http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/4005867.stm
Is is just me or does Stephen Ladyman say one thing to us and another to the media/public?
Didnt Yasser Arafat used to do that?
'We recognise that dementia is a distressing condition for families as well as for those directly affected.
However, rather than making personal care free, we believe it is fairer to spend what it would cost to fund free personal care on improving services for all older people and their carers. The result of our decision is now becoming clear with the publication of this year's performance indicators. In England, 81,500 people are now able to receive extensive home care to maintain their independence. The proporition of people being supported in their own home has risen from 7.9 per 1000 households aged over 65 in 1998/99 to 10.5 per 1000 last year. Most older people tell us that what they want is to stay longer in their own home and this is being made possible because the money that would otherwise be spent on free personal care is being used to support home care for all older people.
and then he says
Health minister Stephen Ladyman has voiced his concern about the case.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he preferred to believe those involved were desperate rather than cruel.
"They should have gone to the local council or their GP and asked for support, and that support should have been there for them," he said.
"And I am sorry if any family has got to the position where they have taken that sort of step, and have not been able to access care and support."
The minister said the government was working hard to provide local authorities with the funds needed to support carers.