Burnham warns NHS 'will collapse' without social care reform as he seeks cross-party talks

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned the NHS will “collapse” if social care is not reformed, as he invited rival party leaders to help draw up a new system. In his first major interview since taking office, Burnham told the BBC that without substantial change, the health service would “collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who’ve really not needed to end up in the NHS system”. He said he would put “whatever political capital I have into fixing broken social care” but could not put a timeline on reforms. Burnham’s intervention comes as he prepares to deliver a speech on adult social care on Wednesday, where he is expected to accelerate the work of the Casey Commission – an independent review due to report by 2028. Baroness Louise Casey, who leads the commission, has argued the current system is “unfair, unpredictable and broken”, with taxpayers footing the bill through council taxes, pressure on the NHS and lost productivity. Burnham has offered an olive branch to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, urging cross-party co-operation to take “the politics out of reforming social care”. In a letter to the prime minister, Badenoch said she was willing to help push through plans but insisted tax rises or increased borrowing to fund reform must be ruled out. Reform UK has claimed Burnham’s proposed system would amount to a “death tax”, with Robert Jenrick saying voters had “already rejected a death tax on four separate occasions”. The prime minister has not explained how he would pay for reform, which the King’s Fund’s Sarah Woolnough said could range from making care free at the point of need to capping individual costs. With one in seven people already paying more than £100,000 for care, and Burnham vowing to put “everything I’ve got” into fixing the system, the question of who foots the bill remains unresolved.