Prime Minister has pledged to build a free at the point of need, National Care Service.

During an emotional speech to the Labour Conference, Burnham pledged to deliver a ‘person-centred, high-quality care service that starts in the home'.

Burnham said: ‘Broken social care will break the NHS too', promising to deliver a ‘landmark policy as significant as the NHS itself'.

He said previous politicians, including himself, had been ‘cowardly' in avoiding social care, acknowledging he may face political risk.

‘Someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off,' he added.

Burham vowed to deliver a system ‘where everyone contributes and everyone is covered, free at the point of use and no care charges paid out of your basic state pension'.

The Prime Minister said the triple lock pensions systems would be changed from 2030 to pay for social care.

It has been estimated that an NHS style social care system could cost more than £18bn a year by 2035.

Burnham has pledged to put his proposals forward in the next General Election but said he would begin ‘laying the ground now' for the National Care Service with guidance from Baroness Casey on how it is to be delivered.

He has asked Baroness Casey to complete her review by summer 2027.

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Jonathan Cribb, deputy director at IFS, said removing the ‘ratchet' element of the triple lock so that state pensions rise in line with average earnings growth would not be enough to pay for social care reform in the next Parliament.

Nuffield Trust deputy director of policy, Natasha Curry, said the amount of funding needed, will depend heavily on ‘exactly what is in and what is out of any public offer', warning the PM to ‘tread carefully' and build consensus before ploughing on.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King's Fund, said: 'Many genuine questions remain about how these reforms will work in practice and how much it will cost.'

Chief executive of The NHS Alliance, Sir Ciarán Devane, said: ‘A better funded, universal National Care Service would be a huge improvement on the present situation, but it won't on its own integrate better with the NHS. So as well as looking at the funding model, it will be important to ensure that reforms break down the barriers between health and social care, so both parts of the system are truly working towards shared goals and providing a seamless experience for patients.'

Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.