Let’s Fix Care For All
It’s no secret that the social care sector is in crisis.
Let me paint you a picture - there are 152,000 staff vacancies in the sector, while nearly half a million people nationally wait just to have their care needs assessed. Local authorities are strapped for cash and unable to meet the true cost of care, putting immense pressure on care providers. With operating costs continuing to rise, including eye-watering energy bill rises, the pressure has been mounting.
Things need to change.
As the largest charity providing care for older people in the UK, we want to shine a light on issues that care staff face every day. For that reason, the next phase of our Fix Care For All campaign has MHA colleagues’ voices at its heart shaped by their views and feedback.
Our aim is to raise the voice of our colleagues and demand that the Government truly values the 1.5 million people working in care.
We’re calling for a Social Care Council - a new independent body that will represent care professionals. At the heart of the current challenge is the need to raise the profile of care work, and to bring people who work in care together to put forward the changes we need to see. A Social Care Council would be a heavyweight voice able to put the needs of the sector forward to government.
The first stage of the campaign, launched in 2021 showed us that one of the issues we need to tackle is around recognition, value and the professionalisation of people working in social care.
This phase of Fix Care For All is specifically pushing for professional registration for all adult social care workers, with a professional body established to represent them. This must be fully funded by the state to address key factors like:
- Pay
- Accreditation and training
- Sector-wide recruitment drives
- Public awareness and perception
When I visit MHA homes and schemes I see that skill and dedication lived day in, day out in everything my colleagues do. Patient, attentive, complex, empathetic, physical work, which is as demanding as it is rewarding. Working with older people when they most need support from someone they trust. Care professionals deserve better, and they need a voice. We at MHA are dedicated to doing everything we can to campaign for a Social Care Council to be that voice.
Please help us by signing our petition
