Modern society sets the old against the young in ‘mutual incomprehension’, Dr John Sentamu has said, as he calls for a permanent solution to the elderly care crisis.
A report in The Daily Telegraph states: While British society is good at caring ‘for’ elderly people, it cares less ‘about’ them compared to other cultures, Dr John Sentamu wrote in an open letter to the Prime Minister.
The Archbishop said it is “widely acknowledged” that the current funding arrangements for elderly care are “unfit for purpose”.
He called on David Cameron to show “leadership of a particularly high order” in implementing the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission in order to address a “serious social crisis”.
The Commission on Funding of Care and Support, chaired by Andrew Dilnot, the former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in July proposed that an individual meets the first £35,000 cost of their care on a means-tested basis, after which the state would provide.
“While there is no evidence that other cultures care for older people more than we do, African and many non-Western societies more visibly care about older people,” the Archbishop wrote.
“A failing of today’s society is to set the old over and against the young, in a state of mutual incomprehension. In fact, the old need the young and the young, the old. An integration of the generations is critical to a mutually supportive society."
He called for greater co-operation between generations, citing the Book of Proverbs: “The glory of young men is their strength, the splendour of old men is their grey hair”.
“A truly caring and Christian society is therefore one that sees older people, not as a growing and irrelevant burden, but as a rich treasure store of energy, experience and wisdom to be placed at the service of the young and of its future."
The Archbishop said as people live longer, those who remain active need a “constructive occupation” – albeit not necessarily paid employment – “through which they can both contribute from the wisdom of their experience and sustain a sense of being useful to others, and therefore of purpose.”
He added: “Older people are important connecting links to a world that still shapes our opportunities but which we can quickly fail to comprehend. The value we are seen to place on their wisdom and the concern we show for their care are important litmus tests of whether we can build a caring as well as a confident society in the twenty-first century."
Dr Sentamu said the threat of having to sell a home to pay for care in old age “leaves many in fear and uncertainty as they approach one of the most vulnerable periods of their life”.
The proposed reforms, at a cost of £2bn, will help the poorest the most, the Archbishop said.
“I fully realise that, especially at a time of severe economic constraint, finding it will not be easy. But it compares with total annual Government expenditure of just under £700 billion. Moreover, if this investment in establishing a fairer system is not made, the cost of caring for older people falling on the NHS and other parts of the national budget is likely to go on increasing.”
He added: “We stand at a moment of serious social as well as economic crisis. At such a time, leadership of a particularly high order is called for. Dilnot has shown us the way forward. It is a call to action which our country cannot, must not ignore.”
The “clarion call” follows a highly political intervention by Dr Sentamu in the debate on NHS reforms in October, when he said health care “must not be market-led”.
A White Paper on social care will be published in the spring. A public consultation on the future of care closed earlier this month.
Paul Burstow, the care services minister, said: “We agree that social care needs reform and that’s why the Coalition Government acted quickly to establish the Commission on Funding Care and Support, chaired by Andrew Dilnot.”
“We will set out proposals for social care reform in a White Paper next year, with legislation to follow at the earliest opportunity.”