What is the National Care Service? Some of the biggest talking points at this year’s Care Show Birmingham

Reflecting on some of hottest topics in the care industry, including what a National Care Service might look like 

At this year’s Care Show Birmingham, which took place on October 9th and 10th at the NEC, some of the most influential voices in the social care sector gathered to discuss the biggest issues facing the industry now and in the years ahead, as well as what the future of social care looks like.  

There were lively discussions and reflections on the need for reform of CQC, what the next steps for digital solutions in social care might be, strategies for workforce retention and growth, technological innovations and many more, but one of the overarching themes of the two-day event was the concept of a National Care Service, which has been proposed by the Labour government. 

The National Care Service – a long-running idea 

Though now gaining a lot of traction as an idea after being mentioned as part of the Labour manifesto, the idea of a National Care Service akin to the National Health Service is not a new one. The concept of a publicly funded system for social care across the UK is one that goes back to the final days of the most recent Labour government headed by Gordon Brown. This, however, was abandoned soon after the coalition government came to power. 

In its most simple form, a proposed National Care Service would provide universal access to social care provisions and would be free at the point of use and need and paid for through some sort of new taxation. This means it would closely mirror the NHS in its basic framework, and Labour have continued to propose such an idea for much of the period of time they spent in opposition. 

The need for a National Care Service 

Anyone working in social care will almost certainly understand the need for some sort of universal coverage of social care needs; the issues that persist in the sector were another one of the big talking points at this year’s Care Show Birmingham. These included a restriction of local funding set against rising costs, the void of vacancies that need to be filled set against the challenge of workforce retention and recruitment, the desperate need for the reform of independent regulatory bodies to provide a higher standard of oversight when it comes to compliance, among many others. 

Many have argued that the fundamental problem from which many, if not all the other challenges currently faced by the social care sector, stem from the central issue that the social care sector is not seen on the same level as the NHS. This is regardless of the fact that the social care sector employes more people than the NHS (and represents about 6% of the entire of total employment in the UK) and contributes more than £60 billion to the UK economy per year.  

A National Care Service would seek to redress this overriding issue because currently, there is no national budget for social care in the UK, with financially hampered local authorities being responsible for budgets for social care provision. It would also seek to change the perception of social care to make it a more desirable career path that offers long-term progression and job satisfaction. 

However, change will not come overnight. The creation of a National Care Service would probably be the biggest overhaul in public health since the creation of the NHS, and many are suggesting that the first plans will not be put in motion until well into Labour’s second term, should they get one. And even then, a reform this sizemic would probably require a large majority in parliament, which Labour currently have but may not when and if their second term comes.  

What the industry thinks about a National Care Service 

At the Care Show Birmingham to discuss the future of social care in the context of a new government were Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, Vic Rayner, CEO of NCF and Nadra Ahmed, Executive Chairman of the National Care Association, who were all in agreement that whatever a National Care Service might look like if and when it comes into being, the current framework of social care needs urgent overhauling in the meantime. 

Nadra Ahmed was the first to comment, saying: “What we know is that what we have currently cannot be allowed to continue because it is underfunded and what investment there has been, if any, in it has been really eroded over the last 15 to 20 years. 

“The social care sector is in crisis, so we can’t wait another 5,6 or even 7 years to know what this might look like – what we need to do is talk about how partnerships will start. 

“We need to be talking about how the NHS and social care can work better as we go forward, and how that will make the lives of the people we support much better.” 

Vic Rayner added her thoughts, commenting: “We’re coming up to the first 100 days of the new Labour government, so there are still a lot of questions. I think the Employment Rights Bill will start a train of discussion; if there is enough detail about the fair pay agreement, for example, that will set off a train of future negotiations between employers and employees; it will raise issues around what we think are the right pay terms and conditions for the people working in the sector which is an issue that many of us have talked about and grappled with for a long time.  

“It will raise the issue of that needing to be re-set to recognise the skills and expertise care givers have. But of course, all of that comes with an absolute necessity for proper funding, and if we’re going to talk about proper funding, this will lead potentially to a discussion about the National Care Contract which in essence will contain the framework for a National Care Service. So, once you start this process, you set off the dominos.” 

“Recently, we’ve talked a lot about the challenge for social care to influence decisions at all of these levels [when talking about future government plans for the NHS] but we don’t have the infrastructure that properly enables that to happen.  

“So, I think I'd be looking to the government to strengthen those types of areas and that will help us play a proper part in any of these future discussions and developments.” 

Speaking on prospects of a National Care Service from a workforce perspective, Karolina said: “I am hopeful that the government wants to listen, but I am concerned about timeframes because I don’t think the care industry can afford to wait 5 or more years; something needs to be done within this parliament. And, most importantly, they need to be done in collaboration with care workers. 

“We need to go back to having a conversation about pathways, because if we are going to establish a National Care Service, which Labour do seem very set on, and I do believe is going to happen, then you need a pathway; you need skills development and you need pay differentiations.  

“The Skills for Care State of the Workforce 2024 report came out recently and from that we can see that there isn’t a current pay differentiation that reflects the jobs that care staff do. What are we actually telling people? What is their experience worth? If we’re telling them that it’s an extra 10p an extra compared to five years ago, that’s just not good enough.  

“So, when these conversations happen, whatever is being done, we need to make sure that care workers are part of these conversations.” 

The future of social care will be about partnerships 

When and if the National Care Service does come into being, one thing that will remain just as important then as now will be the utilisation of technologies that streamline and improve the ability for care settings to deliver outstanding care as well as provide a better quality of life for everyone involved in care provision. 

Such digital solutions, like those offered by Person Centred Software, will be a crucial component of bringing together and improving the social care industry so that it can meet the challenges of the future. To find out more about our solution areas, just click here.