A significant majority of respondents to a public consultation have supported a limit or ‘cap’ to how much an individual should spend on care.
The ‘What will care cost YOU?’ consultation was one of the top 10 highest response received for a consultation in recent years.
Essentially, the consultation posed two questions, who should pay for care and how can we make it more sustainable?
The question was one which former DHSC Minister Lawrie Hooper committed to in his manifesto during the 2021 election and was something of a passion project during his time as minister.
The two choices were broken down into a ‘Mixed Model’ (based on the Jersey ‘threshold and cap’ system) and the ‘Free Personal Care’ Model (based on the NHS-style Scottish model).
Society Pays
Both models would enable more people to protect more of their assets and income and would provide the option for more people to receive their care at home, but will add to the health and social care bill.
A total of 1,227 responses were received for the consultation.
Responses showed an almost equal split, with 48% in support of a free personal care model, and 45% opting for the mixed model. Only 5% wanted to continue with the current system; and 2% did not answer.
Of those, a significant majority (78%) agreed that the amount individuals should pay towards care should have a limit or ‘cap’.
However, they felt that a fixed amount was not acceptable or fair. Instead, they preferred a percentage or sliding scale, in essence, the more you have, the more you pay.
2025
As a result of this feedback, the Health and Care Transformation Programme (HCTP) team is testing a sliding scale of thresholds and caps that are a percentage of a person’s overall income or assets, rather than standard set amounts.
Once work on the cost model has been completed, it will be shared with Treasury to consider how, and if, a new model might be funded.
The HCTP team is also assessing the affordability of implementing a new model, along with exploratory work around how any potential feasibility issues might be addressed or minimised.
Once this work is complete it is expected that findings and recommendations will be presented to Tynwald in 2025.
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