Call to implement Rowntree blueprint

Reforms to older people’s care proposed in a report last week should be implemented now, campaigners have said.

Proposals in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation study (Fixed payment scheme proposed, 27 April) would immediately help older people to live more independent lives while long-term changes are being drawn up, according to the King’s Fund, which held its own inquiry into the system under Sir Derek Wanless.

King’s Fund chief executive Niall Dickson backed the short-term measures recommended by the JRF, such as doubling the personal allowance for people supported by councils in care homes.

But he said major reforms, such as Wanless’s proposal for a guaranteed minimum level of care, would be needed in the long term.

Jane Ashcroft, director of care services at Anchor Trust, said the JRF proposals could “make a real contribution to enhancing dignity” by increasing older people’s financial independence and allowing them to keep more of their savings.