“It breaks your heart everyday”: navigating England’s social care system

“It breaks your heart everyday”: navigating England’s social care systemAndy Burnham has pledged to fix England’s broken social care system. Heather Stewart explains why it matters so much to families like hers

Guardian journalist Heather Stewart first realised something wasn’t quite right with her mum, nine years ago. Before long, Heather found herself navigating a system that was as maddening as it was unfair.

A system that often forces people to sell almost everything they own — just because they are unlucky enough to develop dementia or another condition that means they require round the clock care, but not hospital treatment.

It’s a system that Andy Burnham promised last week to change. And Heather was in Liverpool, watching live as the prime minister announced plans for a National Care Service “I think anyone who has a parent in that situation would feel moved by it,” she tells Helen Pidd.

“It’s like a bomb going off in the middle of your family without having to think about the financial side of it,” says Heather. She explains how hard it can be for families to navigate the eye-watering costs of care – and why politicians have not managed to reform it