Labour misses social care opportunity

Fears that politicians are afraid of reform

The Labour Party today missed a golden opportunity to make reform of the way the country looks after its most vulnerable a key General Election pledge.

The party has unveiled its plan for improvements to NHS healthcare but failed to mention social care reform.

The ICG said that was a serious omission as the two needed to be improved together.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “It is hugely disappointing that again social care has been left out in the cold and we call on Labour to immediately set the record straight and tell us what it will do about the way we look after our most vulnerable. Reforming the NHS without reforming social care would be pointless. 

“Both Labour and the Conservatives are remaining frighteningly quiet on social care and it can’t go on. We are heading into the second week of the campaign and social care has not been mentioned at all, which is making all of us worry that the politicians are afraid of it or do not see it as a vote winner.

“They are wrong. 80% of us will need social care in one form or another in our lifetime and demand for care is growing. We expect the number of people with dementia to top a million next year and reach 1.6m people by 2040. We will need a further 440,000 carers by 2035.

“The country isn’t ready for that wave of extra social care demand that is heading towards us and sadly the Labour Party has shown today that it is not willing to say what it will do to cope.

“It is time for all of the parties to stop running away from social care and tell the country what they plan to make sure older and vulnerable adults are properly looked after in the future.”

Some 1.6m people currently can’t get care, there are 152,000 social care staff vacancies and providers of homecare and residential care are leaving the sector.

In its own Save Social Care - Our Manifesto for Change document, which has been sent to all the main political party leaders, the ICG suggests ring-fencing a percentage of GDP for care, creating a National Care Service, setting a minimum carer wage, establishing a task force for reform and creating fair tariffs for services such as care beds and homecare visits.

ENDS

The iCG Manifesto

The iCG has launched its General Election manifesto calling for bold reform of the way we look after older and vulnerable adults.

Read or download the PDF here:

iCG MANIFESTO

‘Save Social Care’ – ICG launches General Election manifesto

The Independent Care Group today challenged politicians to ‘stop running away from social care’ as it launched its General Election manifesto calling for bold reform of the way we look after older and vulnerable adults.

The ICG is calling for a root and branch overhaul of social care, including the creation of a National Care Service, better pay for care workers, a cap on care costs and dementia care to be funded by the NHS.

The provider group’s Chair, Mike Padgham said: “It is time for politicians to stop running away from social care and commit to the reform the sector has been cheated out of for a generation.

“We need to hear in their General Election manifestos how they plan to end the crisis in the care of our most vulnerable.

“All have been frighteningly quiet on social care in these early days of the campaign and that is a betrayal of those needing care now and the millions more who will need it in the years to come.”

The ICG says 80% of the population will need care in their lifetime but the sector isn’t ready to meet future demand.  1.6m people currently can’t get care and the sector is short of 152,000 staff.

It is writing to the main election candidates urging them to meet with them, see social care on the frontline and make reform part of their manifesto.

In its manifesto ‘Save Social Care’, Mr Padgham says: “…we have to make the public wake up and see that 80% of us will need social care of one form or another in our lifetimes and that, if we don’t change the sector, it will not be there for us. As politicians talk on the hustings and on our doorsteps about the economy, about immigration and about the NHS we have to persuade them to talk about social care too.

“A huge wave of extra demand for ever more complex care is heading our way and we are woefully under-prepared for the challenges that will pose. We expect the number of people with dementia to top a million next year and reach 1.6m people by 2040. We will need a further 440,000 carers by 2035.

“Without urgent reform we cannot hope to meet that demand.”

The ICG is calling for “a bold, root and branch overhaul of social care on a scale not witnessed in healthcare since Aneurin Bevan created the NHS in 1948.”

“For the public, we must get care to the 1.6m people who currently can’t access it and we must implement the Dilnot recommendations, including the setting of a limit on care costs so that people do not have to sell their home to pay for care. And we must treat dementia like other serious conditions like heart disease and cancer and fund its treatment through the NHS,” Mr Padgham adds in the manifesto.

“For the sector, we advocate the creation of a National Care Service, bringing NHS healthcare and social care under one roof, allied to greater investment in the sector and better recognition and reward for our workforce.

“We don’t need any more reports or commissions. And we don’t need any more vague promises or pledges. We need concrete action.

“The main political parties must make social care a manifesto priority and say what they will do to rescue the sector. And we must make them accountable.”

The ICG says the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and staff shortages followed years of neglect and under-funding by politicians from all parties and combined to leave the sector in crisis.

Despite rising demand, the social care sector is losing capacity. At the end of 2023 there were 518 fewer care homes in England than at the same time the previous year – a loss of 14,169 beds. Last year, 54% of homecare providers reported that they were delivering less care than the previous year. Some 48% reported a fall of 25% in the number of hours of care available to them to deliver, according to the Homecare Association. Unsurprisingly, in 2023 an average of 14,000 people were well enough to be discharged from hospital but had nowhere to go because of a lack of available social care.

“Quite apart from the huge benefits to society reform of social care would achieve, it has untapped economic potential too,” Mr Padgham added. “The sector already employs 1.6m people – which is more than the NHS – and contributes £55.7bn to the England economy. It could contribute more, with the right support and investment.

“We also need to properly recognise and financially support the army of unpaid carers who do such an amazing job.”

• The manifesto incorporates the ICG’s Five Pillars of Social Care Reform document, which has previously been sent to all the main political party leaders. It suggests ring-fencing a percentage of GDP for care, creating a National Care Service, setting a minimum carer wage, establishing a task force for reform and creating fair tariffs for services such as care beds and homecare visits.
  

iCG MANIFESTO