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Labour's Ed Miliband to pledge longer social care visits Ed Miliband and David Cameron step up election battle
(about 1 hour later)
Ed Miliband is to set out Labour's "10-year plan" for the NHS including longer home visits by social care workers. Ed Miliband has set out Labour's "10-year plan" for the NHS including longer home visits by social care workers as the parties step up their campaigning 100 days before the general election.
The Labour leader will also pledge new safety checks to identify people at risk of hospitalisation and to recruit 5,000 new home care workers. The Labour leader has pledged new safety checks to identify people at risk of hospitalisation and to recruit 5,000 new home care workers.
There was an "iron curtain" between the NHS and social care, he told the BBC. Meanwhile David Cameron has been outlining plans to cut the benefits cap to pay for more apprenticeships.
Meanwhile, with 100 days to go to the election, the Conservatives have been outlining plans to cut the benefits cap to pay for more apprenticeships. The cap "encouraged work", he said.
In a BBC interview, Prime Minister David Cameron also hinted that pensioner benefits may continue to be protected from further welfare savings mooted for after the election.
All of the major parties have pledged what they say is enough money to maintain NHS services in the next Parliament after the general election.All of the major parties have pledged what they say is enough money to maintain NHS services in the next Parliament after the general election.
The Conservatives say they would ring-fence and "protect" the NHS budget while the Liberal Democrats have promised to meet "in full" the £8bn extra NHS managers say is needed by 2020 and UKIP has said it would commit an extra £3bn a year to the service.The Conservatives say they would ring-fence and "protect" the NHS budget while the Liberal Democrats have promised to meet "in full" the £8bn extra NHS managers say is needed by 2020 and UKIP has said it would commit an extra £3bn a year to the service.
'Perilous moment''Perilous moment'
Labour have promised to keep the NHS ring-fence and spend an extra £2.5bn a year across the UK by the end of the next Parliament. Labour has promised to keep the NHS ring-fence and spend an extra £2.5bn a year across the UK by the end of the next Parliament.
In a speech in Trafford, Greater Manchester on Tuesday, Mr Miliband will say the NHS faces "its most perilous moment" at May's general election. In a speech in Trafford, Greater Manchester on Tuesday, Mr Miliband said David Cameron had "totally betrayed" promises made on the NHS before the last election and "the country's most precious institution faced its most perilous moment in a generation".
Labour's previously-announced NHS pledges include 20,000 more nurses and providing cancer tests and results within a week. "David Cameron says he cares about the NHS but that is not enough. What tuition fees is for Nick Clegg, the NHS has become for David Cameron.
The 5,000 extra home care workers would treat terminally ill people in their own beds. "It has become a question of trust."
Mr Miliband will also spell out financial incentives for social care workers to spend more than 15 minutes on home visits. Under a Labour government, Mr Miliband said 5,000 extra home care workers would be recruited to treat terminally ill people in their own beds and spelt out financial incentives for social care workers to spend more than 15 minutes on home visits.
Limiting visits to 15 minutes is "a symbol of what has gone wrong in the NHS where failure and false economies threaten the financial future of the service", Mr Miliband will say. Limiting visits to 15 minutes was "a symbol of what has gone wrong in the NHS where failure and false economies threaten the financial future of the service", he said.
Care visits Promising to tackle what he said was an "iron curtain" between social care and the NHS, he said care workers often had to choose between preparing a meal for people they were visiting or taking them to the toilet because of time constraints.
Labour said care workers often had to choose between preparing a meal for people they are visiting or taking them to the toilet because of time constraints. "We have got to join up services at every stage for home to hospital so people can get the care they need when they need it," he said.
The party is putting the NHS at the heart of its bid to win the general election, which is 100 days away. The party, which has already announced plans to recruit 20,000 more nurses and provide cancer tests and results within a week, is putting the NHS at the heart of its campaign.
Mr Miliband told BBC Breakfast that the election represented a "big fight for the future of the NHS" and that the Conservatives had betrayed promises made in 2010. In response, Mr Cameron attacked Labour's record of running the health service in Wales, saying waiting lists had gone up and problems at A&E had multiplied.
He rejected suggestions his blueprint was another top-down reorganisation, saying it was a considered plan to "join up services from home to hospital". "I think we need to look at Labour's record rather than its rhetoric," he said.
"It is not about the NHS standing still but being changed," he said. "I'm satisfied that we are putting the money into the NHS. Yes, we need to do better on A&E, but let's not forget that.... we have almost abolished mixed-sex wards, hospital-acquired infections are down by more than half, we are treating something like six million more outpatients every year and we have a cancer drugs fund for the first time in our country that is getting those drugs to the people who need them."
The health service, he said, had lost a million bed hours last year because there was no-where for elderly patients to go once they were discharged and increased support for home care would save money elsewhere in the system.
"A £50 grab rail in a home can be a life saver or at least stop elderly people ending up in hospital," he said.
The £2.5bn in funding to support the extra care professionals, as well as additional doctors, nurses and midwives, would be "raised swiftly" once Labour came to power, he insisted.
Benefit plansBenefit plans
Prime Minister David Cameron is focusing on the economy on Tuesday, promising a law to reduce the annual household welfare cap to £23,000 from the current £26,000 in the first week of a Conservative government. Mr Cameron is focusing on the economy on Tuesday, promising a law to reduce the annual household welfare cap to £23,000 from the current £26,000 in the first week of a Conservative government.
He says the proceeds from the reduction would be spent on three million new apprentices.
Mr Cameron told the BBC that reforming the welfare system was the "best way to tackle poverty and spread advantage".Mr Cameron told the BBC that reforming the welfare system was the "best way to tackle poverty and spread advantage".
He said: "The criticism of our benefit cap, which was set at £26,000, in many parts of the country was that it was too high.He said: "The criticism of our benefit cap, which was set at £26,000, in many parts of the country was that it was too high.
"So we think that reducing it to £23,000 will help to get more families back into work and we'll use the savings from that money to make sure we train three million apprentices in the next Parliament. "So we think that reducing it to £23,000 will help to get more families back into work and we'll use the savings from that money to make sure we train three million apprentices in the next Parliament."
"We've trained two million in this Parliament and we think this is absolutely crucial to making sure that more young people can get good, well-paid, successful jobs and build a secure future for themselves and their families." The Lib Dems launched an online advertisement, based on a Conservative election poster, arguing they would cut less than the Tories and borrow less than Labour.
The Lib Dems will launch an online advertisement, based on a Conservative election poster, arguing they would cut less than the Tories and borrow less than Labour. "Britain needs a liberal voice in government, keeping the country on track, and stopping Labour and the Conservatives from lurching to the extremes of left and right," the party's leader Nick Clegg said.
Do you, or a family member, rely on social care visits? What impact do you think longer social care visits will have? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.Do you, or a family member, rely on social care visits? What impact do you think longer social care visits will have? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.
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