Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan has set out three tests for cross-party social care reform talks with the Government.
Speaking exclusively to HM, Morgan said it was ‘incredibly positive' to hear Prime Minister Andy Burnham talk of social care reform but cautioned we have been here before.
‘There's been attempts to social care before,' Morgan noted. ‘I think 22 attempts. This will be the 23rd and so we need to do something differently this time if we're going to actually make any headway and not just talk about it a bit more.'
Morgan laid out three tests for reform: putting family carers front and centre through the Carers' Allowance and respite support; free universal personal care; and a cap on care costs.
The Lib Dems' spokesperson said she supported the Big Conversation being carried out with the public on social care as a means of raising awareness of the challenges facing the sector.
She supported the principle of a National Care Service provided it improved recognition of the social care workforce.
Morgan said the Lib Dems' ‘strong preference' was not to raise taxes to fund social care.
The Prime Minister has so far held one round of cross-party talks with the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.
Further talks are expected after the summer recess.
Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s HM magazine.
Further reading: Beyond the Language of Crisis: Fixing social care's workforce problem
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