Comment


Social care funding ‘fix’ only half the plan


Editor


Tim Probert timprobert@stepcomms.com


Business Manager Michael Butcher michaelbutcher@stepcomms.com


Journal Administration


Katy Cockle katycockle@stepcomms.com Design


Steven Dillon Publisher


Geoff King geoffking@stepcomms.com


Publishing Director


Trevor Moon trevormoon@stepcomms.com


THE CARE HOME ENVIRONMENT is published monthly by Step Communications Ltd, Step House, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1892 779999 Email: info@thecarehomeenvironment.com Web: www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


Welcome to the October edition of The Care Home Environment. In recent weeks, the government has unveiled its long-awaited plans more than two years after Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to power promising to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”. A national insurance rise of 1.25 per cent on both employees and employers – as well as a


similar rise on dividend taxes – aims to raise £36 billion over the next three years for the NHS and social care. As well as funding the NHS backlog, the money will be used to cap lifetime care costs to £86,000 for individuals in England from October 2023. As set out in its Building Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care document,


anyone who has assets of less than £20,000 will have their care costs fully covered by the state while those with assets between £20,000 and £100,000 will receive some means- tested state support.


The government has, perhaps, put the cart before the horse by announcing new social care funds before setting out how to spend it but it should be applauded for tackling an issue that has been ducked for too long


The plan also says the government will invest “at least £500m” over three years to


improve the social care workforce and make working in the sector more rewarding. That will include providing support in “professionalising and developing the workforce, including hundreds of thousands of training places and certifications for our care workers and professional development for the regulated workforce”. The government will also introduce further reforms to improve recruitment and support


for the social care workforce, with detail set out in the upcoming white paper due to be published later this year. The Department of Health and Social Care will meanwhile produce a “comprehensive


ISSN NO. 2398-3280


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national plan for supporting and enabling integration between health and social care” that involves creating the “right local incentives for integration and prevention” to ensure stakeholders “deliver more effective care in people’s own homes and their communities, breaking down the barriers between services”. The government has, perhaps, put the cart before the horse by announcing new social


care funds before setting out how to spend it but it should be applauded for tackling an issue that has been ducked for too long. Yet without a coherent and deliverable plan to reform social care – not least how to


improve pay, skills and recruitment of care workers – the risk remains that the government’s pledge to fix it once for all becomes a broken promise. Enjoy the magazine.


Tim Probert • Editor timprobert@stepcomms.com


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October 2021 • www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


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