Gillian Ashcroft owner of children’s care home provider, Exceptional Care and training academy, Think Tank shares her perspective on the impact of the new Government.
As we wake up to a new Government, many of us in the social care sector will be wondering what we can expect now that electioneering pledges are replaced by the great ‘change’ we have been promised.
When the ‘First 100 Days’ reviews are in, we will hopefully see the early signs that a new era has dawned and, with it, a fresh energy to deal with the many challenges this country faces.
I would like to see urgent actions immediately taken that address areas of the current services that have been left unchanged and not improved for decades.
The existing system has well-known problems, unchanged since they were extensively examined by the Royal Commission on Long Term Care in 1999.
Since then, the solutions needed to address the changes this country requires in its social care policy and implementation have not been forthcoming – and the election campaign we have all just lived through yielded nothing new in this debate either.
Yes, there are pockets of positivity and good work, but the national picture is one of crisis and a sense of active denial by politicians of all persuasions to consider the ambitious solutions we need to put things right. In my opinion, the references to social care in debates over the past few weeks have lacked both detail and ambition.
The core promise made by the Labour Party during the election campaign was focused largely on actions around children and young people. As a provider of therapeutic and nurturing residential care for children and young people with complex needs, this is encouraging but where is the substance?
What we do know is that the new Labour Government intends to recruit 8,500 new mental health staff across children and adult services. In addition, we can expect to see a network of ‘Young Futures Hubs’ to provide open access mental health services for children and young people ‘in every community’.
The challenge for the new Government will inevitably boil down to funding, however, and the focus will switch from election promises to what’s available to pay for much-needed improvements from the public purse.
Social care is one among many public services seeking a larger share of financial commitment – despite Labour’s claims that the money needed will be raised by adding VAT to private school fees.
While we wait and see what the Government’s spending plans are during the next parliament, there are other ways that commitment to real change can be demonstrated in my opinion.
Given that social care is in a recognised state of national crisis in this country, perhaps now is the moment for politicians of all persuasions to come together for the common good of the sector.
I believe the only way through the endless cycle of crisis identification and inaction, that has dogged social care for decades, requires political consensus and national engagement – which means we need a proper nationwide discussion, rather than brushing the topic aside.
My own efforts to bring about a wider discussion about social care reform have involved establishing the Combined Care Consortium, which although it is in its infancy is bringing together influential care sector leaders to discuss issues and propose solutions for policy change.
These first days of a new Government offer the perfect timing to make that happen, and there is considerable will and passion within the care sector to get behind change and support a solid plan to put things right.
My message to our new Prime Minister is that social care must be a top agenda item for urgent action – because the people of this country who need help the most deserve much better than another decade of decay and delay.
@ ExceptionalCar3 @ThinkTankAcad
exceptional-care.co.uk thinktank-academy.com
