Surrey Care Association (SCA) has identified key reforms needed to reinvent the social care sector, as it looks to improve its funding, efficiency, working conditions and public image.
In a report, ‘Reinventing Social Care’, the SCA board of directors set out five central pillars in a working plan for reform and reinvention that aims to set the industry up for long-term survival and success.
Top of the list is changing the name of social care, which it feels is “overwhelmingly negative”, to ‘life care’, and a new status for the sector.
“Pre-Covid, public opinion of social care wasn’t good but those on the inside know that alongside the rotten, there is outstanding work being done by remarkable people day in, day out,” the report says.
“We wish to see our sector held high in public regard for the great work it does. Social care should sit fondly in people’s hearts, just like the NHS,” it added.
The other core components of the reforms centre on a valued workforce, new processes led by people who access services, fair and transparent funding arrangements to secure a bright long-term future, and reformed roles and structures.
The report was launched with a virtual roundtable event chaired by Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green, which, alongside the directors at the Surrey Care Association, was also attended by health and social care select committee chairman Jeremy Hunt and Sir Robert Francis QC, chairman of Healthwatch England.
“With public awareness and appreciation probably at a high-water mark, we believe it’s the perfect time to reinvent social care, to overhaul its image and create foundations for long-term success,” said SCA director David Holmes.
“Our radical proposals will ensure that all people accessing social care are supported to live rich and purposeful lives, and the process through which we do this will be consistent and transparent, giving reassurance and breaking down the trust barrier,” he added.
An executive summary of the SCA manifesto can be viewed here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/52rjnmg3o4mjsvr/AADbmM3dET-sbjD_-YFNKHQja?dl=0
