Care provider issues New Year plea for Social Care Green Paper

Mike Padgham, Chair of the Independent Care Group, has issued a New Year plea for the Government to finally publish its Social Care Green Paper.

The call comes after the Government said in December that it was delaying publication of the Green Paper until the “earliest opportunity” in 2019 (see BREAKING NEWS: Social Care Green Paper delayed again amidst Brexit turmoil).

Mike said: “If Brexit has a backstop, then social care should have a backstop too, over when the Green Paper is published, as we cannot wait any longer.

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“Carers didn’t get much of a break this festive period. If the Government was truly concerned about the care of our most vulnerable they should have worked a day longer or should go back a day earlier, to start tackling the crisis. Let’s see real change in social care in 2019 and not another year of drift. Then we can all have a Happy New Year!”

The care leader called for an overhaul of social care planning and funding and a merger of the sector with the NHS, as well as greater support for care providers, including making care zero-rated for VAT.

The New Year message also proposed a minimum wage for care staff set above the National Minimum Wage, dementia to be treated as a health issue, a cap on social care costs, including ‘hotel’ charges, greater power for the CQC to oversee care commissioning and a new model for care delivery based on catchment areas.