NCF Member Briefing 8.6.23 - The Fabian Society Report
Fabian Society Report – Support Guaranteed: The Roadmap to a National Care Service
This morning, the Fabian Society published its report, commissioned by Unison, outlining a roadmap to develop a National Care Service over the course of a decade. We have welcomed this report as it contains an encouraging focus on choice and control for people, better pay, terms and conditions for the workforce and a new deal for care providers. We particularly welcome the focus on the critical role of not-for-profit care and the recommendation to expand this type of provision – we were encouraged to see this and other suggestions which we made to the Fabian Society included in the report. It is a very comprehensive document, but we now need to see if Labour will adopt it as part of their manifesto, and ensure it is funded.
At the launch of the report earlier today, the Labour Shadow Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, appeared to put a bit of distance between Labour and the policies outlined in the Fabian’s report. He reiterated Labour’s previous commitments to a new deal for care workers, with better terms and conditions, and the removal of extractive, profit-making, from the sector. However, he stopped short of committing to the measures and roadmap outlined by the Fabians which is disappointing. He maintained that Labour will only include measures in their manifesto that they can fully cost and fund – the implication being that they don’t want to make these sorts of commitments this far from a general election. We are concerned that Labour may continue to keep social care as a subordinated part of their wider health policy, rather than an important policy area in its own right. We will be working to try and ensure this doesn’t happen!
You can find our summary of the report here.
Policy and Public Affairs Network
We’re currently in the process setting up a Policy and Public Affairs Network, along the lines of the other networks we run, to enable more members to get involved in policy and public affairs and to allow a more fluid level of discussion and information sharing. In particular, we want to use this network to help shape and share NCF messaging and campaigning ahead of a General Election, and hopefully also provide some useful sessions to help the membership do the same. We will use it to enhance the work we are doing to influence the political parties and raise the profile of not for profit care.
I will hopefully circulate more information about this network tomorrow or on Monday, but please get in touch if you would like to join this new network. We hope to have the first meeting on 4th July, 3pm-4pm, but we are still in the process of confirming.
Care Supporters Bill
Earlier this week Labour MP, Dan Carden, introduced the Care Supporters Bill which would provide NHS patients and care home residents with the “right to maintain contact” with at least one “essential care supporter”. This comes off the back of the campaigns by a number of organisations, such as John’s Campaign and Care Rights UK (formerly Rights for Residents and Relatives and Residents Association). The legislation appears to have cross-party support but it is unclear whether the government currently supports it, or will bring forward its own measures. Its second reading is scheduled for November 2023.
Carer’s Leave Act
Anthony Collins Solicitors has published two blogs which you may find useful in understanding the Carer’s Leave Act and other pieces of legislation recently granted royal assent on workers rights for carers and parents. Please note that we are still waiting for the draft regulations for the Carer’s Leave Act, so we don’t have full clarification on the implications at this point.
Update to COVID-19 IPC Supplement
There has been a small update to this guidance to clarify information about the admission of people to care homes. Specifically:
• Updated to clarify the period individuals should stay away from others is from the day after the positive test and does not restart when the individual is admitted into the care home.
• Updated to clarify that individuals who are already symptomatic and have tested do not need to test again 48 hours before admission if they continue to have symptoms.
Volunteers
Yesterday, the government announced the expansion of the NHS Volunteer Responders Programme scheme into social care to form a joint NHS and care volunteering programme and allow care providers to recruit volunteers to help people in their local areas.
Backed by £3m, the scheme will use the same GoodSAM app that NHS volunteers currently use, to bring providers and volunteers together. The roles available for care volunteers are:
• Check in and Chat Plus: Contacting people who have been identified as particularly vulnerable to offer a friendly voice to those who may be experiencing loneliness
• Pick up and Deliver: Helping to transport medicines or small items of medical equipment to people’s homes or community settings from NHS sites to aid discharge from hospital or continued healthcare support
• Community Response: Collecting and delivering food shopping and essential items as well as prescriptions and medications to people in the community.