better themselves," he added.

State support for social care is currently means-tested but the ageing population means pressure on the system is set to increase.

The prediction over the funding gap comes from the Personal Social Services Research Unit. It claims that if current funding levels continue and care needs rise as predicted, social care in England will cost £40.9 billion in 2041.

Alongside the six-month consultation, a £31 million pilot scheme over three years was announced by Mr Johnson, trialling new "innovative" technologies to monitor people's health.

The pilot scheme will cover Kent, Cornwall and Newham in London, where people with conditions such as diabetes, heart and chest problems, as well as the elderly and the frail, will use the technology.

Mr Johnson said: "Society is going through huge change - care and support must adapt to meet the challenges this will bring because the current system is simply not sustainable in the long term.

"There is no option of a quick fix. Radical change is needed to bring together the range of activities, services and relationship that underpin care and support so that people are clear about what they are entitled to and how and where they can get it."