Social care funding and workforce: NHS Confederation response to the Health and Social Care Committee's inquiry
The deep structural cracks in the social care system, a desperate shortage of resources, and the lack of joined-up working between the health and social care sectors have been exposed by COVID-19.
The Committee’s inquiry into social care has been seeking to establish how much extra money would need to be spent by the government over the next five years to counteract the impact of a shortage of care on the NHS. The inquiry also seeks to establish the impact of shortages in the social care workforce and the policy solutions required.
Our evidence submission notes that the NHS was set up to make sure that everyone had access to good healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay, and argues that the same should apply to social care. This is vital not only to support some of the most vulnerable in our society, but also to enable the NHS to function effectively.
The deep structural cracks in the social care system, a desperate shortage of resources, and the lack of joined-up working between the health and social care sectors have been exposed by COVID-19. Our members know that the shortcomings in social care have considerably exacerbated pressures on the NHS services for which they are responsible.
That level of concern is also evident in the Health for Care coalition, which the NHS Confederation established last year.
