MPs call for a national care body, similiar to the NHS

A cross-party group of MPs are calling for the creation of a national care body and a governing council to oversee it to aid the professionalisation of the care sector.

MPs sitting on the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social Care have published a report based on an inquiry into the social care sector which highlighted a need for better quality training of care staff.

The MPs recommend the new national care body have a governing council that is made up of care providers, care commissioners, trade unions and resident groups.

The APPG’s Inquiry report – ‘Elevation, Registration & Standardisation: The Professionalisation of Social Care Workers’ highlighted that unlike the NHS, with its “overwhelmingly positive image”, social care suffers from a poor public perception and misunderstanding about “the quality of care provided”.

MPs heard how in England the type of training undertaken by care workers varies by employer and by care setting with training in England being employer-led ‘with no centralised delivery’.

Skills for Care told the Inquiry that a variation in how Care Certificate training is delivered had led to “uncertainty over the quality of training received by care workers” and in turn “devalued” the Care Certificate.

The Inquiry report highlighted there is no legal requirement on employers to ensure engagement with the Care Certificate which is not a qualification. Only one third of care workers in England have completed the Care Certificate, a third have begun but not completed it, and the remaining one third have not started.

The sector needs to recruit 128,000 new members of staff every year to replace those that retire or leave, and to meet increasing demand. Increased demand alone means that in 10 years’ time the sector needs 500,000 new members of staff.

Skills for Care has recommended MPs consider national accreditation of the Care Certificate and professional registration of its holders to strengthen its value and integration with National Vocational Qualifications and other relevant learning when embarking on the Care Certificate.

The Inquiry heard confidential evidence over a six-month period with care providers and care workers who often provided evidence under a pseudonym.

A care worker giving evidence to the Inquiry, said: “The two days induction didn’t really teach me anything, there was very little training, and then only 2 hours of shadowing. I’d been involved in PEG-feeds despite having no training.”

The report stated: ‘There is little financial reward for becoming better trained and little opportunity for career progression.

Employers expressed concerns to the Inquiry about a lack of funding for training and about the low rates of local authority funding for social care services, which does not include the costs of training

Care England, the representative body for independent care home providers in England told the Inquiry about a “lack of parity in typical training for the social care workforce (£16.00 per head per year) compared with that offered to the NHS Workforce at (£3,615 per head per year).

A care provider told the Inquiry: “We are the employers of last resort. All of our staff in Warrington left because Amazon opened up a distribution centre, and they paid £9.50 an hour.”

A home care worker who did two half days training, said: “I spent £53 one weekend in taxis doing visits. I did two half days of training. On my first day I was shadowing. On my second day I got called to do proper work. Then I had 127 hours of end of life care. They took £100 off you for your DBS and your uniform. Stayed there two months and ended up off with stress. Signed off by the doctor.“

Another care provider said: “It’s close to below minimum wage. I’m forced to rip off my carers every week by not paying them petrol money.”

The report also described a ‘fragmentation of the care industry’ (with approximately 25,000 registered providers in over 50,000 locations. The care sector has the highest turnover of any sector in the UK, with one in three workers leaving the sector every year.

Skills for Care estimates that eight per cent of roles in adult social care are vacant, this gives an average of approximately 110,000 vacancies at any one time.

The cross-party report also stated: “There is clearly a question for policy makers, government and society about whether we are comfortable with the idea that it is more expensive to stay in a budget hotel than it is to receive 24-hour care.”

HC One founder Chai Patel told the Inquiry “For £80 to £100 per night (or around £4 per hour) we are expected to provide high-quality 24-hour care, accommodation, all meals, and social activities to some of society’s most vulnerable older people.”

Comparing the fees received to that of a budget hotel – where no meals, care or activities are provided, he said the local authority pays £426.01 a week in Liverpool, compared to £550 a week for a week’s stay in the city at a Travelodge in June 2019 which cost £550 a week.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care home providers, Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of Anchor Hanover and Karolina Gerlich chief executive at the National Association of Care and Support Workers, were among those contributing to the Inquiry. One care worker told MPs: “People look at care and think it’s an easy job. You can have 15 people start one week, and one left the next. They don’t explain to people what the job actually is.”