Now the election is over and the dust is beginning to settle, it is time to reflect on the pledges made by Theresa May and the Conservative government. Will she stick with her controversial ‘Dementia Tax’? Will she backtrack due to fear of a revitalised Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party? Or will Northern Ireland’s DUP add another twist to the tale?

One thing all of the major political parties seem to agree on - thank goodness - is something needs to be done. For too long social care has been ignored with disastrous effects for both carers and those they are supposed to look after. According to the Office for National Statistics by 2025 over 1 in every 5 people in the UK will be over the age of 65 (up from 17.8% in 2015) - Those who may need care is increasing.

What about those available to help? Well, in London especially, things aren’t looking good. The price of land is at a premium with it becoming extremely expensive to build new care homes. Paul Burstow (former Care Minister) says we “are at crisis point” and that “successive governments have failed”. For example, Harringay in London alone has lost 23 care homes in the past 8 years. Where do these people go instead? Well, some stay in hospital which, unfortunately, struggle to provide them with the personal care they need due to an already huge demand placed on NHS hospitals. Some stay with family. This can place huge strains both financially and emotionally on loved ones.

So now we look to the future. It increasingly looks like Theresa May and the Conservative Party, propped up by Northern Ireland’s DUP, will be in power for the next few years – meaning it will be those two parties that will dictate the potential solutions to social care problems. The ‘Dementia Tax’ – taking the value of a person’s home into account when deciding how much a person should pay towards their own care – was not mentioned in the Queen’s Speech on 19th June. Does this mean that it will not be put forward into law? Well, it was disastrous to the Conservative Party in the Election and many attribute it to them losing their overall majority. What can perhaps be expected is a watered down version. We at Care on Demand expect an initial review into the problem with the conclusion being that more money will be needed to be pumped in by the government. What will be dropped, or at least cut back, will be the amount that each person will need to put in themselves before the government steps in to pay for the rest. The reason for this is that the Conservatives have alienated most of their core voters – middle class pensioners.

Here at Care on Demand we are looking very closely at what the fallout will be over the coming weeks. We will be sure to write another blog post when the government’s intentions become clearer. The good news is that the issue of social care is at the forefront of the Cabinet’s mind. Amazingly, it seems to have been an even bigger factor than Brexit when people casted their votes on 8th June. The bad news is that the government is still scratching its head with how to fix it. With so many factors at play – the hung parliament, the influence of the DUP, Scotland’s landscape changing with the success of Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Conservatives, the limbo of EU nationals in the care industry and austerity just to name a few – it is impossible to know exactly what things will look like in five years. Here at Care on Demand we are just happy that the powers that be are finally talking about it. Watch this space…