 On Monday I visited Godden Lodge Care Home in Thundersley with the Conservative Shadow Health Minister Mike Penning MP. I've driven past Godden Lodge umpteen times but until today I didn't appreciate what a large and sophisticated facility it is.
The residential home is run by BUPA, which few people realise is a not-for-profit, mutual organisation which means that without shareholders, they can plough all their proceeds back into their health-care work. As a result, they have been able to spend over a million pounds on improvements and an extension in the last year.
Mike and I talked through the complex problems around care home funding with the managers before visiting the new Appleton Wing, which as an ex-Appleton School pupil Mike took a special interest in. I had a particular interest too because Godden Lodge was where my still much-loved and missed, Conservative predecessor, Sir Bernard Braine MP, lived out his final days.
Nationally, the Conservative Party were launching our draft manifesto for the NHS on Monday and one of the key policy commitments is to tackle the current injustice of forcing older people to sell their homes to pay for their residential care.
We are offering a very sensible, practical solution to give peace of mind to home-owners without increasing tax. In England, all the costs of residential care must be met by the individual if they own just £23,000 or more in assets – including the value of their homes. Most pensioners only have modest savings, so practically anyone who has worked hard all their lives to pay for a home of their own is at risk if they need to go into care. The average amount in fees for entering residential care is over £50,000, but that can be far more if they need to stay for several years.
There are very few insurance products on the market that cover people for care home costs, and they are typically far too expensive for most people. So a Conservative Government will introduce a new, voluntary scheme with a one-off joining fee of £8,000, which you can pay at age 65 in return for a guarantee that absolutely all fees for permanent residential care would be waived – for life.
This scheme would lift a major weight of worry from older people and their families, especially in Castle Point, where more people own their own homes than almost anywhere in the Country. Having heard today how stressful this issue is for families - often at a time when they should just be focusing on their loved ones, not talking to estate agents - this scheme offers a real, affordable alternative to losing the family home if someone needs residential care.
I'd just like to add, that I was immensely impressed by the professionalism, quality of care and the evident kindness of the staff, which I witnessed at Godden Lodge. | 
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