<p><br /> 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.<br /> </p><p><br /> 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.<br /> </p><p><br /> 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.<br /> </p><p><br /> 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.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Tories, who propose a voluntary £8,000 one-off premium at 65 to guarantee free care, ridiculed the blueprint.<br /> </p>
