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Social care plays an important role within our society. Yet despite its obvious importance it requires reform and additional resources to meet the challenges within the sector and reap the benefits of a resilient care system.

Promised government funding and reforms do not ‘fix’ everything within the sector and big challenges remain. There are still big areas that require important attention such as that staff are fairly rewarded and that care is provided to everyone who needs it – these are only some of the vital improvements to our social care system that need to be addressed.

Whilst the majority of NHS services and care is state-funded and usually delivered by organisations in the public sector, adult social care by contrast, is a mix of state-funded and privately funded care thereby making it a far more complicated structure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the death rate among care home residents was particularly high and highlighted how poorly prepared care homes were (lack of personal protective equipment) delayed responses, inequalities within the sector (BAME, adults with learning disabilities and those on the lowest incomes being disproportionately affected) and other challenging issues within the sector that preceded the pandemic.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has since explained that in relation to care homes it would match supply-and-demand and people would make well-informed choices about how their care needs are met.

However, the CMA concluded that there were broad problems in the care market and The Health Foundation has also identified issues with access, quality, workforce resilience and provider sustainability. So, since the sector is seemingly fragmented and disconnected this has inevitably led to the question of whether the adult social care sector is adequately funded and what can be done to rectify this?

Join us for this webinar where our speakers will discuss:

• The health and social levy – is this a solution?
• Policy aspects and what is the right thing to do in respect of funding social care
• What’s the role of the insurance sector?
• Could we invest in adapting homes so that they are carbon neutral and suitable for at home care?
• An industry perspective from someone working in this sector and what needs to happen for improvements to be made.

Key benefits

• Receive updates on the state of adult social care funding
• Listen to industry experts discuss the problems and offer potential solutions from their different perspectives
• Have your questions answered at the end

About the speakers

Simon Bottery, Senior Fellow, Social Care, King’s Fund
Before joining The King’s Fund in September 2017, Simon spent almost 10 years as Director of Policy at the older people’s charity Independent Age, researching and campaigning on issues including care home quality, unmet needs for care, social care funding and the social care workforce. He was vice-chair of the Care and Support Alliance in 2017. Simon has wide experience in policy, communications and journalism, including as Director of Communications at Citizens Advice. He has also worked for ActionAid, in the commercial sector for Guinness and in BBC local radio.

Mary Bright, Age Adviser and Head of Social Affairs, Phoenix Group
Mary Bright is Phoenix Group’s Head of Social Affairs, and is also Specialist Policy Advisor to the UK government’s Business Champion for Older Workers. A breadth of experience in pensions and long-term savings enables Mary to link our societal challenges, and opportunities, and make practical policy and business practice recommendations. With increasing longevity and reducing state support, it is ever more important to raise awareness and take action in this area.

Michael Butcher, Finance Director, Blackadder Corporation
Michael is the Finance Director of Blackadder Corporation, a family-owned and operated group of Care Homes. He is a Chartered Accountant, self-confessed data-geek and grassroots football coach. Blackadder constantly seeks improvements to resident care outcomes and is making use of technology to drive this. This includes using Care Management System and eMARS to improve the recording and analysis of care, finding ways of saving staff time (such as online training, improved telecommunication systems and cloud-based timesheets) and also driving value in the business through analysis of resident dependency levels and fee income.

Costs