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The new government is putting half a million older people at risk, the shadow health secretary has claimed.
Andy Burnham told the Labour party conference that cuts to council budgets will mean old people "left alone without help, piling yet more pressure on family carers, paying even more out of their own pockets".
He said the current situation also creates a "cruel dementia tax".
He called for a National Care Service, "free at the point of use - paid for by a care levy - will give peace of mind to everyone in later life and let them protect what they've worked for".
"It will be for Labour in this century what the NHS was for us in the last – proudly proclaiming our values to the world, showing how they can build a better and fairer society," he said.
Burnham told delegates that the NHS is facing "the biggest attack in its 62-year history".
"A White Paper out of nowhere that will unpick the very fabric of our NHS and turn order into chaos.
"They are the wrong reforms at the wrong time - and a bad deal for patients."
He said the coaliton has "no mandate for the break-up of a successful NHS".
"Patients aren't asking for it. GPs and NHS staff don't want it.
"The public did not vote for it. I say to you today – put these dangerous plans on hold. Give the NHS the stability it needs."
Burnham, who came last in the leadership contest, also said the Labour party is "more united than any other time in our history".
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