Page 68 - Unfair To Care 2024 - Who Cares Wins

SECTION 9: THE CALL FOR GOVERNMENT ACTION
A NEW FUTURE
FOR SOCIAL CARE
The issue of pay and workforce strategy stands alongside a much broader requirement to deliver wider progressive reform and investment into social care – the need for which has been continually outlined throughout this publication and many others.
‘Who Cares Wins’ is a report on the specific issues of workforce pay, progression, recruitment, and retention. It does not seek to provide a holistic strategy to address the many challenges and opportunities that exist within social care. There are fundamental issues that need to be tackled within the sector, so we can better enable individuals
and their loved ones to lead their best lives possible.
The voice and ambitions of people who draw on social care, and their loved ones, must be radically lifted. Too many people miss out on the support that they need, or are supported in institutional and traditional ways. There are visionary opportunities for efficiency and impact through innovation. Commissioning needs to be focussed on organisations and groups who have
a genuine commitment to delivering a social impact and a clear sense of organisational purpose.
These are opportunities, not challenges. There are many strengths to the organisations and individuals who deliver social care, but this is not the system that anyone would choose by design.
There is space for a bold reimagining of social care, which listens to and responds to the needs of people who draw on support, and prioritises the progressive organisations who have the vision to enrich society. There are endless examples of how investment in the wider infrastructure of social care can both play a role
in economic recovery, and lead to much wider returns on investment, as a result of the efficiencies it creates.
Taken together, these reforms have the potential to transform the experience of working in and receiving support, and bring untold benefits to the NHS and social care systems, as well as to wider society.
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