Long term care experts have warned the political motivation to overhaul the sector may wane after next week's General Election.
Fears were also raised people considering plans for their future care needs will put them off until the launch of the National Care Service (NCS) as they hope the State would then pick up the bill.
Speaking at a COVER Breakfast Briefing, Nick Tyler, chief executive of long term care specialist adviser NHFA, said he suspected this area might move down the political agenda after the Election. He believed this would be a sad reflection on the political parties' inability to work together.
"There is a lot of politicking going on, and I really wonder whether 10 or 15 years down the line things will have moved further on," he says.
"I'm very skeptical about some of the things being talked about the NCS, particularly some of the small print in the white paper.
"One of big problems with the NCS is it sounds very much like the NHS, but it isn't going to be the big fallback that we would all hope.
"So whatever Government comes into place, I would ask them to please be open and honest because most self-funders will have to pay something and they deserve advice in that area," he adds.
Chris Horlick, managing director of care at Partnership, also acknowledged the poor state of current arrangements and welcomed the plans for NCS. But he also warned people may be tempted to put their plans on hold.
"The current system is a complete mess as it is unfair and there is a postcode lottery. One of the critical issues is that people don't plan very well for going into care," he says.
"One day they are just an old person living quite happily at home, then something catastrophic happens such as a stroke or fall, and they become someone who requires care.
"Our particular concern at present, however, is the eight to ten years it will take the Government, if it is re-elected, to conduct a proper examination of the funding options and delivery of any new system of care provision.
"This means that many of the people entering residential care homes in the next four years will be dead by the time a new NCS is enshrined in legislation," he adds.
