Covid-19: Social Care Services

Baroness Verma Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma (Con)]

My Lords, I refer to my interest as set out in the register as a provider of social care. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, for instigating this critical debate. She spoke about the facts on the ground and going forward.

The sector was already in crisis before Covid-19. I assure all noble Lords that high pressure and anxiety is being felt not just by managers but by all those who are delivering care within the home care and care home sector. I cannot quantify the praise I have for all those who are delivering care at the moment. It is heartbreaking to sometimes see my care staff frightened to go home; they hope that they are not taking something back home to their families.

I shall focus my comments and questions on invisible disabilities, such as mental health, dementia, Alzheimer’s and anxiety—all the disabilities that most people cannot see. Our systems are there to provide support for those people. Over the past few weeks, it has been heartbreaking that a lot of our clients and service users cannot visit day centres or go out. The only people they have contact with are their care workers. Will the Minister consider, as other noble Lords have said, the thousands of volunteers who have signed up to help? If only they could be part of the social activity of isolated people in their homes. Anxiety, mental health and dementia are not suddenly going to get better once the crisis is over. They are long-term issues that need to be dealt with.

As a provider, we are facing huge bills for PPE. We want the Government to treat us like the NHS. Let us get VAT removed for us as providers. Although the extra £1.6 billion is welcome, like other noble Lords, I reiterate that it is nowhere near enough in terms of the costs that providers face at this moment. I seriously worry that we will end up seeing a crisis emerge from another crisis in a sector that was already struggling to get people to work in a highly skilled but poorly paid part of the workforce. I urge my noble friend to respond positively to my ask and get more funding in, as well as having it ring-fenced so that it goes to the social care sector.