UK social care: Burnham seeks plan within a year

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday he wanted recommendations for a National Care Service in England within a year, relaunching a long-running push to change care for elderly and vulnerable adults.

Speaking at a care home in north London less than two weeks after becoming prime minister, Burnham said he was determined to tackle social care again “for my dad and the millions like him”. His father has Alzheimer's disease and lives in a care home.

Burnham said he was expediting a review of the sector ordered by his predecessor, Keir Starmer. He said he had asked for recommendations on developing a national care service to be brought forward to a year's time rather than 2028.

He was due to hold a cross-party meeting later Wednesday with the main opposition Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has asked him to rule out tax rises or increased borrowing to pay for reforms.

Burnham said social care and palliative care needed to be resolved before any future debate on legalising assisted dying. A bill to legalise assisted dying failed in parliament in April after getting bogged down in Britain's unelected upper house.

Unlike the publicly funded National Health Service, care for elderly and disabled people is largely privatised in Britain. Home and residential care is means-tested, and local authorities responsible for providing services are struggling to meet the demands of an ageing population.

King's Fund figures cited in the material put total expenditure on adult social care in England in 2024/5 at £34.5 billion. Problems in social care also add pressure to NHS hospitals when elderly and dependent patients cannot be discharged because suitable care is not in place.