2010: A sink or swim year for social care?
By Paul Roberts
www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk
What are the prospects for social care in 2010? Will it at long last get the recognition – and investment – it so badly needs? Will it be a major issue in the forthcoming General Election? Will there be a White Paper to turn a blueprint for change into reality? Will dementia care become a genuine priority?
There are so many unanswered questions as we approach the end of another year. A General Election in 2010 could make or break the next decade for social care. The growing national debt and warnings of a fiscal crisis, tax and interest rate rises and a crackdown on public spending in the New Year do not inspire confidence in the future.
For all its faults, the past year has produced many positives for social care. It has been given unprecedented national attention partly due to the unveiling of the social care green paper – Shaping the Future of Care Together – and the launch of the much-awaited National Dementia Strategy for England.
The BBC Panorama investigation into controversial e-auctions and the state of home care – Britain’s Homecare Scandal, screened on April 9 2009 – and Sir Gerry Robinson’s moving two-part series on dementia care – Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care Homes? – helped to put social care at the top of political agendas.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised a better deal for people needing care – including free social care for the elderly most in need – at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton in September 2009. The Conservatives unveiled their plans for care – including a ‘home protection’ plan guaranteeing people aged over 65 with residential care for life – at their annual conference in October 2009.
Wales have just unveiled their green paper – Paying for Care in Wales: Creating a Fair and Sustainable System – and consultation on the document will continue until the end of February 2010. Scotland is about to produce its own dementia care strategy, which is now expected to be published in the New Year.
But the continuing recession and talk of a less than rosy 2010 threatens to halt the momentum that social care has been gathering in the past year. And hopes that social care will gain new significance in the General Election appear to have been dashed by opinion polls indicating that social care will not be a major vote winner in 2010.
Sadly, history tells us that elections are won and lost on the negatives. After a disastrous year for our banks and the economy, there’s not much good news out there right now. The MPs expenses scandal has added to Britain’s woes. And it will be these issues which will decide who will win and lose the next General Election.
Spending cuts will put many important projects and initiatives on the back-burner. Many businesses will go to the wall because banks and other lenders continue to make it difficult to secure loans and other finance. With more than 2.5 million people out of work in Britain, a grim future is being painted for many of us in Britain.
The knock-on effect could be huge and disastrous. Social care could be hit hard – because it does not possess the powerful voice that so many other industries have and know how to use. The need for change could not be greater but that message is in danger of being lost in a whirlpool of doom, gloom and spin.
The consultation period on the green paper Shaping the Future of Care Together is now over and there are hopes of a white paper outlining the way forward being published by the Government in the spring of 2010. But will it see the light of day particularly if Labour lose out to the Conservatives who are less than enthusiastic about the green paper?
If ever there was a year for social care to improve and reach new heights 2010 is it. The demand for care, particularly in the home, continues to grow. The need for better, more focused training to help our dedicated – and frequently under-valued – care workforce meet the demands of the future could not be higher.
The hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers in the UK are in desperate need of support. Without this silent army of helpers, the care system in Britain would collapse. Many are children helping parents who are unwell or disabled to stay at home. The ‘system’ fails to recognise the contribution they make or to provide adequate relief or support for them.
People with real vision are endeavouring to utilise ‘grey power’ to provide solutions. It is too easy to forget that there are more over-60s than under-16s in Britain today. For the first time the over-60s have a real voice in our communities and on the national stage and we have the perfect opportunity to make the most of ‘grey power’.
A campaign is under way to recruit older people – many of whom are retired and with invaluable management, organisational and other skills – to become the carers of the future. Society would benefit from their experience and many have already indicated that they would not be looking for financial reward. They just want to be valued – and not regarded as ‘over the hill’.
Thousands of local government employees, with excellent knowledge and skills in social care, retire each year and are lost to the employment market (voluntary or otherwise). Many others step down from key jobs at the age of 60 or 65 and ‘disappear’ into retirement. Few are asked to put their abilities to good use in new roles.
We all have to look at alternatives when the going gets tough. The best initiatives often come to the fore in times of difficulty. The campaign to recruit a new army of older carers merits support and investment – of time rather than money. The existing Government and whoever holds power after the next election, hold the key to making it a success.
Dementia care has to be brought up to the standards required for the 21st century. Who could forget those harrowing images of people in homes featured in Can Sir Gerry Fix Dementia care Homes? Dementia care in the UK is haphazard to say the least. Some is excellent; some is so appallingly bad it beggars belief that it is allowed to continue.
The failings illustrate the demand for high quality specialist training in dementia care. There is a distinct lack of definitive and nationally recognised training and qualifications in dementia care. There are some very good courses and trainers out there but the vast majority of care workers have received little or no training in caring for people with dementia.
This could so easily be put right. With minimum investment, care businesses could train their staff to a high level. The expertise is available, the trainers are available, in-house and outside training is available. A nationally recognised training programme – with proper accreditation – is all that is needed to bring about real improvement.
Scotland care merger
There’s been an interesting development in Scotland with the merger from January 1 2010 of Scottish Care at Home, representing about 65% of the private sector’s care at home and housing support services in Scotland, and Scottish Care, who represent the interests of residential care homes and care providers in Scotland.
Scottish Care is by far the largest organisation – with a powerful voice in the corridors of Holyrood. Scottish Care at Home has been gaining momentum in representing the interests of home care providers in Scotland. Together, they should be a formidable ‘voice for care’ but there will be some reservations about the merger.
The chief executive of Scottish Care at Home – and the new deputy CEO of the new organisation – says the merger is regarded as a natural extension of the strategy ‘to create the strongest possible alliance and collective voice to protect and promote the interests of independent care providers’ in Scotland.
The organisation is already calling itself the new ‘voice of the independent care sector’. There will be concerns that the voice of the home care providers will be lost in a merger that may hold more pluses for care home owners than home care operators. In a country facing major cutbacks in services after a desperate 2009, the next 12 months will be critical for this new organisation.
Its annual general meeting is due to be held in March 2010. This should provide members with the opportunity to influence and discuss the way forward.
Paul Roberts
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