Facing the future of care: spring conference report

It was unseasonably warm on Wednesday 23 March; a fine day for Care England’s Facing the future conference, held at Church House, Westminster, a stone’s throw from Westminster Abbey. However, the pleasant weather was at odds with the evident sadness and anger inside the building as the speakers of the day took to the stage - introduced by Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England - to discuss the difficulties (and indeed tragedies) that have befallen the social care sector over the past couple of years as it bore the full brunt of the COVID pandemic.

While there was a sense of shared trauma amongst delegates, there were tentative signs of positivity – bolstered by the presence of the secretary of state for health and social care, Sajid Javid, as the final speaker of the day. Perhaps his appearance really did mean that the government was finally placing social care at the heart of its agenda?

Dr Tim Harris, national director of transformation, NHS England, discussed the importance of using digital technology to link social care and the NHS; a theme that was returned to throughout the day, not least by Sajid Javid himself. Continuity between health and social care - and the need to link the two in a far more meaningful and coherent way than has hitherto been the case - was one that other speakers touched upon.