Free personal social care at home for people with acute needs must be the start of a radical reform, according to the Counsel and Care chief executive. Stephen Burke is due to announce at the Counsel and Care's annual conference today, that the current Personal Care at Home Bill is insufficient in itself to address the problems affecting the care system.

Mr Burke wants the legislation to change and prior to the conference has informed the press that: "Clearly better care at home is what most older people want and if it's 'free', then even better. But we need to ensure that proper support is available in local communities so that staying at home doesn't mean loneliness, isolation and neglect."

The government will plan its long term reform of the care funding system in England in the form of a white paper, before the General Election in May. Burke continued: "It has to mean more than four 15-minute visits a day, rushing older people in and out of bed with no support to eat proper meals, chat and enjoy life. And it must recognise that a care home will still be the option of choice for many older people and their families."

Financial considerations are also a concern for social care. Mr Burke is worried that an ambitious agenda could be derailed by funding issues during current budget cuts to services, and increasing charges for users by councils.

He hopes that older people and their carers will make up the majority of voters at the upcoming election.