ICG welcomes new study into people's experience of residential care

The Independent Care Group has backed a major new study which revealed that thousands of people thrive in care and nursing homes.

And it has called on the Government to make sure more people can enjoy the benefits residential care can bring.

My Home Life England carried out a major study of older people’s experiences of living in residential care.

Whilst it identified some challenges, it found many more benefits of living in a care home.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) has welcomed the report’s findings.

ICG Chair, Mike Padgham said: “We 100% support this report and welcome all efforts to get the message across that, for many, many thousands of people each year a move into a care or nursing home is not only the right thing to do, but is also the start of a new and exciting chapter in their lives.

“For all the reasons My Home Life England discovered, and many more, such residential care brings huge benefits in terms of happiness, security, physical and emotional wellbeing and the retention of mobility, independence and dignity.

“Of course there are challenges – any change of lifestyle brings challenges, but good care and nursing homes are well versed and experienced in helping residents and their families to overcome them.

“As a care provider organisation, we want people to know that there are many different care options available – from home care in a person’s own home, to assisted living in extra-care housing to care and nursing homes and many combinations and variations in between. All are aimed at keeping people well, safe, independent and content.

“The challenge for us as a country is to create an environment where people can access that care. We know there are, for example, 1.6m people who cannot get the care they need and we are campaigning to get that addressed by the Government.

“Our hope is that this report and many others like it will show the benefit of supporting and investing in adult social care in the future so that more people can enjoy the improved quality of life it can bring to older, vulnerable and disabled adults.”

The study found that, if conditions were right, people thrived in care homes in six ways: Relationally, by forming new friendships, and being part of a community; Securely, by feeling safe in their home; Healthily, by getting the right medical care and eating better; Actively, by getting the support to do the things they enjoy and stay active; With dignity, by getting help with personal care and Inclusively, by living in an environment where diversity is valued and respected.

Social care reform should have been in NHS report remit, says ICG

The Independent Care Group says the failure to include reform of social care in the remit of an important new report on the state of the NHS, ‘beggars belief’.

And the ICG today warns that the Government will not fix the NHS until it has fixed adult social care too.

The warning comes as a new report on the state of the NHS by Professor Ara Darzi is published.

It talks about an NHS that was unable to cope with the Covid pandemic because it had been seriously weakened over the previous decade. And it acknowledges that social care is in a dire state due to under-resourcing.

ICG Chair, Mike Padgham said: “We are pleased that Lord Darzi’s report acknowledges the crisis in adult social care due to under-resourcing and the human and economic consequences this has had.

“But we are dismayed that adult social care was not included in the remit of the report in the first place. That is a serious omission and makes something of a nonsense of the whole process. It is like getting a surveyor’s report on the crumbling foundations of a house but ignoring the holes in the roof – the building is going to collapse anyway!

“For politicians to keep talking about reform of the NHS without including reform of social care at the same time, beggars belief.”

The ICG argues that investing in adult social care reform would save money for the NHS by providing more care in the community rather than in expensive hospital beds.

“You can’t fix the NHS unless you fix social care,” Mr Padgham added. “We currently have 1.6m people who cannot get the care they need and a shortage within the social care workforce of 131,000 staff. If you address those issues, and the chronic underfunding of social care for the past 30 years, you will begin to take the pressure off the NHS and significantly help its reform.

“We need to switch resources from the NHS into social care so providers can recruit the staff they need to provide more care, ultimately saving money for the NHS.

“The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has identified cutting waiting lists as his top priority and includes more care in the community and more preventative care, as levers towards achieving that.

“That means tackling the crisis in social care so that it can provide that community care and that preventative care, keep people out of hospital and help cut waiting lists.

“But at the moment, all the focus is on the NHS without any attention on social care reform. Unless you fix social care, you will be wasting your time. The social care sector has the answers, and we urge the Government to engage with us as a matter of urgency.”

Labour recently appointed Alan Milburn, health secretary in Tony Blair’s government, from 1999 to 2003, to a role in future NHS reform. Mr Padgham said the government should look back at a document published at that time. In Building Capacity and Partnership in Care, published in 2001, Mr Milburn wrote about care providers, commissioners and government working together to provide the best care for patients and service users.

“Some 23 years later, we still haven’t got to the point where all three are truly working together to deliver the care that people need,” Mr Padgham added.

“Maybe with Mr Milburn playing a role he can remind the new Labour government of that goal.”

Last month Mr Padgham wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging him to ‘end the scandal of older, vulnerable and disabled people going without care’.

In the letter, Mr Padgham wrote: “Without proper support for social care and the creation of a sector that can offer care, when and where it is needed, the NHS will stay on its knees.

“There are 1.6m people who cannot get the care they need and many thousands in hospital because there is no social care available for them. These are our mothers and fathers, our aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters and friends. This is a scandal that shames us as a country. For too long those who benefit from social care and those who provide it have waited patiently in the queue for our turn, but that turn never comes.

“We must switch resources from the NHS into social care to pay staff properly and fill the 131,000 staff vacancies to give care to those who can’t access it and to free up hospital beds. This would eventually save the NHS money.”

Mr Padgham says social care providers are eager to discuss solutions with the Government, adding: “We know government alone cannot solve all the issues. The social care sector has a wealth of knowledge, experience and practical solutions to put at the government’s disposal and stands ready to offer support.”

Chair's open letter to the PM over social care scandal

The Independent Care Group has written an open letter to the Prime Minister, urging him to end the scandal of 1.6m older, vulnerable and disabled people being forced to live without the care they need.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Enough is enough. Too many people are living without the care they need to enjoy a decent quality of life and that is a scandal that shames us as a country.

“It is time that the new Government acknowledged that there is a problem and showed that they intend to do something about it.”

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Padgham invites Sir Keir Starmer and his health and social care team to sit down with social care providers and seek solutions to the current crisis.

And he urges the Prime Minister to spare the sector further cuts in the much-feared October budget but instead be as bold in his reform of social care as Nye Bevan was when he set up the NHS, in 1948.

In the letter, Mr Padgham writes: “Without proper support for social care and the creation of a sector that can offer care, when and where it is needed, the NHS will stay on its knees.

“There are 1.6m people who cannot get the care they need and many thousands in hospital because there is no social care available for them. This is our mothers and fathers, our aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters and friends. This is a scandal that shames us as a country. For too long those who benefit from social care and those who provide it have waited patiently in the queue for our turn, but that turn never comes.

“We must switch resources from the NHS into social care to pay staff properly and fill the 131,000 staff vacancies to give care to those who can’t access it and to free up hospital beds. This would eventually save the NHS money.”

Mr Padgham says the social care sector was disappointed that Labour went back on a pre-election promise to introduce the cap on social care costs but was still prepared to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt, provided it showed some signs of introducing reform.

In a recent speech, Mr Starmer said the country had to face some short-term pain for long term good, but in his letter Mr Padgham adds: “…social care has suffered long term pain with no sign of any good. The sector has suffered 30 years of cuts with the result that it is now in crisis. People clapped for social care workers as they fought alongside their NHS counterparts to contain Covid-19. But where is their reward for doing that, for not going on strike when others did and for looking after our most vulnerable?”

Mr Padgham says social care providers are eager to discuss solutions with the Government, adding: “We know government alone cannot solve all the issues. The social care sector has a wealth of knowledge, experience and practical solutions to put at the government’s disposal and stands ready to offer support. You have shown with your appointment of James Timpson to the post of prisons minister that you can take a creative approach to finding solutions. I suggest you look at something similar for social care and begin change swiftly to restore confidence.”