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Plans to adequately finance the welfare sector should be in place within a year, said the head of NHS England.
Sir Simon Stevens told the BBC that the Covid-19 crisis had illuminated a “very harsh spotlight” on the “resilience” of the care system.
He said there was a need to “decisively respond” to how high-quality, long-term care could be provided.
The Health Department said it would present a reform plan.
In their 2019 electoral manifesto, conservatives pledged to find a cross-party solution to reduce pressures on the sector and provide long-term financing.
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Speaking about the BBC’s Andrew Marr program, Sir Simon said the Covid-19 pandemic should be used to jump-start plans to review how the system works.
“If something good comes from this, we should use it as a moment to resolve once and for all resources and adequately reform the way social care works in this country,” he said.
“The reality is that after at least two decades of talking about it, we don’t have a fair and well-resourced adult social care system with the right set of workforce support.”
Covid-19 ‘legacy’
He added: “I hope that by the time we sit next year on the 73rd birthday of the NHS, in reality, as a country, we have been able to decisively answer the question of how we are going to finance and provide high-quality social care for my parents’ generation. .
“If you go back to the history of World War II, the country at that time was in austerity. We had rationing for bread and potatoes.”
“The founders of the NHS did not use that as a time to doubt, they said, ‘that one of the legacies of war is the creation of the NHS.’
“That is the same legacy we need for long-term care support in social care coming out of the coronavirus.”
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The coronavirus crisis has put many nursing homes under additional stress.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds told Andrew Marr that the government needed to take “much, much more responsibility” for the welfare sector.
When asked if Labor would nationalize private care providers, he said the party was not advocating a “massive grand scheme at the moment.”
But he added: “We need a new approach to social care in the future, even the government has said they want that.”
‘Complex questions’
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Assistance said that it had established a “comprehensive action plan” to support social assistance in England during the pandemic.
“We know that there is a need for a long-term solution to social care and there are complex questions to address,” they added.
“We will present a plan that puts social care on a sustainable basis to ensure that reforms will last long into the future.”
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Social assistance costs
Unlike medical care, social care is generally not provided free of charge. In England, anyone with assets over £ 23,250 is expected to pay the costs.
Local authorities determine their own media tests for those receiving care at home, which should be as generous as the test for care homes.
Free personal care is available in Scotland. Some care costs are limited in Wales, and home care is free for those over 75 in Northern Ireland.
In the December elections, the government promised an additional £ 1 billion per year for welfare in England over the next five years.
Subsequently, it has awarded an extra £ 3.2 billion in emergency Covid-19 funds to English councils, which can be used to help with the costs of social care.
The ministers have also pledged an additional £ 600 million for care homes to help control infections.
