Campaigner and care home owner Mr Padgham wants work on a National Care Service to start immediately (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
I have long thought we should take a hard look at other countries and see how they manage their social care system. We could learn a lot.
The system in Sweden is a case in point and something we should aspire to as soon as we are able.
I have always believed the current system we have in this country to be grossly unfair and that social care, like health care, should be free at the point of need, albeit with a small contribution from the individual.
This should be the case when we get a truly National Care Service which in my view, should incorporate both health and social care into one, franchised operation like the NHS.
It will take boldness from politicians and pressure from the public, but I believe people would be willing to pay a little more tax to have better quality social care in their own homes for as long as possible.
Of course, there will always be a need for care homes, but people deserve to be able to be supported where they choose.
What is clear is the public do not fully realise the catastrophic cost of social care until they or a loved one needs it and that it is means tested.
In many cases, some people cannot get any help whatsoever and there is little emphasis on prevention and the recent hospital to community emphasis seems a meaningless statement.
In fact, around 2 million people are in that category already.
Time then to move on from the postcode lottery of local authority-funded care subject to the vagaries of inadequate social care budgets. Time also to speed up the social care reforms. Three years is too long. Even one year for an interim report is not acceptable.
We have been waiting three decades for reform and we all know what needs to be done.
Let’s start today. Governments can act quickly when it views things as a priority.
Let there be a Nye Bevan moment on this and leave the county with a positive legacy. I for one would vote for that and I have no doubt millions of others would too.
Mike Padgham is Chair of The Independent Care Group, which speaks for adult social care providers.