Steve Ford, chief executive, said:
‘The launch of the belated Social Care White Paper People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform is welcomed but the commitments from Government do not match the assertion made by the Prime Minister earlier in the year that he would ‘fix the crisis in Social care’.
‘We welcome the emphasis on personalised care, prevention and on continued independence: these have the greatest effect on those our members serve.
‘Occupational therapists will also welcome announcements such as recommitment of £500m for dedicated Continuous Professional Development (CPD) budgets for allied health professionals and others, and further recommitment for a new digital hub for the social care workforce to access support and mental health and wellbeing resources.
‘Of course, It’s also hugely positive to see occupational therapists used as examples of outstanding care and examples of fairness and accessibility in action. It reinforces the vital work that our members do across the sector in keeping people independent and addressing inequalities.
‘The sharp focus on housing is much needed: particularly for existing homes that need to be fit for current residents and the additional £570m to provide funding to local areas to deliver the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). The commitment to consult on the current, unfair, means test is also welcome.
‘But, there is a substantial ack of acknowledgement of the skills and workforce needed, such as those provided by occupational therapists, to help roll out an increased demand in adaptions to people’s homes. We are still awaiting the outcome of the 2020 consultation on options to raise the accessibility of new homes. This must not be further delayed. All new homes should have a mandatory level of accessibility, and there must be an increase in supply of fully accessible new build homes.
‘Furthermore, we have seen on the ground that there is a growing challenge in accessing and procuring equipment in housing and social care, which is impacting in the ability to provide the right resources to keep people living independently in their homes. This needs addressing urgently by the government to ensure that supply chains are robust and are not impeded further by the recent logistical barriers.
‘There is little in the paper to tackle the workforce challenge and the inferior pay and working conditions in social care when compared to NHS colleagues. This is something we wrote to the government about only today along with colleagues in the Future Social Care Coalition and this again reiterates the need for further action to address the long-term challenges facing the sector.
‘Overall, though there is positive progress in some areas, it seems that this paper is once again mostly a sticking plaster of support and does not address many of the significant challenges that Social Care has into the medium and long-term future.’