Last week experts attended a roundtable in London where they explained the 10-year health plan risks failing if social care isn’t included from the outset.
The roundtable was attended by over 20 CEOs and directors across social care, including Katherine Marsden OBE, CEO of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and Gary Fee, CEO of City & County Healthcare Group, who chaired the event.
At it’s core, the roundtable focused on social care’s role in the government’s impending 10-year health plan. Or, as Katherine explains, the lack thereof.
‘The 10-year health plan is framed primarily through an NHS lens, with only passing reference to social care. If the three shifts are to succeed, social care must not only be recognised as integral but also actively positioned as the enabler,’ Katherine said. ‘This means aligning care services with the plan’s ambitions; embedding social care in neighbourhood health systems, digitising to connect care pathways, and harnessing the care sector’s prevention capacity and capabilities.’
Arguably, the timing of such an event couldn’t have been better. Demand for health and and social care services is at an all time high – the latest figures from The Kings Fund show there were over two million new requests for support from clients in England during 2023/24. This marks a 15% increase since 20215/16.
Against this backdrop, during the roundtable experts cited that despite employing 1.6 million more people than the NHS, social care is still treated as the junior partner in health reform.
‘Being kept inside the design but outside the delivery doesn’t work,’ Gary added. ‘Social care knows what keeps people well, prevents admissions and speeds recovery. That expertise must shape the plan from the start.
‘You cannot fix a whole system by empowering only half of it. The plan stands or falls on outcomes, and those outcomes depend on social care. As a sector it is time we step forward and help shape a system worthy of the nation’s health.’
The roundtable was organised by The Access Group and Casson Consulting – images also supplied by them.
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