Labour’s proposal could help refocus on social care, but it’s unclear if it’s the reform we need
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Sterling, Has said Labour’s aim is to launch the National Nursing Service (NCS) Inspired by the creation of the NHS. The Fabian Society will examine how the service can be funded and structured, with the aim of building the foundations of the NCS during Labour’s first term in Parliament.
despite the promise ‘Fix “social care”, which the current government has done very little to reform, while pressure on the system and those who rely on support continues to mount. During the pandemic, the spotlight was on care, but things quickly returned to the way they were before, with social care once again barely visible in the public discourse. Labour’s alternative proposal could help bring some attention back to social care and the government’s failed reforms. But is NCS the answer?
It is worth noting that over the years, several people, organizations and campaigns have called for the establishment of the NCS. Despite a common calling card, these proposals often offer a completely different vision of what social care should look like.
We believe that publicly funded social care, such as the NHS, should be free when needed. If we pool these risks at the societal level and spread the cost of social care so that those with the widest shoulders carry the heaviest weight, we can guarantee access to social care as much as we guarantee access to health care.if that’s what they mean ‘Inspired by the NHS, then we’re off to a good start.
However, the state must not mean unity or top-down.some expressed concern ‘‘National’ in the NCS means Labour may be looking to standardise services in Westminster, or a model to incorporate social care into the NHS itself. The current social security system is too standardized. Nursing, especially home care, is often based on the delivery of predefined tasks based on survival, such as washing and dressing. This is too restrictive and leaves little room for people to support themselves. As Social Care Futures arguesCurrently using social care services ‘It could mean things in our lives that we valued have been changed without us saying it, or gone completely.”
as we are Our most recent reportco-published with the Women’s Budget Group, the core objective of social care reform should be to move from a model that provides the bare minimum to ‘Caring for life and limbs, supporting people’s well-being and independence.this means ‘help[ing] People go to achieve the outcomes that matter to them in their lives” rather than a standard list of essential tasks. Achieving this requires services to be responsive to people’s needs and desires, and to keep those who use services in control. Centralized care or will Putting it under the control of the NHS and its model of care is unlikely to help. In our opinion, local authorities are best placed to organise and deliver this type of care in partnership with those who need support and with providers who share a common goal.
But even with social care remaining in local governments, there are areas where more and better intervention from the national government is needed. The first is raising and distributing funds. Over the past decade, local authorities’ increasing reliance on local revenue sources has disadvantaged poor areas with lower tax bases and higher needs for publicly funded social care. Therefore, the responsibility for funding social care should be shifted from local to central government.
The second is to formulate and implement standards. Local differences in the delivery of social care should be a positive response to local priorities and local assets, not the result of inconsistent availability or quality. People in need of support should be able to expect the same high standard of care, and social care workers should be able to expect the same high standard of working conditions, no matter where they live.
Labour’s proposal is not yet clear and we will have to wait to hear the advice of Fabian’s review before we know exactly what the NCS means.if ‘National’ means the central government supports local delivery with funding and national standards, so count me. We look forward to hearing more.
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