Free personal care will be introduced so the frailest can be cared for in their own homes, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged.

Under what is being dubbed the National Care Service, some 350,000 people with “the highest needs” would receive home care regardless of personal wealth.

Currently anyone with savings over £23,500 receives no state assistance.

Ministers hope to implement the scheme in England by mid-2010. A general election must be held by early June.

The National Care Service will bring together the NHS and local authorities which currently provide social services, Mr Brown said.

Addressing the Labour party conference, Mr Brown also promised results within one week for those with suspected cancer.

Read more at BBC Health.