Social care chiefs warn of Labour’s ‘deafening silence’ on sector

The Labour Party has reneged on its social care commitments and looks set to follow previous governments in failing to tackle the crisis in the care sector, sector leaders have warned.

Announcements from Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that she would not cap aged care costs and Stephen Kinnock, the Care Minister, that he would not cap aged care costs. Abolish a fund that provides training to 37,000 healthcare workershave alerted the social care sector.

Writing in the ObserverMinisters have chosen to prioritise the NHS over social care, failing to recognise they are interdependent, according to the chief executives of Care England (CE), the Homecare Association (HA) and the National Care Forum (NCF).

Labour’s manifesto included promises to introduce a National Care Service and other elements of “deep reform” in the manifesto. Reeves will deliver her first budget on October 30 and has accused the Conservatives of leaving a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, but leaders say social care faces a range of problems that require urgent attention.

“For decades, successive UK governments have failed to take responsibility for a growing crisis in social care. This government must not continue that pattern,” write Prof Martin Green of CE, Vic Rayner of NCF, Dr Jane Towson of HA and Suhail Mirza, non-executive director of Newcross Healthcare. “Yet in little over a month in office, the government has done (and) said little to suggest that social care will fare much better under its watch, a view reinforced by the deafening silence on social care in Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on 27 August. We urge the government to change course.”

Nursing homes and home care providers have been struggling with vacancies of over 100,000 staff for years, making it increasingly difficult for families of elderly and disabled people to find help. Caregivers can often earn more money in supermarkets and staff turnover is high.

While the number of vacancies has fallen, most roles have been filled by care workers from abroad, something that has become increasingly difficult since immigration controls were introduced in March to prevent them from bringing partners or children. The number of UK care workers has fallen by 70,000 in the past two years.

According to workforce mapping organisation Skills for Care, an additional 430,000 social care workers will be needed over the next decade to cope with the UK’s ageing population.

“It will be vital that the UK trains its own workforce to meet these numbers. To do this, the sector must be attractive to those who are, or will be, part of the wider labour market,” the leaders said.

The shortage of nursing staff has left family members feeling they have to stop working to care for their loved ones, and some elderly patients cannot simply be discharged from hospital.

The leaders say it is “long overdue to see social care as a partner of the NHS, deserving of the equal respect it has long been denied”.

“It is now time for the government to ‘think social care first’, across all policy departments,” they say.

“The government’s much-publicised inquiry into the NHS will be seriously undermined without proper funding, fair pay and support for employees’ career development.

“The government continues to try to demonstrate its commitment to financial prudence, but while manifesto commitments for the NHS still stand, social care initiatives have been sidelined.

“Should we wait for tragedies and scandals for those receiving care (or waiting to receive care) before meaningful action is taken?”