Page 59 - Unfair To Care 2024 - Who Cares Wins

EVERYDAY IMPACT...
IT IS EMINENTLY CLEAR FROM THIS POLLING THAT THERE IS SUCH STRONG POSITIVE PUBLIC SENTIMENT TOWARDS CARE WORKERS, A GROWING APPRECIATION OF THE SKILLED AND COMPLEX WORK THEY DO – ON PAR WITH
NHS COLLEAGUES – OBVIOUS SUPPORT FOR FAIRER PAY, AND A DEMAND FOR GOVERNMENT TO DO MORE. COMMUNITY INTEGRATED CARE BELIEVES THAT SOCIAL CARE WILL BECOME A PIVOTAL ELECTORAL ISSUE IN 2024.
SEVERAL OTHER MAJOR STUDIES REINFORCE THIS POLLING
UNLOCKING THE ELECTORAL POWER OF SOCIAL CARE
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18% of respondents drew on social care or had a loved one who accessed social care services. Of these, 44% reported greater demands on family carers due to a lack of consistent support.
Tragically, 38% reported worsening physical or mental health, whilst one in three (33%) reported a reduction of wellbeing for the individual and, separately, a reduction of wellbeing for the carer. Almost 4 in 10 of people with a connection to social care report being affected by
a disruption to the quality-of-care services (38%).
Scaled across society, these figures represent enormous pressures being faced by people who should expect comfort and stability, unappreciable demands being carried by family and friends, and shocking inefficiencies within our public services.
The 2023 British Social Attitudes survey indicates that 57% of people are dissatisfied with the state of social care. Concerns include the lack of support available (64%), poor pay, working conditions, and training for social care workers (57%), and insufficient support for unpaid carers (49%).66
Health Foundation research underscores public priorities for social care reform, including improving pay and conditions for staff (42%), enhancing health and social care integration (37%), increasing staff numbers (32%), and providing more support for informal carers (32%).67
This is a politically important issue in every constituency in the country. The YouGov poll for this report shows that a commitment to better pay for frontline care and support workers would influence more than half of voters in England.
SECTION 8: MOBILISING THE SOCIAL CARE VOTE
66. 67.
‘British Social Attitudes: Survey reveals record level of dissatisfaction with social care services’, Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund, March 2023 ‘Public perceptions of health and social care: what are the priorities ahead of a general election?’, The Health Foundation, September 2023