§ 19. Mrs. Anne CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to develop alternatives to the institutional care of older people; and if she will make a statement. [17579]
§ Mr. BowisThe community care changes include among their objectives the development of alternatives to institutional care. The "Caring for People Who Live at Home" initiative, which began in 1992, and the guide, "Diversification and the Independent Sector", which was issued in October 1993, are specific examples of our encouraging local authorities to work with the independent sector to develop non-residential care services.
§ Mrs. CampbellIs it not disgraceful that Rose Robinson, who was mentioned in last week's Sunday Express, has had to spend £45,000 of her nest-egg on care in a council home—care that previously would have been 14 available to her on the national health service? What are the Government going to do about the lottery in health care for elderly people?
§ Mr. BowisThe hon. Lady knows perfectly well that, if health care is required, it is provided free at the point of delivery by the health service. If doctors decide that health care should be provided in a nursing home, they will provide it and the NHS will pay. If doctors decide that a person's needs are no longer for health care but for social care, then, as Gordon Borrie's Social Justice Commission—the proposals of which will perhaps be adopted by the Labour party—says, it is a question of finding a suitable package of care for an individual. That has always been the case, and it is the case now. The hon. Lady should stop frightening people, and welcome the progress that has been made for care in this country.