Personal Social Care: Funding

Baroness Boycott Excerpts

Tuesday 16th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I completely agree with my noble friend. It is right that we have a sustainable system that delivers what it says it will.

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

Do the Government have any plans to reintroduce a proper meals-on-wheels service? When I worked for the City of London, it came to light that only five boroughs were left providing a rudimentary service, yet malnutrition and dehydration are among the main reasons why old people go into hospital. So we save 15 quid a day maximum and end up with a £700-a-day bed from which you cannot go home. The simple provision of a meal would be both humane and healthy.

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Baroness makes an excellent point. I do not know about the distribution of such services, but she is absolutely right that what everybody wants—the cared-for person and those looking after them—is to stay in their homes and remain independent for as long as possible, which is why so much more care must be delivered in the home. I will write to her on the specifics of meals-on-wheels services.