NCF welcomes Secretary of State’s Green Paper comments

Remarks by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock on this autumn’s Green Paper have been welcomed by the National Care Forum (NCF).

During his first oral evidence session to the Health and Social Care Select Committee yesterday, Mr Hancock said the Green Paper would focus on funding, workforce, new models and technology.

Vic Rayner, executive director of the NCF, said: “The announcement that the social care Green Paper will cover all of adult social care is most welcome. The priority areas for the Green Paper around funding, workforce, new models and technology are relevant across the whole spectrum of adult care provision, and therefore this change is to be embraced.”

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Vic also welcomed the Secretary of State’s comments on the “interoperability” of health and social care while cautioning that existing STPs failed to fully engage with social care in order to enable front line integration.

While welcoming the Secretary of State’s acknowledgement of the importance of social care, Vic said his answers indicated the sector remained “firmly in the grips of a health agenda”.

“We need the Secretary of State to take his inclusive approach to social care to the next level and ensure that resources of his department give adequate recognition to the life changing impact of social care,” Vic added.