I agree with jan, fix the system first, for the system has to be flexible to meet all needs, while currently it is far from it. persons with needs have to fit the system, while it should be the system fitting the person. All persons are individuals with having many interwoven factors, so what is perhaps correct for one, may not be for another who appears to be displaying similar needs.

Social care has never been sufficiently funded and 10 years of austerity cuts by Conservative Governments has caused untold damage and then we have the costs related to COVID. Here the Government promised to cover these costs, but to date the funding supplied is falling way short, causing cash strapped councils even more funding problems.

Social care like health care is not cheap and it should not be run on a ‘shoestring’, for to not provide sufficient social care is storing more problems to be catered for under health, like it or not health and social care are instinkingly interwoven.

So, get the funding correct and then work to get the system fixed.

More powers are to be given to the CQC, but again they are kept short of funding and getting good and consistent good quality costs, so, for them to get anywhere near to monitoring quality then they also need to be sufficiently funded.

Neither social care, health care or checking on quality should be used as a ‘political football’ in that funding is given, restricted, etc on the whims of Governments. Within that funding staff care has also to be a priority, for there is much clamour for sufficient wages for health staff, do you notice it is always referenced to nurses and doctors, when there are a multitude of others within health and none can work without the others, for it is as a team that health is provided. An unclean area, will be detrimental to health carer no matter how good the nurses and doctors are.

This is the same in social care, where pay is abysmal, especially to those who deliver direct care, care work is a skilled employment for it is not just preparing meals, toileting, personal hygiene,etc, for while important, it has to be done in conjunction with emotional care, financial care, safeguarding, and many others, which are far from easy to place a monetary cost on for time is the main factor. Short calls 2 or 3 times per day are not the answer, for these do not allow sufficient time for the recognised care, toileting, dressing, meal preparation, etc, so no time for the other aspects.

So funding is way short even for the recognised care, let alone a pay rate for care workers to recognise the skills they should have and this all adds to quality of care, less time and money reduces quality, no matter how good the care workers are.

This Government has throughout COVID spent money here and there without looking to see if they have the funding to do so, but, in reality, no funding for social care. It is as though this and previous Governments do not see the ne4ed for social care and this needs to change, for if it does not the outlook for social care is not good.

Many are looking to the new White Paper, Integration and innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-health-and-social-care-for-all/integration-and-innovation-working-together-to-improve-health-and-social-care-for-all-html-version, as a possible saviour, but that has to be seen. On face value, it appears to have some good points, but within are some that are not so good. The reduction from 135 CCGs to 42 ICSs could well be not a good point, that is not that the existing CCGs were good, for they did have their faults,as to how many, that depended on who you were asking.

So, the White Paper needs to be looked at very carefully.

Will Social Care survive, now that is the question?

The removal of the CCGs is a good thing – they never worked properly, but unfortunately it will inevitably lead to a merry go round of senior health staff. A decade ago health staff took redundancy payments on a Friday and joined the new organisations on the Monday ………

In the brief few years I have been doing this great job I have seen NHS reorganisation a new social care Act , CCG s getting prominence and by the back door privatisation of health services .

I have also seen a massive reduction in all staff and all services no matter the area and yes in the North we have taken a kicking since the cons ( intentional mis spell ) have been back in .

Go anywhere in adult social care and ask the people on the ground how it is just make sure you have a drink and something to eat because the work force does not stop and works as hard as anyone .

Why does the government not love the social care sector , I do what a great hard working bunch of people .

Tend to agree, doubt if the the inspection framework will be set against a financial back drop of 50% plus cut in local government fund in the past 10 years?