PAGE 2 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 18
EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT Welcome to the latest edition of The Carer Digital! “There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” ROSALYN CARTER An interesting article runs in this issue regarding a report by the University of Birmingham (page 5), where they say that urgent funding is needed UK adult social care. This will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody! Since I started editing this title in 2008, I have heard same message and I have heard successive ministers tell the public how they intend to fix long-term care – which, of course, never materialises! The article refers to a “lost decade” and draws on and updates on a 2010 review of the reform and costs of adult social care – commissioned by Downing Street and the UK Department of Health – which concluded the system was widely recognised as “broken” and that, with no action, the costs of adult social care could double within two decades. Moreover, this would be the case for current services and approaches (which had already been strongly criticised for failing to fully and appropriately meet need), leading to significantly higher costs with no improvement. As stated above this is nothing new! I have been writing and commenting on the crisis in social care for over 12 years. It has suffered years of chronic underinvestment, and a report I remember from only 6 months ago revealed that 1.2 million people were not getting the care they needed and there were 110,000 care vacancies with up to 25% of providers experiencing financial difficulties. Following the recession of 2008, the country endured years of austerity which local authorities, who oversee social care, bore the brunt of - resulting in the gap between demand and resources growing larger and larger. A report that I saw, again only about 6 months ago, revealed that since 1998 social care has been the subject of 12 white/green papers or major consultations, four independent reviews as well as numerous parliamentary inquiries. And where exactly are we? During this period Germany and Japan have introduced social insurance systems that will ensure that everyone will be able to afford the care needed in old age. I understand that Germany’s is a compulsory lifetime insurance. However, if one casts our minds back to the 2017 general election then Prime Minister Theresa May almost suffered a defeat with a proposed social care tax dubbed the “dementia tax”, which she was forced to abandon. Ms May was attacked on all sides! The problem is, for too long social care has been a political football, an opportunity to play party politics against each other, and that has resulted in absolutely no advancement whatsoever. Germany’s Pay-as-you-go long-term care insurance (LTCI) funds are, I understand,
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managed by (legally distinct) health insurance schemes. The individual contribution rate is presently 2.5% of wages payable up to a contribution ceiling with childless adults paying a little more. For those in work, employers pay half the premium while the retired pay full contributions. LTCI membership is compulsory and non-employed people are covered by employed householder insurance contributions. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the country’s attention just how vital the social care sector is, and how it has been taken for granted by successive governments. The sector employs over 1 ½ million people with projections indicating that this will need to grow by a further 520,000 to meet demand over the next 15 years. Social care needs urgent funding as the Birmingham University report states, but that is something we have known for years. The country needs bold leadership, we are all fed up of the can being kicked down the road time after time. I have conducted very limited research into the success of the German model, it has had its critics and has undergone occasional reform, but it is widely accepted among German citizens and has achieved many of its original goals. Would be interested in any feedback/comment would wish to make and would warmly welcome an in-depth article on future funding of care! I always finish with a thank you to the many homes and their PR agencies providing us with some wonderful stories of anniversaries, fundraising, in-house care home initiatives keeping the spirits high, so once again well done and please keep them coming! I can always be contacted at editor@thecareruk.com
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