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.”