Ed Balls visits nursing homes for TV spotlight on social care crisis

FORMER LABOUR MP Ed Balls is spending time at two Yorkshire care homes to find out more about the “crisis in social care” for a BBC documentary.

He has been speaking to staff, residents and their families at Saint Cecilia’s Nursing Home and Saint Cecilia’s Care Home in Scarborough.

The 54-year-old, inset, who has served as the MP for Morley and Outwood and Shadow Chancellor, decided to take part in the documentary after his mother was diagnosed with dementia and moved to a care home.

“The crisis in social care is deepening, and we need to work together to sort it now,” he said.

“Because my mum has dementia and lives in a care home, I thought I knew what happened in them, but as I started to dig deeper into the realities of the issues that care workers face daily, I realised I’ve only ever scratched the surface.

“Covid exposed and accelerated a long-term decline in this country’s provision for adult social care, but it’s also given us a chance to do something about it.”

The crew have been filming at the Scarborough care homes this month for the two-part BBC documentary series called Ed Balls:

Crisis in Care and they will return in June and July.

Mike Padgham, Saint Cecilia’s managing director, said: “They were looking for typical care and nursing homes to take part and we are very pleased to have been chosen. We know that it will give a warts-and-all view of the challenges facing the social care system in 2021 and right now those challenges are huge.” “We hope that this documentary will help us to bring those challenges to the fore, bring about much-needed change and support the ongoing campaign to get reform for the sector.”