Ed Miliband offers cross-party talks on future of adult social care

Labour leader says financial turmoil at Southern Cross raises ‘important questions’ about care system’s future The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has offered to hold cross-party talks with the government on the future provision of adult social care and called for a full and independent inquiry into alleged abuse at one home. Miliband also highlighted the financial turmoil at the Southern Cross care homes group – which he said had seen financiers “cream off millions” while the care of tens of thousands of elderly people was put at risk – as another issue that raised “important questions” about the care system’s future. With the government’s Dilnot commission on adult social care due to report next month, the Labour leader said he was making a “serious offer” to David Cameron to engage in talks about its recommendations. He conceded that “every serious attempt” to solve the pressing challenge of social care provision had foundered on a failure to find a political consensus, but said he would come to a new round of talks with an “open mind” to ensure British people got “the serious debate they deserve, so they can get the care system they deserve”. Speaking at a press conference in London, Miliband cited a previous attempt to reach an agreement on the future of social care which collapsed in early 2010 after the Conservatives accused Gordon Brown of planning to levy a £20,000 “death tax” on estates to fund a national care service. “We will come to those talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past,” he said. “But the principles are clear – high quality care for those that need it, funded in a fair way, with proper accountability for those who deliver the care. “Let’s get round the table … work in the national interest towards real change which addresses one of the big long-term problems in our country.” Highlighting some of the problems that have surfaced over recent weeks, Miliband said that he had been “shocked” by scenes filmed at the Winterbourne View care home, near Bristol, by an undercover reporter from the BBC’s Panorama programme. He said reviews by the Care Quality Commission and South Gloucestershire council were not enough, adding that both bodies were involved in the failure. “There must be an independent investigation into what happened and what lessons need to be learned, and the government should announce it straight away,” he said. Miliband also drew on the problems at Southern Cross, where he said residents appeared to have been treated “merely as commodities”, by financiers. The government should now examine whether the regulation of the private sector should “look not just at the quality of care provided but also cover the financial stability of organisations which provide these vital services for hundreds of thousands of elderly people”, he said. He warned that the collapse of a major provider, responsible for the care of hundreds of thousands of elderly people, could have serious consequences for the taxpayer. “As we have seen previously with the banks, there are industries – and health and social care services are one such example – where corporate failure can have consequences far beyond the loss to shareholders and investors,” he said. “Just as with the banks, in the end the government would have to step in and pick up the tab.” Ed Miliband Labour David Cameron Liberal-Conservative coalition Southern Cross Healthcare Healthcare industry Private equity Social care Older people Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.