My name is Malcom Stephenson and my mother Rita had to sell her home to pay the astronomical costs of residential care after being diagnosed with dementia. I am supporting the over 60s organisation Silver Voices and the Daily Express in their campaigns to get politicians to deliver their promises, so that this plight is not suffered by thousands of other older people each year. The social care system is in urgent need of radical reform, which keeps getting put off.    

Ironically my mother devoted her whole working life to the NHS as a medical secretary and then as head of the medical secretaries’ department. After living with dementia at home for two years, she had to be admitted to a residential home as she was a danger to both herself and her neighbours. She was originally told that the NHS would pay for her continuing care, but this decision was reversed, and she ended up paying £150,000 over the four years she was in the care home. Her home had to be sold to pay her care home charges. She passed away in 2021 at the age of 96. 

The Conservatives promised in 2019 that no-one would have to go through what my Mum did, but the promised reforms to put a cap on the costs of care were kicked into the long grass. So far, neither of the two main parties has produced a plan to deal with this scandal. 

It is most unfair that if someone is diagnosed with mental health conditions (such as schizophrenia) or cancer they get lifelong free support, including residential care, under the NHS. But my mother had the misfortune of being diagnosed with dementia, another medical condition, but one which usually does not qualify for NHS support. So, she lost every asset she had built up over her working life. 

The social care system is crying out for reform, and I call on all political parties to bite the bullet, and come up with urgent solutions, in memory of my Mum and thousands of others like her.