As much of England swelters under a rare red heat-health alert, care home operators are once again being asked to step-up with “add-ons, workarounds, sticking plasters and glue”.
As much of England swelters under a rare red heat-health alert, care home operators are once again being asked to step up in the face of challenges they have not been supported to face with what Dame Louise Casey has called “add-ons, workarounds, sticking plasters and glue”.
Vulnerable people must be kept safe in buildings that were often designed for a cooler climate, so managers reach for every practical measure available: fans, hydration rounds, shaded rooms, cooler menus, pet cooling mats (yes, this is a thing) and, yes, ice lollies.
Meanwhile, the Westminster weather is changing too. The possibility of a new prime minister, and particularly the prospect of Andy Burnham entering Downing Street, has raised hopes that adult social care reforms already in train might move up the list of priorities. Mr Burnham – a former health secretary - has said the need to fix social care is urgent, and has suggested bringing forward the Casey review so that practical measures can be identified sooner rather than later.
That urgency will be welcome for care home leaders who have heard many promises of reform before. Reviews, commissions and long-term visions matter, but they do not fill shifts, cool bedrooms, stabilise occupancy, repair margins or resolve the gap between the true cost of care and what providers are paid to deliver it.
The hope will be that social care is treated as a system that urgently needs the means to function, not just as a problem to be diagnosed.
This need is most acutely felt via workforce pressures. Although we heard from Skills for Care this week that the vacancy rate in the sector hit its lowest point in ten years, at 6.2 per cent, it is still far higher than the national average, and it warned the longer-term picture is “full of challenges.”
Skills for Care CEO Professor Oonagh Smyth warned, “there will be no happy ending unless we can address adult social care’s domestic recruitment challenges” as the decline in UK nationals working in the sector continues alongside increasing constraints on overseas recruitment
Against this backdrop, the government’s next moves on the national minimum wage and adult social care fair pay agreement are therefore vital, but, again, the need for urgent action is clear. A fair pay process expected to land in 2028 may improve the long-term employment offer, yet operators are dealing with rota gaps, agency costs and retention risks now.
So, the sector needs a new political leadership to start with what would alleviate pressure now. What would help homes manage extreme weather in the immediate term? What would reduce avoidable workforce churn this year? What would give operators confidence to invest in buildings, technology and people over the next parliament?
If ministers want to show they understand the sector, they must begin by replacing the glue with a plan that works for the people who provide, live and work in care homes today.
