Our social care workers must be well trained, well-paid and well-respected

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CarersBy Nargis Kahn

This week’s launch of the Government’s National Skills Academy for Social Care marks important progress in ensuring that we have the right workforce to deliver the future National Care Service for our ageing population, announced by Gordon Brown in his speech to conference.

Developing a well-trained, well-motivated workforce is essential to achieving the best outcomes for the most vulnerable in society. It will become increasingly vital if local councils and providers are going to successfully deal with new training challenges emerging from the introduction of self-directed support, co-production and other aspects of personalisation outlined in Labour’s Green Paper.

Social workers and care workers do a tremendously difficult job that is currently struggling to receive the recognition it deserves. The Academy for Social Care will significantly raise standards of care while equipping our 1.5 millon adult social care workers with the skills they need to meet future caring needs. It will also work directly with 35,000 small and medium sized organisations to support them to raise standards. In doing so, the Academy has the potential to transform the public’s perception of and belief in care workers.

However, more should be done to celebrate and raise awareness of the value and quality of care workers. The workforce accounts for 80% of all social care expenditure. In the UK, there are 957,000 care workers providing formal care to older people. The fact that 83% of these workers are women and 50.4% work part-time brings its own challenges.

We need to ensure that higher standards of training and skills lead to better pay and status for care workers. Local authority contracts with local service providers need to push the agenda of improved pay and conditions. We need to do more to deliver greater public awareness through local and national campaigns and celebrate the many who care in our communities.

Delivering for the elderly, those with a disability and in need of care are at the heart of Labour values of social justice and fairness. But our vision of a National Care Service and investment in social work is not shared by everyone.

While Labour both nationally and in local government continues to plan for the future, Tory councils are already advocating cuts to services for those with the highest need. The Tories in Hammersmith and Fulham, showing their true colours, have broken promises and hiked up charges for home care, meaning that only those that can pay get the services they need.

We already know that what they say as the television cameras roll is very different from what Conservatives deliver in the Councils they run. In Tory Coventry, elderly and disabled residents will pay 40% more for services including meals on wheels, and in Croydon the Tories have again taken a punt at the most vulnerable, by considering – before eventually rejecting – shopmobility charges for disabled shoppers.

It is Labour in government that delivers for the most vulnerable in society and it is Labour that is coming up with the solutions for the future. Issues such as social care, along with protecting our NHS from Tory attack, resonate with Labour voters and need to be at the top of the list of manifesto priorities that we take to the doorstep.

A well-trained and keenly valued workforce is essential for effective health and social care services for the future. It underpins how we will make the radical shift in transforming adult social care a Labour agenda, which will ultimately deliver the National Care Service that we need.

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