Hunt promises one-on-one care for vulnerable people

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised that all vulnerable elderly people in England will receive one-on-one care from a personal NHS worker.

Announcing a review into later-life care on Monday (May 13th), Mr Hunt said that the NHS must assess the way it takes care of older people before dementia becomes a challenge too great to tackle effectively.

Proposed changes include shaking up out-of-hours care so that doctors have to take more responsibility in their communities.

He also set out plans for a single "named individual" to be allocated to a patients in need of specialist care.

"Nobody disagrees with the concept of a case manager,” Mr Hunt said. “But now we have to make a reality of that – because unless we do that we won’t solve the long-term issues around A&E pressures – and much more importantly we won’t give vulnerable elderly people the kind of care that the NHS has always been proud to give.”

Under the new plans, the payments by results scheme will be scaled back, with more emphasis being put on consistency.

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