Well done Panorama (Monday 26 July 2010) for provoking some very valid questions about the future funding of adult social care in the UK and particularly to Joan Bakewell for emphasising the point that those in need of care now do not have the time to await yet more political handwringing about how to address the issue.

While solutions for the future remain as Jeremy Vine put it “ a thorn in the side of many governments to come”, attention must surely focus on what is available now and the needs of those currently going through the process of arranging care. “Death, Taxes and Care Fees Planning! There’s never a convenient time for any of them” Margaret Mitchell put it so well in her novel Gone With the Wind (although was of course referring to Death, Taxes and Childbirth!) the sentiment, however, seems appropriate.

Those entering this ‘arena’ will experience a bewildering number of agencies frequently working at odds with each other. Indeed obtaining accurate information is in itself a challenge. I would clarify that the Asset Means Test Threshold for England is £23,250 and not £23,000 as stated in this evenings programme. It may also help to clarify what is meant by the reference to FREE personal care in Scotland, this is a reference to the payment of both a ‘Nursing Care Allowance’ and a ‘Personal Care Allowance’ and does not mean that ALL care in Scotland is ‘Free’.

We believe the first step to empowerment is knowledge and through our ‘Guide to Care Fees Planning’ we provide a truly comprehensive overview of the system you are entering.

We are also tremendously proud of our recently launched ‘Care 2 Plan’ tool, this enables those wanting information specific to their own situation to create an ‘Options Report’ based entirely on their own individual circumstances. Simply go online to www.carefeesplus.co.uk/care2plan .

I would love to hear of your experiences, both good and bad, of the care system if you have or are in the process of arranging care. This helps us model our services to the public need and to lobby government and the financial providers to find solutions for tomorrow, today. Email me please on rene@twcp.co.uk.

Arranging and funding care is an issue gradually working it’s way up the national consciousness, however, for those of us that settle down on a Sunday morning with The Archers for a little escapism, it is at the forefront of a continuing storyline.

In recent months the Archers and the Aldridges have had to cope with Jack Wooley’s declining health since his diagnosis with Alzeimers Disease and wife Peggy’s insistence that he must stay at home and that a care home is out of the question.

As a care fees specialist, advising those in just this position, I congratulate the script writers with the gradual way the storyline has developed. I know from experience that Peggy’s reaction is a common one and the stroke she recently suffered is one way in which the strain of coping with a loved one’s illness can manifest itself. The family’s uncertainty of how to achieve a solution to satisfy ‘mum’s concern for Jack’s well being, whilst ensuring that she is relieved of the role of primary carer leaves them feeling at a loss as to how to help and not knowing where to turn.

Then comes the awareness that Peggy is making economies and has developed a certain ‘carefulness’ with money despite being financially ‘comfortable’. Daughters Jennifer and Lillian finally pluck up courage to address the matter of money with mum, and the floodgates open, that the drop in income over the last year has resulted in her worrying about paying for Jack’s care and her own needs, that she has felt unable to cope but not wanting to be a burden to her very busy family. Well, Brian has now reviewed Peggy and Jacks investments and has agreed to set up a meeting with his financial adviser who is ‘an excellent chap’.

It’s how the story is developed from here that interests me, with only 150 advisers in the UK specialising in care fees funding, I wait to see if Brian’s ‘excellent chap’ is one of those and if not, if he will refer Peggy to such an adviser. I hope he does as an experienced specialist will not only be able to advise on exclusive options for funding care but would also be able to provide guidance and valuable points of contact for sourcing possible care solutions. If such an adviser had been consulted early on, not only Peggy, but the whole family, would have had a point of continuing guidance in all matters relating to Jack’s care and Peggy’s finances.

As Peggy herself observed this week ‘who knows what the future holds’, well in her case the script writers do! For family’s in similar circumstances, however, there is no script writer and so they are on their own, until, that is, they talk to a care fee specialist!