Healthcare economist and leading commentator on healthcare and social care William Laing has published a proposal for a long-term solution for funding social care.

Laing, a director at health and social care market intelligence company Laing Bisson, has published the ‘Personal Asset Protection Guarantee’ (PAPG) White Paper, which outlines a scheme whereby individuals in need of care are guaranteed to keep roughly three-quarters of their personal assets.

Under the scheme, the PAPG would offer an initial assessment for an individual’s needs in terms of residential care, with the eligibility for council-funded support calculated in terms of the percentage of the individual’s assets that have been spent down since the initial assessment.

Discussing the proposal, Nicola O’Brien, head of policy and campaigns at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The current system has no parameters in place to prevent vulnerable people with dementia facing astronomical care bills. The husband and wife forced to pay over £370,000 because one of them is unlucky enough to get dementia are not alone. They and so many others like them should not be the principle victims of a social care system that is not fit for purpose.

“The Government consultation must seriously consider these and other innovative options for social care reform as part of its consultation. And most importantly they must listen to the people with dementia who are living in terror of spending all they have on care.”