Social care needs to be rooted in the community - Helen Whately

Now as Care Minister, I actually often find myself arguing against both of these viewpoints. Simplicity, ideology, and slogans grab headlines. But actually care is complex.

Social care supports so many different people with so many different needs, young and old, people living independently, living in residential care, living with families, living with support and a one-size-fits all approach is not the right answer.

We need a vision for care which recognises this, even if it’s harder to spell out, and even if it’s more complicated to deliver.

My vision is for a care system which first and foremost recognises what people who draw on care want and is organised to serve that. So it must give people choice and control over their care; care that meets their needs; and care which they can rely on. Whoever they are and wherever they live.

My vision is for a care system which is joined up with the NHS – through data, shared care records, and the relationships of professionals who provide or organise care – but it is different from the NHS.

My vision is for a care system which is innovative and makes the most of technology, while at the same time cherishing the human relationships and compassion which are the essence of social care.

That’s why our care workers – care professionals – must be recognised for their skills and supported to fulfil their aspirations. Aspirations not only to care for people wonderfully day to day, which I know motivates so many care workers I have met, but also to pursue meaningful careers in care.

And our care system must support unpaid carers - recognising that caring for a loved one can be a demanding and even lonely burden, while at the same time one of the greatest acts of love.

Even more than now, I want our future care system to help people live independently in their own homes for as long as they wish – supported by their community and carers they know and trust.

That’s why my vision for social care in the future builds on the strengths of what we have now; a care system rooted in local communities, and in which local government plays a vital and pivotal role. And clearly, we need a care system that has the funding to make this a reality – where we as a society recognise the value of care, and invest accordingly.

This is not just a vision. It’s what I have been working towards as Care Minister, both the first time I was in this post during the pandemic and since my re-appointment.

An abridged version of a speech by Social Care Minister Helen Whately at the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services spring seminar.