LORD CLARKE AND LORD BLUNKETT

Former cabinet ministers leading ‘housing with care’ campaign

WE need to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and create a social care system that the UK can be proud of.

Undoubtedly, there are some complex questions. However, there is already strong crossparty agreement that on social care we need to look much more closely at the “how”, not just the “how much”.

And the “how” has got be all about prevention. About expanding an exciting range of new models which will help us bring about the healthier, more active nation we want to see.

Because if governments do not prioritise preventative health interventions, the average number of years people will live in poor health will increase by over 17 per cent in the next 25 years.

We can do so much better than that. New models that would give us all many more years in good health sit alongside and complement existing care options.

We also need to harness the power of technology, bringing 21st-century solutions to the challenges of ageing that are as old as mankind.

Promise

There is also now broad agreement that the UK needs to follow international trends and create more options that sit between care in people’s own homes and care homes.

So rather than looking only for the one grand consensus on every aspect of social care, let’s focus on areas where we can take immediate action.

Surely the Government’s proposed planning reforms can do better than failing to mention older people at all?

The Integration and Innovation NHS White Paper recognises the key role of housing providers in keeping people well and calls for them to be represented on Integrated Care System Boards.

This approach is what we need much more of.

Cross-government working has got to become the new norm, with the Department of Health and Social Care joining up with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and others to unite their expertise.

Collaboration at local level is at the heart of successful delivery. Let’s remember that setting up the NHS was only possible because, after the shared and defining experience of the Second World War effort, there was overwhelming political, societal and public support for change.

Now too we are seeing overwhelming societal, political, commercial and public support for change in social care – and for the models which are ready to fulfil that promise.