Recommendation 3

This pandemic has shown the tragic impact of delaying much needed social care reform, and instead treating the sector as the NHS’s poor relation. This Committee has highlighted the need for change in the social care sector for many years, particularly around the interface between health and social care. Despite the intentions of successive Governments, there have been ongoing delays to reforming and integrating the two sectors. The stark contrast between the approach taken towards protecting the NHS compared with the care sector has been highlighted by many since the start of the pandemic. Various pieces of guidance were issued to the social care sector, but it took the Department until 15 April to publish their action plan for adult social care, over 4 weeks after the initial NHS letter on plans to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department has much better and more timely information in the NHS than for social care. It is simply unacceptable to hear reports of inadequate PPE, lack of testing and insufficient guidance on training. There have been warnings of an increased risk of provider failure in the care sector, and the Local Government Association and NHS Providers have reiterated the need for urgent reforms to put social care on a sustainable footing after years of under- funding. Recommendation: After years of promises and false starts, we expect the Department to set out in writing to us by October 2020 what it will be doing, organisationally, legislatively and financially, and by when, to make sure the needs of social care are given as much weight as those of the NHS in future. We will be challenging them on this at future sessions.