Ahead of the upcoming general election the National Care Forum (NCF) has laid out five social care must haves for the next government.
In brief, these are:
- Think social care first: Ensure that people care about social care like they do the NHS and understand its central role in joined up health and care for people.
- Improve the pay, terms and conditions of the workforce: Care work is intrinsically skilled and valuable and must be renumerated to reflect this.
- Invest in people, not profit: Adult social care should be for people, not profit.
- Create an economic growth strategy for adult social care: Social care is a large employer contributing £51.5bn to the English economy, making it an essential part of the national infrastructure.
- Enshrine Rights, Fairness & Choice for people in a National Care Covenant: Co-produce and set out clearly the mutual rights and responsibilities of citizens, families, communities, and the state.
Look Ahead Chief Executive, Chris Hampson
Look Ahead’s CEO Chris Hampson said:
“At Look Ahead, we fully agree with the NCF’s recommendations.
“Social care is a significant part of the UK’s support structure and has the power to drive positive changes that benefit not only the country and the public finances at large, but also individuals, families and communities nationwide.
“Care services can make significant savings to the public purse, and take pressure off the NHS, while delivering the desired personal outcomes for the people they support.
“We have seen this first-hand time and again at Look Ahead. Our supported housing, and medication services for example, have cut lengthy – not to mention expensive – hospital admissions, and reduced the likelihood of readmission further down the line, allowing individuals to move forward as they choose.
“The care we, and our colleagues across the sector provide is key to supporting hundreds of thousands of people to live the happier, more independent and fulfilling lives we would all want to live.
“We call upon the next government, and soon-to-be elected policy makers of every stripe to seriously consider and implement the NCF’s must haves. Make no mistake, if we are to safeguard the future of social care across the UK, prioritising these recommendations is a must.”
