Social Care Reform

Paul Bristow Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Westminster Hall

[Paul Bristow (Peterborough) (Con) [V]]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I draw attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Before examining what needs to change, I want to acknowledge the work of staff in the sector. This has a personal element for me. My dad managed nursing homes and my mum was a deputy sister in a residential home caring for people with dementia. I know how hard staff work each and every day. Pay can be low and recognition can be lacking. Likewise, the care workers who support people in their own homes do so much. We only tend to see their importance in reverse, when the lack of a placement or support prevents hospital discharges.

We need to go much further in integrating our approach. Last month I helped launch a report by Look Ahead. Unlike most of the reports that land on our desks or in our inboxes, it called for reforms that would not cost money. In fact, taxpayers would save money. Look Ahead looked at one element of integration: supported housing. It estimated that nearly £1 billion could be saved each year by extending integrated mental health, social care and supported housing services across England. The report is a robust analysis of how supported housing keeps people with mental health problems out of institutionalised care. This means more than just savings. The online launch began with a video from service users, which had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. One man told us how it was the first time he had ever had his own private shower. He said that it made him feel like a king. These are small, but incredibly significant and humanising differences.

We know that there is not enough money to sustain the social care system as things stand. Any way to make savings, while improving outcomes, must be seized. Yet, only a handful of NHS trusts and local authorities are adopting an integrated approach. In my view, this missed opportunity comes down to culture. I am not casting aspersions; the system just is not geared towards different organisations working together. Outcomes are what matters and the goal, for most, should be to help people to live as long as possible, independently, away from institutionalised care.

Lasting reform requires not only innovation and leadership by Government, but political courage on the part of the Opposition. If social care funding is left as a political football, we know who is being kicked around. Two decades have seen at least a dozen White Papers on social care reform. The right ambitions are easy to state; it takes legislation and political will to achieve them. As we emerge on the other side of the pandemic, the need for such services will only grow. The Prime Minister has given us a road map for leaving lockdown; a road map for integrated social care would be as profound as the creation of the NHS.