It is exasperating to see government once again pay lip service to social care, and fail to meaningfully address the deepening crisis (This sham of a Queen’s speech could prove the end for Johnson, Journal, 15 October). Social care services cannot continue to be a victim of political turbulence – hundreds of thousands of older people have already suffered after years of inaction and broken promises.
Research by Anchor Hanover, a provider of care and housing for older people, shows 91% of older people are fed up with successive governments’ all-talk-and-no-action approach to social care reform. To restore public trust, we need long-term solutions now – social care cannot survive on emergency cash injections.
For too long, kneejerk decisions have been made with little attempt to listen to those most affected. Anchor Hanover’s Programme for Change, shaped by their experiences, lays out a tangible plan of action.
In the next 15 years, 4.4 million more people will be aged 65 or over. We cannot wait any longer to secure a positive future for today’s and tomorrow’s older generations – we demand the government finalise its “clear plan” to reform social care as an immediate priority.
Jane Ashcroft
Chief executive of Anchor Hanover
• The Queen’s speech was totally lacking in any trace of compassion. The speech blanked the housing emergency disrupting the lives of millions of citizens. Also the hunger, homelessness, damage to disabled people, unprecedented shortening of life expectancy and increase in infant deaths. “My government” wrote a speech that ought never to have been delivered by the head of a Christian church. Our ethic places the health and wellbeing of all, particularly the poorest, at the top of the government’s agenda.
Rev Paul Nicolson
Taxpayers Against Poverty
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