‘Complete reset for our social care is required’

Coalition calls for action a year after Johnson pledge

A “COMPLETE reset” is needed for a sustainable future social care system, a coalition of councils, charities and health organisations has warned today.

One year after the Prime Minister pledged to set out a clear plan to “fix social care”, the group has urged the Government to publish its timetable for social care reform before Parliament returns from recess in September.

It comes two days after councils in Yorkshire used this newspaper to call on the Government to provide a sustainable longterm funding solution for adult social care as a matter of urgency. An investigation by The Yorkshire Post revealed that the funding gap for eight of the 15 regional councils with social care responsibilities amounted to more than £80m this year – and the extra burden caused by the pandemic has seen that more than double to £190m,

The Local Government Association (LGA) and 30 other organisations, including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, are calling for major change in care provision, including “adequate and sustainable funding and supporting the care workforce”.

They say a “radical rethink” on social care is needed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Government working closely with councils to take into account any lessons learnt during the crisis, and extra funding not only to meet the costs of coronavirus, but to close the funding gap, which the LGA says will reach almost £4bn nationally by 2025.

LGA chairman Coun James Jamieson said: “For too long we have been promised a plan to fix the social care crisis but people who use and work in these vital services are still waiting.

“The Covid-19 crisis has proved that we need a complete reset, not a restart, when it comes to the future of social care.

“The pandemic has also served to highlight the incredibly valuable role of social care in its own right and why it is more important than ever before that we find a long-term and sustainable solution, so that people of all ages can live the life they want to lead.”

Coun Jamieson said care and support should be “properly based around every individual”, allowing them to live independently as long as possible, and that cross-party talks on the future of adult social care should begin as soon as possible.

A Government spokesperson said it recognised the challenges facing the sector and was doing everything it could to support it.

“We know there is a need for a long-term solution for social care, and will bring forward a plan that puts the sector on a sustainable footing to ensure that the reforms will last long into the future,” he said.

North Yorkshire care campaigner Mike Padgham has said “bold” moves are needed to tackle the care crisis.

A SOCIAL care boss who “punched the air” when Boris Johnson promised to reform social care when he became Prime Minister a year ago says he feels let down and urged the PM to embody his hero Churchill in bringing forward change.

A year ago last Friday, while making his victory speech outside Number 10 after being chosen by Conservative party members, Mr Johnson said: “I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.”

But the “clear plan” has yet to appear, and Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group which represents social care providers across York and North Yorkshire, said despite the coronavirus pandemic, more should have been achieved by now.

“I can remember punching the air when I saw him say those words. I thought ‘yes at last’, I was encouraged by his words,” he said.

“I thought someone’s got it, and I had high hopes of him delivering.”

But he added: “I still feel as though he might – if he was briefed properly – see the sense of doing it, but each day and each week that goes past, my enthusiasm that he’s going to be the one falls away a little bit more.”

Successive Prime Ministers have failed to come up with a solution for how to pay for the care required by an ageing population.

Number 10 said the Government had sought views from across Parliament but the issue was complex and it would take time to develop a solution to the problem.

However, Mr Padgham said that if the same urgency was applied to social care as to Brexit, the issue could be fixed.

“I’d like the same enthusiasm by the Prime Minister directed towards social care as Brexit – let’s ‘get social care done’,” he said.

“He’s a great fan of Churchill, isn’t he? And I’ve read some of Churchill’s work and ‘action this day’ was one of Churchill’s famous phrases.

“If they wanted to do it, they could. If their heart was in it,

Independent Care Group chair Mike Padgham.

I’m sure they could, because the money they’d have spent on it is a fraction of what they’ve spent on the NHS and a fraction of what they spent with Covid. So if they had the political will, it could be done.”

Mr Padgham said there was little need for social care when the NHS was first launched in 1948 but people lived for only a few years after finishing work, and would mostly be cared for by their families.

But now, he said, people can live often for 35 years after they retire.

“So I prefer the idea of a National Care Service funded by taxation,” Mr Padgham said.

“Boris could be as bold as [Aneurin] Bevin was in 1948 and make 2020 the year of the National Care Service and be remembered for generations to come as the person that finally solved the social care problem and merged the two together.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman previously said: “We recognise that a long-term solution for social care is needed.

“There are complex questions to address, which is why we plan to hold cross-party talks and we will bring forward a plan that puts social care on a sustainable footing to ensure the reforms will last long into the future.”

I prefer the idea of a National Care Service funded by taxation.