ANGRY charity workers have slammed the Government for delaying plans to help Alzheimer's sufferers pay for care.

A report published over a year ago recommended that elderly people with conditions such as Alzheimers, and dementia sufferers, should pay for long-term care according to their means.

But the Harlow's Alzheimer's Society says the Government has made no steps to execute the plans, and that many people receiving long-term care have seen their savings eaten away by care costs.

The society's outreach worker, Marion Howell, said: 'People do not choose to move to residential or nursing care. They have to move from their homes because they are frail or confused. They need support care to assist them with their difficulties in their final years.

'The recommendations provided a fair, workable and sustainable system of long-term care. But as this year has passed, many people receiving long-time care have seen their savings destroyed, month by month.'

She added that the new charge for homes in Essex has risen by 12.6 per cent to £486.50 per week, which had exacerbated the problem.

When the Government was elected in 1997, it stressed the need to scrutinise strategies for supporting people with long term care needs.

After 12 months investigating long-term care, Sir Stewart Sutherland published the Royal Commission on Long Term Care on March 1 last year.

The report recommended that care should be paid for by taxation, enabling elderly people to pay according to means, but the Government has not yet endorsed these proposals.

Mrs Howell said: 'Sir Stewart stressed the need for quick action. The Government ignored this plea and in the meantime more and more families are struggling with the financial and emotional costs of caring for a relative.'

Responding to her complaint, Harlow MP Bill Rammell said: 'I have been pressing the Government quite hard to get a decision on this issue and I expect a favourable decision in July when the Government announces its comprehensive spending review.

'Many elderly people will then not be forced to sell their homes to pay for long term care. It's take this Government three years to do this. The former Government did nothing.'

Explaining the Government's reasons for delay, he added: 'It's all about money. The cost of the proposals are £1.7 billion which is the equivalent to a penny added to the standard rate of income tax. We can't just suddenly find that money.'