The Government's social care plans have been branded a "train crash" after the Health Secretary Andy Burnham confirmed a national care service would not be created for at least five years.
An NHS-style universal service was put at the heart of a long-awaited White Paper described by Gordon Brown as a "bold and ambitious" reform of services for the elderly.
But the paper confirmed it would not be operational until "after 2015" while a cross-party National Care Commission examines options for how people would contribute.
It also contains a commitment to making residential care free after the second year by 2014 on top of legislation being debated at present to exempt the most needy from charges.
The Tories, who propose a voluntary £8,000 one-off premium at 65 to guarantee free care, ridiculed the blueprint.
