Responding to the Health and
Social Care Select Committee report on the cost of inaction
on social care, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Policy Natasha
Curry said:
“Doing nothing on social care is an
active choice for governments, but the Committee's report shows
inaction is not sustainable and has severe consequences,
not just for people who go without the
care they need, but for the unpaid carers who lack support, and
for the economy. With social
care framed as a positive enabler of independence, quality of
life and economic growth, the report strikes a different and
welcome tone to so much commentary around social care that frames
it as a drain on resources. Our research on social care in other
countries such as Japan and Germany stresses that successful
reform is possible, but only if social care is given status as a
vital part of national
infrastructure.
“Pressures in the system are mounting.
Unmet need is high, care worker pay is troublingly low, unpaid
carers are inadequately supported, and providers are struggling
with costs, particularly following the recent rises to the
National Living Wage and National Insurance contributions which
we estimate will add £2.8bn in additional wage costs in the
sector this year. The report also makes clear the consequences of
constrained council funding for social care with councils having
to reduce other public services. Put simply, the situation is
urgent, and reform cannot wait.
“With the terms of reference for the
Casey Commission now set out, there is an opportunity to confront
and address inadequacies and dysfunctions in this integral
system. The Select Committee echoes messages we have heard from
the care sector for years. It urges the government to recognise
the vital role that social care, when done well, could play not
only in supporting individuals to live the lives they choose but
also in supporting the government's health mission and in
fuelling economic growth.”
