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Care providers call for funding clarity and workforce reform
Providers must ‘take ownership’ of care image
The adult care sector must “take ownership” of its own image, according to prominent provider leaders who took part in a recent Care Show London panel on how to change perceptions of the sector. The panel - Hallmark CEO Aneurin
The government must set out a multi- year funding plan and stabilise the adult social care workforce to support providers struggling to meet rising demand, according to a Care England report. The call comes after the The Power of Care
report found that nearly two-thirds of survey respondents from across the sector said the system is not strong enough to meet current or future need. The report highlights the importance of
adult social care to the smooth running of society and its contribution to the economy and employment, but warns ministers’ drive to shift health and care services into neighbourhoods “will fail” if it is left on the “margins of policy thinking”. In a foreword to the recent report,
launched at a Westminister reception hosted by Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green said social care must be “placed on a more stable and strategic footing” if reforms are to be successful. This will be achieved via financial
certainty, workforce reform and better coordination between the NHS, local authorities and central government, according to the report. To achieve this in the short term, the
report – written in partnership with communications agency PMLR – calls for a ‘clear multi-year funding trajectory and cost-reflective fee rates to stabilise provider finances,’ a funded Fair Pay Agreement to raise wages and improve retention, reduced regulation duplication, and national standards for integration, including discharge processes. In the longer term it argues that a cross- government social care settlement and
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www.thecarehomeenvironment June 2026
sustained investment in infrastructure is needed, warning that fragmented policymaking has held back reform.
Goodwill Meanwhile survey findings published in the report based on 177 responses and 17 in-depth interviews from across the sector, including staff, people who receive care and families, details how chronic financial uncertainty limits providers’ ability to invest in staffing and services. “Good care costs money” warned one
respondent, while another flagged the system is “reliant on goodwill… that will run out one day”. The report also details how the sector
achieves better outcomes for people, with one describing that support “gives me the confidence… to continue my day”. However, others described the impact of
fragmented services, with one reporting being left with 11 days of no support following hospital discharge, due to individual care providers not communicating – a common problem that forces families to coordinate care themselves, according to the report. Care England argues failures are
not inevitable, pointing to examples of effective, joined-up care that demonstrate how coordinated support can restore independence and enable people to work, socialise and live fully. The report calls on ministers to
recognise the sector as “essential national infrastructure”, underpinning the NHS, the labour market and stability family life. “It is also an economic powerhouse with
the means to boost local communities and the nation as a whole,” added Professor Green.
Brown, Signature Homes CEO Rob Martin, Elizabeth Finn Homes CEO Olivia Curno and StellaCare NW MD Stella Shaw - said the sector needs to change the story it tells about itself, emphasising a need to move away from it being viewed through a narrow, traditional lens of “kindness” and basic support. They argued the public needs to
see the vital professional, skilled, and preventative work that goes on in homes every day to banish the image of care work as a kind of act of charity that sits somewhere off to the side, if it wants care to be taken seriously as part of national infrastructure. This requires collaboration between providers to present a unified voice, taking up space in traditional and social media, and taking ownership when things go wrong as well as promoting success, they argued. Mr Brown, who used to work for
the BBC before joining Hallmark as a hospitality services manager 12 years ago, said working in the sector requires a “bit of a transition from misconceptions of “stereotypes of old people dying, smells, people sat around and a lack of life” to the reality. “As soon as I crossed the threshold I was in. From that moment, I thought I want to be part of this. I saw life. I saw people enjoying themselves. I saw activity. I saw people living their best life.”
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