2023 People Plan for Social Care launched
Yesterday members from leading care organisations helped to launch the 2023 edition of the People Plan for social care with a focus on five major improvement areas.
In the midst of a packed National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 22nd March 2023, three leading care professionals took to the Keynote speaker stage at UK Care Week, and announced the launch of the ‘A People Plan for Social Care – A Call to Action’ report.
Described as a live document being ‘fed by the yeast of productivity’ the latest report jumps off the first document which was published by The Institute of Health & Social Care Management in December 2021.
The report that was set live yesterday adds on from the original five improvement areas that were emphasised a year and a half ago – both People Plans provide a holistic overview of the ten most critical issues affecting social care.
The five areas for improvement within the sector that were highlighted in the 2021 report include, public opinion of social care, employing new staff and keeping those that already work in the sector, training, and pay and working conditions.
However, whilst baring these problem areas in mind, the latest rendition of the document includes an additional five which include:
- Access to care
- Considering the mental health and wellbeing of people using/receiving care
- Improving equality, diversity and inclusion within the sector
- Developing guidance, polices and regulations in care
- Promoting greener care
Involved with launching the report, three leading care professionals, including Palvi Dodhia, CEO of Serene Care, Joan Bothma, Registered Branch Manager at Cera Care and Jasmeet Rai, Associate Director at RCH Care Homes, joined forces on the keynote stage for 45 minutes to inform audience members on why these areas in particular need urgent attention.
Kicking off the discussion, Joan dived in with why access to care needs more recognition and support. She claimed people receiving care need to feel as though they still have a sense of independence rather than solely relying on care providers and a way around this is to equip care homes and people who receive at-home care visits with technology.
Joan also noted that with the current staffing crisis more carers are unable to attend frequent at-home care visits, further emphasises the need for technology.
Along similar lines, Palvi directed the audience’s attention to helping improve the health and wellbeing of care patients. She said, ‘residents are isolated all the time and this needs to change’.
Using the example of the Covid-19 pandemic, Palvi stated that when the world began to open back up again as more and more people were being protected against the virus, care home residents were still locked away inside, with limited ability to see their loved ones. She stated that to ensure residents become happier, they need to be able to access the outside world.
Once the microphone was passed over to Jasmeet, she was able to explain to audience members why inclusion, diversity and equality needs to be bettered in the sector. She stated that the profession needs to become more diverse as this would help draw in more staff members and more training needs to be provided.
Drawing upon the harrowing fact that one in four women and one in six men fall victim to domestic abuse, Jasmeet, sighed that not enough members of care staff know how to help these poor individuals once they are admitted into a care home.
And finally, wrapping up the talk, Jasmeet went on to explain the need to develop greener care. She explained how the social care sector needs potential solutions on how to become more sustainable, suggesting an example of meat free Monday’s.
Alongside the three leading care sector professionals, Jon Wilks, Chief Executive of the Institute of Health & Social Care Management chaired the discussion. A copy of the full report can be downloaded here.
Image: Emily Whitehouse and Sigmund