‘Social care reform caught in political catch-22,’ report finds

Social care reform is caught in a political catch-22 with Government frightened to tackle the issue, according to a new report.

The King’s Fund, report titled, Not my priority: how the public sees social care (and what can be done about it)’, says the public has ‘social care fatigue’ with politicians reluctant to address the issue due to past failures such as the ‘dementia tax’ row in 2017.

Simon Bottery, senior fellow for social care at The King’s Fund and co-author of the report, said: ‘Social care reform is caught in a political Catch-22: it needs politicians to build support for change, but they avoid talking about it for fear it will lose them votes. It will take more courage and leadership from them if social care reform is going to happen and realise the electoral and societal benefits that fixing this failing system would bring.’

The analysis shows the public’s prioritisation of social care as a major issue peaked at 18% in 2017 and currently stands at a record low of between 1% and 3%.

However, when people are reminded of the issue through prompted polling, almost one in three say it should be prioritised.

Public understanding of social care, meanwhile, is low with a third thinking it is free or provided by the NHS and people underestimating the odds of needing care, with one in seven of those aged 65 requiring care costing £100,000 or more in their lifetime.

The King’s Fund recommends more effort is put into cross-party dialogue, so that future politicians have ‘air cover’ for social care reform proposals. To date there has only been one reported cross-party meeting hosted by the ongoing Casey Commission on reform.

The Casey Commission is due to present its initial findings this year, with its final report being published in 2028.

Unison head of social care Gavin Edwards called on the Government to speed up the reform timetable and to bring in its Fair Pay Agreement without delay along with higher funding to improve wages and working conditions.

Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.