Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK
said:
"It's a first, and a very welcome one, for a cross party group of
MPs, chaired by a recent Secretary of State for Health, to
acknowledge that social care is underfunded to the tune of 'tens
of billions' of pounds: now we need the Government to show the
same intellectual honesty and commit to finding the cash. There
are no short cuts when it comes to restoring social care to a
condition of decency and it's imperative that we act. Otherwise
we are colluding with a care system which the committee rightly
says is so inadequate that some of the most vulnerable people in
our society and their families find it "frightening. Surely, as a
country we can do better than that.
"One of the features of the committee's report is just how long
their list is of what has to be fixed, so the Government needs to
bring forward a package of funded measures that deal with each of
the problems which are dragging the system down. The pandemic has
demonstrated that proper workforce planning and a step change in
the terms and conditions of staff must be central and we know
that the public is keen to see the sacrifice and dedication of so
many care workers receiving their just reward.
"This report makes clear that when it comes to reforming social
care we need to be ambitious; tinkering will not do,
transformational change is what's required, even if it takes some
time to get there. It can only be done by taking the public with
us, so the sooner Ministers are prepared to talk openly about how
much it will cost to create a system of care worthy of the name,
and the enormous benefits this would bring, the better. Older and
disabled people and their carers have already waited far too
long."
