In conversation with Dan Carden

DAN Carden is the Labour MP for Liverpool, Walton, and has been an MP since 2017. This year, Dan Carden spoke out in support for the ‘Relatives and Residents Association and John’s Campaign’ which aims to end the current restrictions that prevent relatives from visiting their loved ones in care homes. A successful campaign would give anyone who needs care and support access to a ‘Care Supporter’. Neglect was one of the biggest killers in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Benedict Thompson, Features Editor, spoke to Carden about the campaign as well as the state of care homes in the UK during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

É: Why was the government so underprepared to protect residents in care homes during the pandemic?

DC: Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the resilience of our public services had been eroded by a decade of brutal, short-sighted austerity, leaving us woefully underprepared to deal with such an emergency. Despite the best efforts of care workers, NHS staff and unpaid carers — who go above and beyond to care for older, disabled and vulnerable people — the pandemic ruthlessly exposed the underlying problems with our social care system. Following a decade of cuts to local government, since 2010 more than £8 billion has been lost from adult social care budgets and too many people have been left to cope without essential support. We urgently need a plan to fix the social care crisis and that plan must deliver a new deal for frontline care workers to transform pay, training and working conditions and support unpaid carers. it time to nationalise care homes? loved ones in care homes, hospitals and other care settings are heartbreaking. That’s why I have worked closely with campaigners to call for the right to maintain contact to be put in law. Family visits are vital to care home residents’ wellbeing.

DC: Ultimately, we want to see these services brought into public hands. At the last General Election, I was proud to stand on a manifesto that pledged to move towards a fully integrated National Care Service.

The provision of social care is a public good that should be delivered in the public sector, based on need and not profit. It is vital that social care is a universally available public service which provides dignity, security and compassionate care for everyone who needs it.

É: In 2018 an investigation by The Guardian found that some of the country’s worst care homes were owned by companies who raked in profits totaling £113m. Is

É: What has the government’s response been to the Relatives and Residents Association’s campaign to ensure visiting rights in law, and more specifically, “a new legal right to a care supporter”?

DC: The stories I’ve been told by families separated from their