ANDY BURNHAM’S pledge to tackle the social care crisis is most welcome.

He has experienced the present system’s vagaries at first hand, with his father suffering from Alzheimer’s.

I had a similar experience, with my father getting dementia and mother physical breakdown. Both involving leaning on the care system in later years

Tackling the care system also goes to the heart of how the new PM intends to deal with the legacy of the last 40 years.

Care, like the water system and other services handed over or left to the private sector, has become a cash cow for investors. The actual care provided is almost secondary.

Private equity owns much of the private care sector in Britain and profit is the priority.

The care companies pay their staff as little as possible, many on the minimum wage. Zero-hours contracts have been rampant in the area for years.

I remember talking to the staff that came to help my mum. If they complained, hours would be cut. When I suggested they join a union, this was regarded as a way to lose their job.

The amounts charged for residential care are astronomical, ranging well over £2,000 a week in many cases.

If people cannot pay, then the duty passes to the local authority. They have a statutory duty to provide. But they have to deal with the same privately run care homes.

Care in the homes is variable. Most do an excellent job, but there have been the exceptions that hit the headlines.

The market model, though, runs through the ethos. Patients are seen as commodities to be bled for more revenue, where possible.

This became apparent with my father, who was getting lots of hair cuts. I pointed out he had less hair than ever before, yet was having more hair cuts. No-one was denying him the dignity of a hair cut but it was an added extra beyond the basic fee for care. An extra that could be charged for.

Migrant workers are key to the care system, without them It would collapse — similar to the NHS. So if the PM wants a functioning care system he needs to have a word with the Home Secretary, who seems  determined to make life ever more difficult for migrants, who want to come to work in Britain.

So really reforming the care sector will be a test of how serious Burnham is about reversing the market driven policies of the past 40 years.

The staff are needed and must be paid properly. They must have security of employment. Care work is demanding requiring many and varied skills.

Care needs to be state run, possibly via local councils. Profit for the few cannot continue to be the guiding mantra. It should be a not-for-profit area.

The media appear obsessed with the cost of any proposal put forward — how will it be paid for? That can be done via general taxation.

An additional bonus would come from relieving local authorities from having to find the funding for care. This would set them free in many other areas.

A new system for social care can be created that will serve the common good of all. What is important though is that the dignity of the human being is put front and centre. That dignity must apply as much to those who work in the area, as the patients they serve.

A state-owned and run service, encompassing the values of human dignity, not private profit, has to be the way forward.