Ed Miliband pledges to fund 5,000 more care workers in Labour conference speech

Ed Miliband has promised to create more healthcare jobs and funding to the NHS if Labour gets into power at next year’s General Election.

In his last party conference speech before the General Election, taking place 7 May 2015, the Labour leader has been detailing the party’s plans for the future which includes a ‘time for care’ fund to improve health and social care services.

The £2.5bn ‘time to care’ fund will be funded by having a mansion tax, by raising extra money from tobacco firms and by cracking down on tax avoidance by hedge funds.

Create new jobs

Mr Miliband said the ‘time to care’ fund will be used to create 5,000 more care workers, 8,000 more GPs and 20,000 more nurses with the aim of transforming the NHS and restoring voter’s faith in the future. He wants the 5,000 new care workers to work in integrated care teams offering joined-up support to help people remain in their own home for longer.

Chris Ham, chief executive of The King’s Fund said: “Ed Miliband’s announcement on increased funding for the NHS shows politicians are now acknowledging the scale of the financial problem facing health and social care. Labour’s commitment to transform the way care is delivered, not just to focus on the immediate funding crisis, is welcome and points towards putting health and social care on a sustainable footing in the future.

“A combination of a mansion tax, tobacco levy and tax avoidance initiatives alone will not fill the growing funding gap. Today's announcement is a significant step forward but we will need to see Labour's spending plans in full before we know whether they will be enough to meet the funding gap.”

Mr Ham continued: “The gap in NHS funding can’t be solved in isolation from social care. The recent Barker Commission report recommended a single ring-fenced budget for health and social care adequately funded by a rise in health and social care spending to 11 - 12 per cent of GDP by 2025 – broadly comparable to current expenditure on health alone in many other countries.

Twenty first century health service

“The Barker report looked at the different options available to increase funding for a combined health and social care budget and suggested that a range of measures from a review of wealth taxes, changes to prescription charges and national insurance increases could all play a part. These are hard choices while the public finances are still recovering but they cannot be ducked in the lead up to the General Election.”

During his speech Mr Miliband described home care provision as a ‘scandal’ and claimed Labour will build a ‘twenty-first century’ health service should they win the next election. Earlier in the week, during interviews with Sunday Mirror and Observer, Mr Miliband said Labour would raise the national minimum wage from its current rate of £6.31 an hour to at least £8 over the course of the next Parliament should Labour win the General Election.

With a large number of home care and care home workers currently paid the national minimum wage, this commitment could have a large impact on both social care employees and care providers.