The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has welcomed the Wanless report as significant contribution to the debate about the future of social care and the workforce. It called the proposals “an ambitious plan” for social care that would benefit services users and the workforce with the right investment.
The King’s Fund report published today, highlights the need for investing in the social care workforce. More than 1.4 million people work in social care in England providing crucial services to some of society’s most vulnerable people. It spells out a new partnership for care and one that could give service users greater control over the care they receive.
Rodney Brooke, the chair of the Council, said: “The report contains an ambitious plan for social care that recognises the powerful contribution it makes to society. We share those ambitions and a vision of social care being at the heart of a new approach that helps and supports people to lead full and independent lives.
“Social care workers make a significant contribution to the well-being of people and communities. They provide vital services to people of all ages and help to improve the quality of life for more than a million service users in England. We welcome the emphasis in the report on investing in social care.
“To realise those ambitions, there is a need for greater capacity in the system and greater investment in the workforce. That will do much to improve social care and achieve the laudable ambitions in the report. The Government has, in the recent White Paper on social care and health, put forward a vision for an integrated health and social care system that will ensure older people can receive appropriate care and play a full part in society. We look forward to working with the government to create a trained and trusted workforce that can deliver these ambitions.”
The GSCC regulates the social care workforce as part of the drive to improve standards of social care. Alongside all the work that is being done by the GSCC to help raise standards in the workforce through registration, training and the codes of conduct, the report is a valuable contribution to the future of social care.
During the next year the GSCC will start the process of registering domiciliary and residential care workers spanning services for people of all ages. It is currently consulting on how best to register these workers. Early feedback from the consultation indicates that the workforce would respond positively to new investment and support registration.