Professor Vic Rayner OBE Chief Executive Officer of the National Care Forum becomes Care Provider Alliance chair

The National Care Forum (NCF) – the leading association for not-for-profit social care is
delighted to announce that Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the National
Care Forum as become the incoming chair of the Care Provider Alliance (CPA), the coalition
of national voices of adult social care providers in England, for 2024/25.
Vic’s extensive experience spans social care, health, housing, and technology sectors
including over eight years at the helm of the National Care Forum.
Vic chairs the government national workforce advisory group and the National Social Care
Advisory Group on social care and technology, where she has been at the forefront of
promoting digital transformation across care. She also sits on a range of government and
national specialist groups with a focus on new models of care and regulation.
Furthermore, this year Vic became chair of the Global Ageing Network and works
extensively with international partners on key areas of innovation and change.
Vic is a regular national and international speaker and has extensive knowledge and
expertise across a wide range of care, support, housing and social policy agendas. She was
awarded an OBE for services to social care in 2021.
The role of CPA chair rotates annually across each of the ten associations. Vic follows Dr.
Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Homecare Association, who served as the
CPA’s Chair for the past 12 months.
Commenting on her new role, Vic said:
“I am thrilled to serve as this year’s Chair of the Care Provider Alliance (CPA). The CPA
members work across the whole care and support sector ensuring a coordinated response
to the major issues that affect care providers and as an Alliance we continue to go from
strength to strength. Our work together with policymakers, commissioners and those who
draw on care and support is vitally important, and I look forward to building our
engagement and impact together.
“This is such a crucial time for social care, and speaking with one voice will be critical as we
seek towards achieving fair pay for carers, and the implementation of a funded workforce
strategy. Commissioning and regulation are also areas of concern, and we are very keen to
work with the new Government to develop a National Care Service.
CPA remains focused on nurturing our partnerships and existing programmes, such as the
Integrated Care Systems Learning Network for health and social care partners and building
on our essential resources for care providers in business continuity and digital
transformation.
“Our thanks go to outgoing Chair, Dr Jane Townson OBE, for her outstanding leadership of
CPA over the last year, and to the vital project team who support us on a part-time basis.”
Outgoing Chair, Jane, commented:
“Serving as Chair of the CPA over the past year, it has been an honour and a privilege to
work with many exceptional colleagues across the care and health sectors. We built on work
in previous years to strengthen our engagement with national and local government; the
NHS; regulators; think tanks; universities; sector experts in the UK and abroad; and the
media.
“During this period, we have seen an increase in demand for care and complexity of need.
International recruitment helped to plug gaps in our workforce in the short-term but also
created fresh problems we worked hard to solve. Alongside this, we supported
development of a strategy to grow and develop our UK care workforce, led by Skills for Care.
CPA members have remained committed to the digital transformation of care and are
pleased that 70% of providers are now using digital care records. Difficulties at CQC have
created many issues for care providers and we have advocated strongly for improvement.
The financial position of many small providers remains precarious. Our analysis has
highlighted the need for investment and the value of timely support and care for individuals,
communities, and the economy.
“There are many opportunities to improve healthy life expectancy by supporting more
people to live well in their communities. I know Vic has the energy, tenacity and knowledge
to take the Alliance forward as we work towards creating a robust and sustainable social
care system.
“In my role as CEO of the Homecare Association, I will continue to be a part of the CPA and
look forward to working closely with Vic in her new role.”