Andy Burnham says social care MUST change or 'the NHS will collapse' - but he won't put a timeline on the shift

Published: 06:00, 27 July 2026 | Updated: 06:03, 27 July 2026 Andy Burnham has insisted he will 'go as quickly as he can' to stop the NHS collapsing under the 'broken' social care system – but has failed to commit to a timeline. The Prime Minister warned the health service is in danger of crumbling without reforms to the sector. Speaking at his new 'No10 North' office, he told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg: 'If we don't do it, the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who've really not needed to end up in the NHS system.' But asked whether he would create a new system before the next General Election, Mr Burnham said he 'couldn't put a timeline on it right here, right now' – though he would invest 'whatever political capital I have into fixing it'. It comes as the Prime Minister is thought to be speeding up his plan for a 'death tax' to fix the adult social care sector. Mr Burnham has repeatedly backed the introduction of a 'levy on all estates' to fund social care after first proposing the idea when he was health secretary more than 16 years ago. In 2010, he suggested a 10 per cent levy could be deducted from the property of older people when they die to fund social care. Dubbed a 'death tax' by the Tories, it was never implemented. But just hours after becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham made clear fixing social care would be a priority for him. Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned the health service was in danger of crumbling without reforms to the sector Speaking at his new 'No10 North' office, he told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg: 'If we don't do it the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who've really not needed to end up in the NHS system' And he told Ms Kuenssberg on Monday: 'I will go as quickly as I can on the reform of social care.  'Well, it's not because a whole new system, which is what you asked, takes time. I think there are major changes you can make before the next election.  'This costs the NHS billions of pounds and we will never get the NHS back to good waiting time standards until we fix social care.'  Mr Burnham added he 'won't change coming into this job' and that he would not want to leave office without having brought in a new social care system. Asked about the benefits bill, he said: 'It's about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them.  'So you might increase the conditions required to receive benefits. I think it's a good thing that the government has given guarantees of opportunities for young people.  'And I think we need to continue down that approach and where mental health support is needed, for instance, it's provided in work to support people in an opportunity.' Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use and anybody in England and Northern Ireland with assets or savings worth more than £23,250 does not qualify for state-funded care. Andy Burnham waves as he leaves No 10 North at Heron House on July 24 in Manchester city centre High costs often mean people are forced to sell their homes to pay for their care. A new social care levy could end the need for this, but instead take a 10 per cent cut from the value of an estate. A percentage charge could see millions of Britons whose estates were not previously large enough to pay inheritance tax face a form of 'death tax' for the first time. Mr Burnham first proposed a universal system of social care in England in 2009 when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown. How adult social care works and is funded in England has been a thorny issue for many governments over the years. Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading an independent review into the sector and is expected to publish her first report later this year, noted in a speech earlier this month that there have been no fewer than 22 attempts since 1997 at reforming the sector – none of which she said had 'fixed the foundations'. Mr Burnham has consistently backed a new tax to pay for adult social care since he first looked at the issue 15 years ago, suggesting it could replace inheritance tax. In May he said: ‘I know there’s a great resentment about inheritance tax, so actually just, you know, take that away, perhaps, and look at a care levy. 'It’s not about asking people to pay more, it’s just people paying in the most unfair way possible at this moment in time and I think there’s a much better way of doing it, and people just have peace of mind while they’re alive, because they get the care that they need, and then it will be dealt with in a much better way.’ In a separate interview ahead of his appointment Mr Burnham said his family had been to see his father Roy, who has Alzheimer's and did not know his son has become the Prime Minister, in his care home. 'That's a sadness because he would be [proud],' Mr Burnham said. 'The way I look at it, it's his achievement as well. A whole family achievement, although he doesn't know it.' In 2019, in his first speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson said the Conservatives would 'fix the crisis in social care once and for all', something that failed to come to fruition. Labour faced criticism after the party was elected in 2024 for scrapping plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, having argued the proposals were not 'deliverable' in the time frame. Speaking to Ms Kuenssberg, Mr Burnham was also asked whether his dog would be moving into Number 10 Downing Street. He answered: 'Axel would have to stay up north... because he wouldn't get on with Larry (the cat).'