The Prime Minister has set out a new path to fix Britain’s “broken social care system,” pledging to transform it into “an integrated system that gives people security and dignity.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke at a care home last week where he committed to working across party lines to solve the problems facing the social care sector together.
Conveying a sense of urgency, he said on 29th July:
“I won’t stand by and leave people paying the price for Westminster’s refusal to deal with the real issues facing our country.
“That’s what’s happened with our broken social care system, which has been left to decline while politicians pass it back and forth.
“I just don’t accept that this problem is too big to solve. What we need is a new way of doing politics where we come together, face the challenge head on and build an integrated system that gives people security and dignity.
“That’s the commitment I am making to people across this country, and I will give it my all in trying.”
Transforming social care essential for the future of the NHS
Mr Burnham said that reforming social care was essential not only for people actively needing support from the sector, but also to ensure the long-term viability of the NHS. He explained that a failure to address issues in social care had placed increased pressure on NHS services, with thousands of people remaining stuck in hospital beds despite being medically fit to leave due to adult social care services lacking the required capacity.
This has had a knock-on effect on care in hospitals, with too many patients receiving ‘corridor care’ due to discharge delays and a lack of beds.
Official figures show that A&E attendances among people aged over 65 have increased from 3.3 million in 2011-12 to 5.8 million in 2024-25. The government says it is estimated that social care funding cuts made between 2010 and 2018 led to an additional half a million A&E attendances for this age group.
The Prime Minister said his new approach would primarily focus on lifting up the social care workforce, integrating it with the NHS workforce and creating clear routes for progression, better pay, training and job security. He said a better care service could only be delivered once it is viewed as one unified workforce, which would improve its strength and capability.
Seeking a cross-party consensus on social care
A key part of the Prime Minister’s speech included working across party lines and with all parts of society.
Baroness Casey has launched the Big Conversation on Care to ensure that the voices of the public are heard. Open to everyone through a new online platform, the consultation will ask people from all over the country to share their views on the values and principles that should underline the care system as well as on tough questions around fairness and funding.
The Health and Social Care Secretary is also set to chair a new ministerial group to help accelerate the government’s response on social care, including workforce, system reform and delivery of the Commission’s first recommendations.
Actions will include appointing a Dementia Tsar later this summer to help drive forward much-needed improvements in care.
Baroness Casey’s Commission was previously slated to report back with a plan on how to deliver the National Care Service in 2028, but the Prime Minister has confirmed that he is bringing this deadline forward to next summer.
The Commission’s findings will inform a plan to implement solutions for social care with the public’s backing and cross-party consensus to ensure that proposals are deliverable, realistic and designed in the interests of those they are there to service.
A new National Care Service
The Prime Minister also defined core principles for the government’s new National Care Service. These are:
- The system must allow people to move seamlessly between hospitals, home care and community services
- The service must be fully and sustainably funded
- The service must start with prevention, supporting people to live independently for as long as possible
- Citizens’ needs must be at the heart of plans, removing budget battle lines between organisations and making sure local social, primary and community care works together effectively
The Prime Minister and the Health and Social Care Secretary are set to meet regularly with Baroness Casey and her team to track progress and ensure continued momentum.
Mr Burnham has also invited the leaders of the two main opposition parties to meet within him in order to begin a new discussion on social care and drive cooperation across party lines, in order to kickstart his promised new approach.
Health and social care ‘must work hand in hand’
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said too many people are “being let down by a broken system,” and that unpaid carers take on an “enormous burden every day” as a result. She added:
“When social care fails, it affects people’s independence, families’ lives and communities across the country.
“More than 50 years ago, Barbara Castle recognised that health and social care must work hand in hand. Today, with demand for care rising and more people relying on support to live independently, that vision has never been more important.
“For decades, governments have struggled to solve this challenge. This government is determined to change that, working across political divides to deliver the lasting reform social care needs and build a system that gives people the dignity, support and security they deserve.”
Improving pay for social care workers
Skills for Care, the adult social care’s workforce development charity, said it was “excellent” to hear that Andy Burnham plans to put his immediate focus on the 1.5 million adult social care workers employed across the country.
Skills for Care’s Chief Executive, Professor Oonagh Smyth CBE, said:
“Our people will be the heart and soul of a National Care Service – so we need a shared ambition to lift up these skilled professionals and offer clear career pathways, better progression opportunities and improved integration with health.
“The Prime Minister is absolutely right to recognise that improving pay for care workers needs to go hand in hand with wider workforce reforms. Better pay will help us attract and keep more people with the right skills and values, but it’s only by combining it with opportunities to develop and progress that we’ll truly be able to make adult social care a rewarding career in every sense.
“The good news is that we already have some strong foundations that can enable these reforms to happen fast. A very important one is the Care Workforce Pathway, which Skills for Care worked with government to develop and is now being expanded and rolled out across the sector. It sets out, for the first time, a clear structure for careers n adult social care, with the knowledge, skills values and behaviours needed – enabling exactly what Andy Burnham’s talking about.
“We also have the workforce support infrastructure in place to deliver reforms quickly. With renewed political will, we can use everything we’ve got to accelerate our efforts to build a workforce that can provide the best possible care for everyone who draws on it.”
Political reactions to the PM’s new path for social care
Cross-party reactions to the Prime Minister’s speech on reforming social care have been mixed.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said that the government “must not cover their social care reforms with yet more taxes,” when they are “already higher than at any point in living memory.”
Similarly, Robert Jenrick, Reform UK MP, also accused the government of firing “the starting gun” on further tax rises, and claimed his party would not fund social care reforms through increases in taxation.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran welcomed the decision to bring forward the Casey report and said she was pleased “to hear emphasis on preventative care.”
Politicians from political parties who were not invited to take part in the initial cross-party talks which were held following the Prime Minister’s speech last week, expressed their disappointment at being excluded. Green Party MP Ellie Chowns argued that she has “repeatedly called for greater action to fix adult social care,” so said it “extremely disappointing” that the Green party had not been invited to participate. Nigel Farage, who is not a current sitting MP and whose party Reform UK only has 7 MPs in Parliament, also expressed frustration about not being invited to meet with the Prime Minister last week.
Those who were invited also expressed some cynicism over the move.
A source from the Conservatives commented:
“If Burnham was serious about working cross-party he would have given us more than 18 hours’ notice for a 30-minute meeting during recess and the invitation wouldn’t have been immediately press released. It’s almost like it’s only being done for show.”
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey MP, posted on X:
“I’m with my family in France and, as people know, I have a disabled son who needs 24/7 care so I can’t be back in Westminster tomorrow but I look forward to meeting Andy Burmham over Zoom. I’m hopeful this call may prove to be the first step towards fixing our broken care service.”
Charities react to PM’s social care speech
Leading disability charity Sense said they welcomed the promised “focus and passion” on the social care sector, but warned the government against compromising engagement opportunities with disabled people by speeding up the timeline for Baroness Casey’s report.
In contrast, Dementia UK believe that bringing forward the report is “a positive step in recognising the urgent need for reform.”
They added that “the real test will be whether families can access coordinated, specialist support from diagnosis through to the end of life.”
Training and support for social care
First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider.
They deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and other special focus topics.
Their diverse portfolio includes training awards designed for health and social organisations, such as Infection Control and Prevention, Safeguarding Adults, Duty of Care, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Understanding Mental Health and many others.
A trainer from FRT explains:
“Adult social care providers and workers do an incredibly important job, and it is essential that they are properly funded and paid so that everyone who requires care and support can access services that are safe, compassionate, person-centred and dignified.”
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.