Families Forced to Sell Their Homes

The Health and Care Bill which the government voted through this week represents a rushed, top-down reorganisation of our NHS. It will fail to integrate health and social care, erode local accountability, and includes plans for people with high care needs and assets under £186k paying more for their care.

The Government supported the proposal from The Department of Health and Social Care by agreeing a £86,000 cap on lifetime care costs which will leave tens of thousands of the UK’s poorest pensioners paying the same as wealthier people.

Peter Dowd voted against the bill, saying: “This is a moment of great pressure on the NHS. Yet there is nothing in the legislation to address the greatest challenges facing the NHS. I believe the Government’s focus must instead be on ensuring that services are appropriately staffed and have the resources they need.

“But instead, the government are yet again hitting hard working homeowners with higher care costs while the wealthiest remain untouched. Elderly people and their families across my constituency deserve better and are being failed yet again by this Tory Government.”

With the average house price standing at £135,000, many homeowners in Bootle constituency will be hit with higher costs, whilst those with homes worth over £186k will be unaffected.

The Labour Party remain committed to upholding the NHS’s founding principles as a comprehensive, integrated, and public NHS that is there for everyone when we need it – free at the point of need. The Labour Party will continue to resist any plans to allow further privatisation of the NHS.