Urgent focus on staffing and funding for social care in North Yorkshire
A new National Care Service could be launched on the 80th anniversary of the NHS
Care home owners across North Yorkshire say there needs to be an urgent focus on staffing and funding to help the sector.
A new National Care Service could be launched on the 80th anniversary of the NHS, with a report saying there is not a "quick fix for our social care emergency."
Mike Padgham runs Saint Cecilia's in Scarborough and is Chair of the Independent Care Group in North Yorkshire.
He said: "I would like to see the funding increased significantly earlier for local authorities and adult social care in general terms. It's good to have a debate but I think if we're keen as a country that social care is a priority then we have to pay for it earlier and it'll have to come infront of other priorities.
"The key thing I think is that if we spend money on prevention and move some for the health service and social care quicker, then in fact there'll be no need for such a large health service. We can be cared for at home for much longer and therefore the health service can be smaller and that's the tricky bit, but I welcome the report and debate that will ensue.
"The priority has got to be staffing and getting social care staff on a par with the NHS which means more funding from the Government to enable that to happen. It's got to be a top priority because that's where there's a big failure at the moment so I would welcome if that starts to happen."
Tobyn Dickinson, Chief Executive of The Mayfield Care Home in Whitby, said: "The sector came under a huge amount of pressure during the pandemic and it continues although there was a recovery, it continues to be under pressure. There's a shortage of staff, growing demand for the sector's services and we have an ageing population.
"There's a demographic timebomb which is going to hit us which we need to address and we need to address this urgently. There needs to be more of a focus on staffing and that's particularly in recruitment and retention and funding needs to be addressed.
"There's a strong demand for care home services in Whitby and that's the reason why we decided to build our new care home. There simply isn't enough high quality care home provision so our new care home is going a lot way to adress that supply and demand imbalance.
"Care staff needs to be recognised on par with NHS staff and that comes in a variety of ways. The Government needs to promote the attractiveness of the sector and part of that is by recognising the hugely important work that staff inthe care sector do."
The report
A report from The Fabian Society think tank says there is "no quick fix for our social care emergency," as a new National Care Service (NCS) could be launched on the 80th anniversary of the NHS, which is in five years' time.
It said a 10-year Government spending commitment would be required with a promise to increase real terms funding for adult social care by a significant percentage each year.
It did not give a figure for how much the new service for England would cost, but said this should be informed by an independent assessment of cost pressures in adult social care.
It said it also had not addressed questions of where money for support and care should come from, insisting it is an error to link reform of social care to questions of revenue-raising - something it said had created "an unnecessary hurdle on the road to reform".
The report, requested by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting and commissioned by Unison, sets out what an NCS might look like and how it could work, with plans having first been presented towards the end of the last Labour government's reign more than a decade ago.
It warned: "There is no quick fix for our social care emergency. Unless we take significant and sustained action over many years things will get worse for all of us."
Among its suggestions are that people who need care could receive at least £25 or £50 per week as a contribution to their costs, no matter how much money they have.
It also recommends the introduction of national employment terms, pay bands and minimum pension entitlements for employees of NCS providers, aiming to achieve broad parity with similar roles in the NHS.
In the next decade extra formal care will be required to help address "a looming shortfall in the availability of family carers", the Fabian Society said.
It added that more spending on care would help "tackle worsening labour shortages by boosting employment opportunities for carers and disabled people".
It stated: "Social care spending spreads jobs and growth around the country. Every extra £1 billion in social care spending will create around 50,000 jobs distributed all over England, with the largest impacts felt in the North East and North West.
"Finally, raising taxes to spend on adult social care will redistribute money from high-income to low- and middle-income households, and from men to women."
It suggested a universal contribution to adult care costs would see everyone with support needs getting some financial help, bind former self-funders into the new public system and create a financial incentive that would induce take-up among people currently not receiving any support.
It said: "Options could include a weekly cash contribution (of say £25 to £50), a percentage contribution to the cost, or a weekly charge cap (as with home care in Wales)".
Other suggestions include expanding the scope of free support starting with people disabled from birth or early in life.
The report added: "For example, care could be free for people requiring support by the age of 25 (as proposed by the coalition government). Charges would be made for daily living costs in residential accommodation."
The society acknowledged that any plans for an NCS would take time, but said immediate steps should focus on recruitment and retention of the social care workforce.
Subject to an election in autumn 2024, the society suggests an initial minimum wage for the sector should be in place by April 2025, and that other extra spending "should focus on service continuity and ensuring both adult social care and the NHS are able to provide an acceptable minimum level of service".
Suggesting the NHS anniversary as a possible launch date, the society said there would need to be time between now and then for "co-design, legislation and implementation".
It said: "The launch could be on July 5 2028, the 80th anniversary of the NHS.
"On this date, important new entitlements and responsibilities would commence. But it would be neither the beginning nor the end of the path of reform."
Andrew Harrop, general secretary of the Fabian Society and co-author of the report, said: "This comprehensive plan for a National Care Service for England is an ambitious roadmap for solving one of the country's most significant and enduring social challenges.
"The Fabian Society's plan works for everyone who needs support or care now or who may do in the future.
"But vitally, it is also a blueprint that works for the under-valued care workforce and for our huge army of unpaid family carers."
Mr Streeting described the report as "an important contribution to the debate on our social care system" and said his party is "committed to ensuring better terms and conditions, proper training, and fair pay for care workers, with national standards guaranteeing good quality care, as the first steps to building a National Care Service".
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said an NCS would "boost wages, put quality above profit-making and ensure everyone receives the support they need" in a system which is currently "broken and the staff who work in it are either on their knees or leaving in droves".