Call to address the ‘trauma and fragility’ of a beleagured sector
A LEADING care body has called on the Chancellor to commit to tackling the “trauma and fragility” of the social care sector in this week’s budget.
Staff are “beyond exhausted” and the sector “desperately needs some hope and commitment to the Prime Minister’s promise to tackle the social care crisis”, Care England said.
The membership organisation for care providers is calling for the Government to provide a £7bn cash injection into the adult social care sector, as recommended by cross-party MPs.
Its letter to Rishi Sunak reads: “The trauma and fragility of the sector cannot be overstated. Both providers and the adult social care workforce need to be prioritised as they remain at the frontline in combating Covid-19.
“The costs associated with the pandemic are by no means going to subside in the next few months, thus plans and funds that reach the frontline need to be put in place to account for the sector’s continuation and to cope with future crises.”
Chief executive Professor Martin Green said: “The sector is tired of empty promises, white papers and consultations - 13 of these in the last 17 years - that always end up in the long grass.
“It is now or never; we need a 1948 moment with a commitment in the budget that the Prime Minister will tackle the social care crisis.”
The group also wants a 10-year plan setting out how the sector will be funded and sustained. The Government has said it is committed to reform and will set out its proposals later this year.
Other care groups are also calling on the Chancellor to use the budget to help the social care sector. Mike Padgham, the Yorkshire-based chairman of the Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, said: “After the Second World War, Nye Bevan set about establishing proper healthcare for the country, as part of our recovery from conflict.
“This Government must give social care its Nye Bevan moment and make the full, root and branch reform and better funding of social care part of its recovery from Covid-19, and that can and must start on Wednesday.”