Andy Burnham has pledged to reform the adult social care system in England, meeting the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to try to find “common ground” on the issue.He wants an independent review of care to be brought forward by a year to 2027, as well as major reforms to pay and conditions for staff and the creation of a national care service.But the prime minister said “difficult decisions” would have to be made on tax to fund sustainable change, adding that in an “ideal world” no-one should have to sell their home to pay for care.BBC Your Voice has been speaking to families affected by what they see as shortfalls in the system.Emma Riley has been caring for her mother Carol, who has dementia, since she lost her father 18 months ago.”She’s a cracking lady, still with a sense of humour but she’s living with this awful condition,” said Riley, from Manchester.She is paying £34 an hour for a care company to come to the house three times a week, which she describes as a “huge chunk of money” although she is happy with the level of care.Riley wants to keep her mum in the family home, but the caring commitments affect her job as a dental nurse.She started applying to the local council for funding to support her mother at home at the beginning of the year, but six months on, she is still waiting for a final decision. “It’s not the social worker’s fault, it is just the caseload,” she said. Riley called for more communication to help her navigate the system, adding: “I’m blindly going through it at the moment.”Every day I’m just winging it but there’s a human being upstairs.”Riley said she heard the prime minister’s speech and it had left her feeling “quietly confident”. Burnham has announced that a review of social care by veteran Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Casey would now be published next summer.”I do think Baroness Casey will make the changes we need,” Riley added.
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‘We were left to figure things out ourselves’ on social care
