If the social care system is to meet the needs of the millions of older and disabled people and carers who miss out on support, care should be decided at a national, rather than a local level, according to three leading charities. Help the Aged, Counsel and Care and Carers UK, working together as the ‘Right care Right deal’ campaign, argue that a nationally determined social care system would end the injustice of a care postcode lottery and help people better prepare for their future.

Ahead of the close of the Department of Health’s engagement process on 28th November, Help the Aged, Counsel and Care and Carers UK are calling for the frequently criticised local care support system to be replaced by a national structure. The ‘Right care Right deal‘ campaign members believe that a national system would be more clear, transparent and accountable. They argue that setting the criteria for assessing need at a national level will help ensure people receive good quality care, regardless of where they live.

Paul Cann, Director of Policy and External Relations at Help the Aged, says: 'The current social care system is in urgent need of reform. We need to be prepared for a radical overhaul. Local control of care has led to a system which is inconsistent and patchy. A national system of care entitlement would ensure people across the country could be clear about what they would get, should the need for care and support arise, and could plan their financial and other arrangements accordingly.'

According to Help the Aged, Counsel and Care and Carers UK, the benefits of a national system include:

Tackling the current geographical inconsistencies in whether or not people are eligible for public support;

Providing transparency and predictability about the support someone would receive if they need it; and

Setting out what proportion of the cost of care would be met by the state and what would be left to the individual.

Stephen Burke, Chief Executive of Counsel and Care, says: 'Older people and carers tell us they are baffled by and fed up with the postcode lottery in care. They want a care system that is simple and fair. And above all they want a system that is consistent and transparent so it’s clear what people get and what they pay for wherever they live. That’s why we are calling for radical reform of the care system to tackle what is seen as being particularly unfair at the moment. Other countries where care has been successfully reformed have adopted a national framework of entitlements and standards that are delivered locally.'

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Cares UK, concludes: 'The present system is unjust and carers are getting a bad deal, day in, day out. Our current system is over-complex and fails to deliver the services and support that carers and their families need. A fundamental overhaul is urgently needed that provides us all with a modernised system that is fit for the 21st century. Carers have voted overwhelmingly to have a system of national entitlement that ends this postcode lottery.'

Right Care Right Deal is proposing a single national set of entitlements for older and disabled people and their carers. This would include national eligibility criteria for care and an entitlement to: 

Good quality information, advice and advocacy about care services;

An assessment of need, regardless of the level of need presented, or the wealth of the individual;

Good inspection and regulation of services; and

A right to a personal budget and any support needed to spend it.