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Exclusive: Care providers will have ‘same weaknesses’ in next pandemic without investment


The care sector will not be resilient “when the next crisis comes” if it isn’t “properly funded, consistently commissioned and treated as an equal partner”, and will face the “same weaknesses” that hampered its response to the Covid pandemic, a social care providers’ leader has warned. In comments made after the recent


publication of the government’s pandemic strategy, Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green OBE said the government is right to focus on pandemic preparedness, and to recognise the role of adult social care but warned “we cannot ignore the reality the sector is operating in today”. “Social care is not starting from a position


of strength. Providers are facing rising costs, ongoing workforce challenges, and a funding model that is already under significant strain” he said. “Against that backdrop, the expectation


that the sector can ‘prevent, respond, scale and adapt’ in a future pandemic simply does not reflect what is happening on the ground. “If social care is not sustainable now, it will


not be resilient when the next crisis comes” he added. His comments come after the Department


of Health and Social Care announced it will co-produce an action plan with care providers, central and local government partners, voluntary organisation and care users by next year. The plan – announced as part of the


government’s wide ranging new Pandemic Strategy – will aim to ‘ensure clarity of local


and national roles and responsibilities, outline other important policy considerations to support the sector, and be tailored to the breadth of its services and the people accessing care,’ the Department said. The action plan will also ‘consider how to


improve the resilience and preparedness of the adult social care workforce’, by looking at ‘how to improve guidance and training on infection and prevention control (IPC), access to PPE and uptake of vaccines for the adult social care workforce’, it added. A separate piece of work to ‘explore how


targeted and appropriate funding can be delivered to the adult social care sector in the event of a pandemic or emerging infectious disease outbreak’ is being carried out to ‘develop options to be evaluated in the current 2026-27 financial year,’ according to the documents published by the Department.


CQC launches hunt for new CEO amid shake-up


The Care Quality Commission has launched its search for a new ‘visionary chief executive to lead transformation, inspire confidence and shape the future of health and social care regulation across England,’ a head-hunting firm hired to lead the search said. The watchdog is looking for a new leader following the resignation of Sir Julian Hartley after less than a year in post amid the launch of an inquiry into


“repeated maternity failures” at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust where he was previously chief executive.


Dr Arun Chopra has since been in post as interim chief executive.


The organisation kicked off its bid for a new leader amid a shake-up of its regulatory frameworks and inspection regime. It said ‘momentum is growing’ behind the changes ‘but the next phase requires leadership in rebuilding operational strength around our


core functions, while fostering innovation for the future’ to lead a watchdog that has a £300m budget and employs around 3,000 people.


The deadline for applications is May 15th. This will ‘include clarifying roles and


responsibilities, and funding routes to different areas of the sector through local authorities or directly to providers’ the Department said. It added that this approach would mean


that “in a pandemic, this will help ensure funding can be appropriately provided to the sector, enabling continuity of care if faced with higher demand or staff shortages”. Professor Green said the strategy


contained “important steps”, but warned that “preparedness cannot be delivered through plans alone” and “needs a properly funded, consistently commissioned, system that’s treated as an equal partner.” “Until that happens, there remains a real


risk that we will face the next pandemic with the same weaknesses we saw in the last one,” he added.


May 2026 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 9


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