Labour’s decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment is a cruel blow to some of the most vulnerable people in our society — like those living with dementia and long-term frailty.
Most are already facing a future of high costs for social care and need a warm home. The support that helps them to stay warm during winter is being removed.
As someone who used to work for Dementia UK, I know about some of the challenges that people with dementia and their families face.
Financial security and an uncertain future are high on the list. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, an estimated 63 percent of the costs of dementia are borne by patients and their families.
They are already losers in a national health lottery because a diagnosis of dementia is not deemed to be a healthcare need which qualifies for continuing healthcare funding from the NHS.
The same is true of many diseases and conditions leading to long-term frailty. Around a third of people with dementia don’t even have a diagnosis.
Winter Fuel Payments are continuing for people on Pension Credit but people with long-term frailties who are facing social care bills in the future do not automatically qualify.
Dementia is not a means-tested disease so why is the Government means-testing support for warm homes for people with dementia?
Imagine an NHS where you contribute to the hospital heating bill during your stay because the Government says you can afford it.
On top of taking £1.5 billion away from pensioners, Labour is also stripping another billion out of social care by scrapping the Dilnot reforms due in 2025. More people will face social care costs alone.
So where is Labour spending the money taken from older and more vulnerable people?
A bumper pay deal for junior doctors and train drivers on above-average salaries will cost about the same as the money saved from winter fuel and scrapping the planned Dilnot reforms.
But the cruel irony is that people with dementia won’t get the support of the NHS through continuing health care funding.
What a twisted world of Labour—boosting the salaries of people paid for by the state using cuts to people with serious needs that the state won’t pay for.
Joe Robertson is the Conservative Party MP for Isle of Wight East
