Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 52
52
Rejected
Paragraph: 182
Fairness of social care pay compared to NHS roles requires an NHS England review.
Conclusion
NHS England employs 104,000 people in adult social care jobs. NHS England must undertake a review of pay in their social care jobs. In the review, NHS health and social care roles must be compared based on the skills, competencies, and levels of responsibility shown in various roles in each sector to ensure that social care roles are being paid fairly.
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation for NHS England to review pay in social care jobs, stating that NHS England does not directly employ an adult social care workforce and that care worker pay is the responsibility of independent care employers.
Paragraph Reference:
182
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
We have combined our responses to recommendation 52 and recommendation 54. We are incredibly proud of our health and social care workers. However, we disagree with recommendation 54. Unlike in the NHS, care worker pay is the responsibility of independent care employers, who will consider local market conditions when agreeing fee rates with local authorities. We also reject recommendation 52. Whilst social care staff may be employed by NHS trusts or organisations, NHSE itself does not directly employ an adult social care workforce or directly commission care delivery from this sector. Integrated Commissioning Boards (ICB) may directly employ social care staff to deliver care and define the terms of employment. In the main ICBs would commission sustainable care under contract with a social care provider. The ICB would work with the individual in receipt of Continuing Healthcare and the commissioned Provider to ensure the care needs could be met as to the care and support plan and within the terms and conditions of the contract. There is a further method of commissioning an ICB may use and that is a Personal Health Budget (PHB). In this situation the individual in receipt of the PHB would either employ a personal assistant directly and would need to consider the terms of employment or commission a social care provider.