THE leader of Hampshire County Council, Ken Thorber, has asked the public to join him in challenging the government urgently to confront the growing funding crisis in dealing with the country's mounting social care bill. His call came in the wake of a new report from the Local Government Association. Without a care? - the LGA's new report – reveals a startling gulf between the type of care people expect when they reach old age and the reality of what they may receive. The research predicts that within three years' time, virtually all help with basic care needs like shopping, cleaning and getting dressed will no longer be free. Mr Thornber, is also chairman of the County Councils Network, a special- interest group within the LGA, and chairman of the Innovation Forum, a partnership between government and all top performing councils with privileged access to ministers. "Hampshire was one of the first councils to warn ministers of the consequences of central-government funding not keeping pace with the needs of an ageing population and older people's increasingly complex needs. "Without a Care? shows that while most people expect help from their councils when they reach old age, the stark facts are that free universal social care is increasingly unlikely. "In Hampshire, demand for social care is going up at an alarming rate every year and our spending has increased by 67 per cent over the past six years. "Those services that the county council and others are able to provide are now having to be targeted on the most vulnerable members of our communities, with the highest levels of dependency, often at the end stages of their lives. "In Hampshire, we are doing something positive about this by modernising the way we provide adult care services and placing more emphasis on prevention, wellbeing, independence and choice. "We are working with others to provide a range of options - more extra-care housing to provide the round-the-clock security and reassurance without having to move into a residential home. "We are transforming our day centres into wellbeing centres and using advances in IT and the use of tele-care equipment to keep vulnerable people safe within their own homes. "Notwithstanding these advances, we would like to do more. "Basic care is crucial to the wellbeing and continued independence of our elderly citizens, supporting them longer in their own homes where they prefer to be, and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions. "We want the people of Hampshire to join us in our fight for fairer government funding so that they can receive the type of care they rightly expect."
