Union attacks care home system
Updated on 09 July 2009
A leading trade union has hit out at the UK's care home system for the elderly after new research showed that two out of five places were funded by the residents themselves, or their families.
The GMB said that 56% of occupied care beds were fully or partly paid for by public funds, adding it would "not be a radical step" to introduce universal coverage.
The study of more than 200,000 care home beds showed that Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man topped the league of publicly funded beds at 80%, followed by the North (75%), Wales (69%) and Scotland (67%).
The southern home counties had the lowest proportion of occupied care beds supported by public funds, at 43%.
Sharon Holder, national officer of the GMB, said: "The welfare state was designed as a cradle-to-grave service - until the Thatcher government redesigned it as a cradle to care home service.
"This is grossly unfair as only one in 20 elderly people end their days in care homes. It is a complete lottery as to which one in every 20 end up in care and being asked to pay for their care. As these figures show, over half already receive support to pay for care, so it would not be a radical step to introduce a universal coverage like that of the NHS for the care service."
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