Care Support Independence

Views heard on how London’s care system needs to adapt to ageing population

Care Service Minister Ivan Lewis will be in London today as part of his six-month tour of events debating the future shape of the care and support system in the UK. Professionals in London’s public health, social care and NHS services as well as local third sector organisations will join the Minister to discuss their views on how best to develop a system for care and support that meets the needs of society into the future.

Care Service Minister Ivan Lewis said: "It is essential that we hear Londoners views on how we create a high quality, affordable care system for a rapidly ageing population in a way that promotes independence, choice and control for everyone. In 20 years' time the number of people living in Greater London over the age of 65 will have risen to over 1 million, and the number of people over 85 will have risen to over 140,000.

"We need to decide now how the care and support system must adapt. The current system is simply not sustainable. I urge people to get involved - the debate affects us all.”

As one London resident points out, you can never know when you, or a loved one, might need care and support. 53-year-old Dr Mandy Maddock, who is an advocate for Disability Croydon in south London, is visually impaired and living with diabetes.

She looks after her partially blind husband, and following the death of her sister, Mandy also took on the responsibility of caring for her niece and her five children.

She said: “You just never know when the unimaginable might happen, or your circumstances change through illness. People always think it’ll never happen to me, but they are wrong. There’s no way of knowing what life will throw at you.”

“I come from a big family – one of eight – and now I have five grand-children too. I don’t know what the future holds for the family, which is why I think it is so important that people take part in the debate about the future of care and support services. I want to have a say in the way these services are shaped in the future.”

Ivan Lewis is in the middle of a tour of 9 regions across England where he will hear views from a wide range of health professionals and third sector organisations on the future of care and support.

Millions of people across the country are involved with providing and using care and support. This reform is about finding a new way to help people stay active, care for family members, retain maximum dignity and respect and have the best possible quality of life. Members of the public can contribute their views through a website www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk