‘We were left to figure things out ourselves’ on social care

Emma Riley has been caring for her mother Carol, who has dementia, since she lost her father 18 months ago.

“She’s a cracking lady, still with a sense of humour but she’s living with this awful condition,” said Riley, from Manchester.

She is paying £34 an hour for a care company to come to the house three times a week, which she describes as a “huge chunk of money” although she is happy with the level of care.

Riley wants to keep her mum in the family home, but the caring commitments affect her job as a dental nurse.

She started applying to the local council for funding to support her mother at home at the beginning of the year, but six months on, she is still waiting for a final decision.

“It’s not the social worker’s fault, it is just the caseload,” she said.

Riley called for more communication to help her navigate the system, adding: “I’m blindly going through it at the moment.

“Every day I’m just winging it but there’s a human being upstairs.”

Riley said she heard the prime minister’s speech and it had left her feeling “quietly confident”.

Burnham has announced that a review of social care by veteran Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Casey would now be published next summer.

“I do think Baroness Casey will make the changes we need,” Riley added.