More funding, parity with NHS and investment in workforce among demands made by social care CEOs on latest Voices of Care podcast
The CEOs of England’s largest social care representative bodies have joined forces to call on the new government to fix social care for good.
Host Suhail Mirza with Jane Townson (Homecare Association), Professor Martin Green (Care England) and Vic Rayner (National Care Forum), photo courtesy of Newcross Healthcare
Professor Martin Green from Care England, Jane Townson from the Homecare Association and Vic Rayner from the National Care Forum were guests on the Voices of Care podcast, produced by Newcross Healthcare – a podcast channel dedicated to the health and social care sector.
Their contribution is timely given last week’s announcement by new Chancellor Rachel Reeves that the government has scrapped plans to cap care charges for older people. This is just one of a range of measures that the Chancellor said were needed to fill an unexpected £22bn ‘black hole’ in public finances left by the previous administration.
The podcast addressed what host Suhail Mirza referred to as the ‘Groundhog Day’ aspect of social care – endless white papers and green papers from government suggesting ways to fix social care – and asked what the priorities should be.
The expert panel made clear that the sector urgently needs more funding, including investment in workforce. Parity with the NHS and a radical rethink of social care as a net contributor to the UK economy are also vital.
Professor Martin Green says on the podcast: ‘There is always a focus on the NHS. Politicians don’t understand the way the NHS is an interdependent system with social care. We transform lives and local economies, and we must make sure we keep that high on the agenda with the government.”
Jane Townson responded: ‘Reform is challenging, people visit the GP and have contact with health services, but people are not always aware of social care until they need it.’
Last month’s Skills for Care report warned of major shortages of staff in the care sector, and will need 540,000 additional social care posts by 2040. This, too, was covered in the podcast. Yet last week the government also scrapped plans for an adult social care training fund.
Professor Martin Green said that the government, ‘needs to think clearly about how we reform the model of social care, [and they need to] work smarter, not harder. They need to think about how they secure the current workforce, we need training, development and reward the workforce in line with the fact these are very skilled and important roles.’
Vic Rayner added that: ‘The social care workforce needs to be at the top of everybody’s agenda.’
Host Suhail Mirza also asked the panel about the way the government tends to talk about social care, with a focus on the ‘cold calculus of cost’ and not its contribution to the wider economy.
Vic Rayner responded: ‘Social care needs to have its own industrial strategy. Other parts of the world are seeing robotics as a massive export strategy for them. We have not got 430,000 workers coming down the pipeline, and the UK needs to be investing in technology to help address the pressures on social care.’
Jane Townson added that: ‘[Health Minister] Wes Streeting has been clear he wants to get away from the begging bowl mentality and to see health and social care as part of the foundational economy to help the rest of the economy succeed. We contribute about £60bn to the economy, more than agriculture and utilities. It should be seen as an industrial sector in its own right.’
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