NAT welcomes new Green Paper and the opportunity it presents to reform the current social care system

NAT (National AIDS Trust) welcomes the publication of the long awaited Green Paper on social care. This looks at how as a society we can both pay for increasing social care costs and improve the way services are delivered.  

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT said:
 
“We congratulate the Government on tackling this difficult subject; the questions of how we improve and pay for social care are not going to go away. As people with HIV are increasingly living into old age, it is important that we take this opportunity to get involved in the debate and influence the future of social care.”
 
In the next 20 years the number of people aged 85 and over will double. In addition, disabled people and those with long-term conditions can now live longer, healthier lives. People living with HIV are part of this success with many people living into old age; the number of people over 50 accessing HIV care has grown from 1,679 in 1997 to 8,722 in 2007. The consequences of these successes are an additional 1.7 million people requiring social care, leaving a funding gap of £6billion.  
 
The Green Paper looks at how this funding gap can be met, as well as a setting out proposals for improving the current care model with a fairer, simpler system.  NAT will be preparing a response to the Green Paper over the coming months.
 

Notes to the editor:

For further information please contact:

Katherine Sladden
Communications Officer
NAT
020 7814 6733 / 07947 725299
press@nat.org.uk
 
NAT
NAT (National AIDS Trust) is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to transforming society’s response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.
Shaping attitudes. Challenging injustice. Changing lives.
 
www.nat.org.uk