Care Management Matters (CMM) Magazine December/January 2024
AUTUMN BUDGET FALLOUT
The final straw for adult social care?
Older people’s housing
Bridging the local and national gap
Hitting the target
Marketing your care business
A timely debate
Resource Finder
The case against assisted dying Technology
Social Care Insights
Oonagh Smyth, Chief Executive Officer at Skills for Care, kicks off the new year by focusing on a crucial element of the sector’s future – learning and development.
Inside CQC
Working with healthcare partners and the wider community is vital to delivering strong adult social care services, explains Mary Cridge, Director of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Homecare Headlines
Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the Homecare Association, questions whether Labour is being recklessly naïve or politically cynical in its treatment of social care.
CMM News
Into Perspective
In this issue’s Into Perspective, following a recent report from Age UK on NHS Continuing Healthcare, CMM explores whether the system is currently fit for purpose.
Celebrating Excellence
CMM is thrilled to have announced the finalists for the 2025 Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards.
Event Preview
The Managers Conference at Wyboston Lakes Resort, Bedfordshire, is the only conference dedicated to supporting social care managers.
What’s On?
Straight Talk
Taffy Gatawa, Chief Information and Compliance Officer at everyLIFE Technologies, details practical steps for care providers to enhance data security.
Measuring the impact: Will Labour’s Budget be the final straw for adult social care?
Gordon Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer at Healthcare Homes, explores the damning implications of Government’s Autumn Budget Statement.
Bridging the gap: Local and national older people’s housing
Dr Rebekah Luff, Senior Research Analyst at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), discusses SCIE’s work to facilitate the recommendations of the Older People's Housing Taskforce’s final report.
Hitting the target: Marketing your care business effectively
Sally Rasmussen, Founder of Fearless Marketing, explains why one-size-fits-all marketing is causing care businesses to miss their targets.
A timely debate: The case against assisted dying
Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK, provides the charity’s view on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Resource Finder: Technology
Which organisations can you rely on to support your digital transformation journey? CMM has selected some of the sector’s leading technology providers and shared their areas of expertise.
CMM magazine is officially part of the membership entitlement of:
CONTRIBUTORS
@skillsforcare Oonagh Smyth Chief Executive Officer, Skills for Care
@CQCProf Mary Cridge Director of Adult Social Care, Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Dr Rebekah Luff Senior Research Analyst, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) @SCIE_socialcare
Fazilet Hadi Head of Policy, Disability Rights UK @DisRightsUK
Tom Gentry Joint Head of Health Influencing, Age UK @age_uk
Taffy Gatawa Chief Information and Compliance Officer, everyLIFE Technologies
Gordon Cochrane Chief Executive Officer, Healthcare Homes @CQCProf Dr Jane Townson OBE Chief Executive Officer, Homecare Association @homecareassn
Belinda Schwehr Director, Centre for Adults’ Social Care – Analysis, Information and Dispute Resolution @cascaidr
Sally Rasmussen Founder, Fearless Marketing
SOCIAL CARE INSIGHTS
From Oonagh Smyth
Oonagh Smyth, Chief Executive Officer at Skills for Care, kicks off the new year by focusing on a crucial element of the sector’s future – learning and development.
According to our most recent data, England’s population aged 65 and above is projected to grow from 10.5 million to 14.5 million between 2020 and 2040. This means that by 2040 the sector may need 540,000 extra new posts (29% growth) to service the increasing need for care services.
This forecast highlights the urgent requirement to build a bigger and increasingly knowledgeable and capable workforce. Ensuring that social care staff are equipped with the necessary skills is essential if we are to support increasingly strained care infrastructure. Now more than ever, organisations must prioritise the training and development of their employees to ensure they are prepared for the challenges ahead.
It is not just skills and knowledge that matter though, as the data also shows a clear link between training opportunities and employee retention. Our data shows that care workers who received more training were significantly more likely to stay in their roles. For instance, care workers with just one instance of recorded training had
a turnover rate of 31.5%, but for those with more than 30 instances of training, the turnover rate dropped by 9.3 percentage points to 22.2%. Overall, care workers who had received training had an average turnover rate of 28%, which is 7.4 percentage points lower than those who hadn’t received any training (35.4%).
We have made some huge strides in this space in recent months. The Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care, which launched in July 2024, aims to support the sector by ensuring we have enough of the right people with the right skills to provide the best possible care. It dedicates an entire section to training and development of staff, with specific recommendations for changes and priorities into the future.
One of the strategy’s priorities is the continued development of the Care Workforce Pathway, which is helping to create clear routes for progression within the sector. Commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), the pathway provides structure and growth opportunities
by mapping specific qualifications to role categories in social care, making it easy to understand what qualifications will help those at every level progress. There are new role categories and qualifications being developed continuously to support this.
An example of this in action is the recently launched Level 2 Adult Social Care Qualification. Currently, 54% of direct care workers do not hold a Level 2 qualification or above. The introduction of this qualification is crucial in addressing this gap by equipping care staff with the most up-to-date knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their roles.
As we move into 2025, we must recognise that investing in learning and development will be essential for meeting the needs of our growing population and ensuring that the social care workforce is well prepared, motivated and ready to deliver high-quality care. However, we can also take some comfort in the fact that there have never been so many resources available, many of them for free, to help us understand how we can progress our staff.
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Working with healthcare partners and the wider community is vital to delivering strong adult social care services. But there are often challenges in getting the support needed to do this, explains Mary Cridge, Director of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
In 2024, we commissioned Ipsos to carry out research with adult social care providers in England. We wanted to understand what support you are receiving to ensure medicines are managed safely, how the support impacts the quality of care that you deliver and your future support needs. We know that medicines management can be especially challenging for services. We are grateful to those who have shared their views through this research – it has enabled us to strengthen our evidence base and raise awareness of the challenges faced.
Key headlines from the research included:
Community pharmacy and primary care support
Just under half (49%) of all adult social care providers said the support they receive from community pharmacies fully meets their needs. Care homes were more likely to say the support they receive meets their needs but smaller services and care at home services found it more difficult to access support.
Some providers said they had difficulties and delays with medicines, including issues with delivery and shortages, communication and availability of community pharmacy staff. They also said there were challenges around administration and the training provided. To overcome gaps, some looked for alternative sources of support and advice, for example emergency services or 111. Providers said that a lack of support and advice increased their staff workload as they had to spend time trying to reach GPs, pharmacies and healthcare professionals.
Delegated healthcare tasks
Traditional nursing tasks are increasingly being taken on by care workers to help people stay in their preferred place of care. However, 40% of providers told us they could not access a healthcare professional who would delegate tasks, and 25% said they did not
INSIDE CQC
Mary Cridge
have the capacity due to workload. Our medicines information webpages offer useful advice on key aspects of delegated healthcare tasks in services.
Digitalisation
Government’s 2022 plan for digital health and social care aimed for 80% of CQC-registered providers to have digital social care records by March 2024. In our survey, we found only 42% of providers used electronic medicines records (eMAR) and only 36% said they used NHSmail. However, many providers told us they were useful tools. Further progress is needed to achieve this digital ambition, which should allow social care staff to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time delivering personalised care. There is more detail on the NHS registering a social care organisation webpage.
End of life care
Around 100 services (4%) said they either did not know how to or could not access the right medicine at the right time, or advice and support for the administration of medicines for people at the end of life. Access to medicines and support is vital to ensure people receive good end of life care. Help with end of life care differs locally and it is essential to investigate what support your service can access.
Medicines information and guidance
91% of providers said they accessed CQC’s medicines information pages and 97% said they found them useful or very useful. We would encourage all providers to use these pages to help make sure they are considering best practice and national guidance. We also offer an email enquiries service for any questions or queries about medicines handling in adult social care services. Email a member of the CQC medicines team on medicines.enquiries@cqc.org.uk
This valuable research supports the observations we make during our assessments – that working in partnership across services within the community is key to providing an effective service. I was pleased to read recently about Orchid Care Home in Swindon. Just rated as ‘Outstanding’ in a recent assessment, the team has taken a proactive approach to building relationships with local healthcare partners and the community. For example, its work with a mental health nurse in supporting dementia care in the home led to a decrease in behaviours of distress for people. These actions improve experiences for everyone.
Mary Cridge is Director of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Email: providerengagement@cqc.org.uk : @CQCProf
What support has your organisation received to ensure medicines are managed safely? Visit www.caremanagementmatters.co.uk and leave a comment on this column or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
In opposition, the Labour Party spoke about transforming social care. Its manifesto promised a National Care Service and better employment conditions for care workers. Yet just a few months into Government, its actions tell a different story. One of either staggering ignorance about how social care works; or worse, a calculated move to destabilise the independent care sector to justify state control. Neither explanation inspires confidence.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement delivered a potentially fatal blow to care and support providers. Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP announced two changes. An unfunded increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions (ENICs) from 13.8% to 15%, coupled with a reduction in the NICs threshold from £9,100 to £5,000; and a 6.7% rise in the National Minimum Wage (NMW). These measures present an existential threat to care services.
The changes will add c. £2.04 per hour to direct staff costs in homecare – a 9.9% increase that providers cannot absorb. This is before we consider inflation in other running costs. Unlike other businesses, most care providers cannot raise prices to cover their costs. Why? Because councils and NHS bodies buy 79% of homecare and 96% of supported living services. They dictate prices and are struggling with their own budgets. The Government appears
HOMECARE HEADLINES
Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the Homecare Association, questions whether Labour is being recklessly naïve or politically cynical in its treatment of social care.
either oblivious to or unconcerned by this fundamental dynamic.
Homecare Association research shows only 1% of public bodies are paying fee rates that cover costs. Councils say they must cut £1.4bn from their social care budgets in 2025/26. How does Labour expect providers to meet the increases? Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP’s response to the sector’s concerns has been tepid. While acknowledging the pressures, he offers no concrete solutions, merely saying he is ‘alive to the concerns’. Care providers warn that community care services across Britain are at risk of failing.
The gap between Labour’s rhetoric and reality is stark. The Prime Minister speaks about his sister’s work as a care worker deserving ‘the same respect as the Prime Minister’. But his Government’s policies threaten to destroy the very sector she works in. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner draws on her experience as a former homecare worker. Yet she supports policies that could leave care workers without jobs and thousands without care.
Labour has made the Employment Rights Bill a centrepiece of its policy agenda. Fair pay and improved employment conditions lie at the heart of this. Its principles are laudable. Ignoring the Budget shortfall while
promising better pay and benefits is, though, either recklessly naïve or politically cynical. Ministers cannot improve employment conditions whilst crippling providers’ ability to meet wage bills. The homecare sector alone needs an immediate cash injection of £1.9bn to cover increased costs. Yet no such funding appears forthcoming.
Unless Labour reforms the funding, commissioning and purchase of care, little will improve. Labour’s vision of a National Care Service remains vague, with Streeting admitting it could take ‘at least 10 years’ to implement. Meanwhile, Labour’s immediate actions risk decimating the existing care infrastructure. Consequences could be severe: more providers handing back contracts; increased unmet need; greater pressure on the NHS; increased burdens for unpaid carers; a greater risk of labour abuse; and a surge in unregulated care.
If Labour is serious about improving social care, it must act now. Exempt care providers from the NICs changes, provide emergency funding to cover increased employment costs and implement a national contract for care services that sets sustainable minimum prices. Without these urgent steps, Labour’s grand vision of a National Care Service risks having no functioning care sector left to build upon.
For more content discussing the impact of Labour’s Budget measures, read the feature beginning on page 22.
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Social care reforms and independent commission announced
Investment and reforms to improve adult social care have been announced alongside an independent commission to build cross-party consensus. The Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB has been appointed to head the commission.
The Health and Social Care Secretary has confirmed an £86m addition to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year, on top of the £86m announced for next financial year at the Budget, taking the annual total to £711m. According to Government, this will allow 7,800 more disabled and older people to make vital improvements to their homes.
Alongside the funding, care workers will be supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, prompting more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, creating opportunities for career progression and development pathways.
Government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to support the delivery of high-quality care.
Lastly, Government has reiterated its commitment to create a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. As a first step, Government will launch an independent commission into adult social care to be chaired by Baroness Casey, to inform the work needed to deliver this.
Split over two phases, the commission will set out a vision for adult social care, with recommended measures and a roadmap for delivery. The first phase, reporting in 2026, will identify the critical issues facing adult social care and set out recommendations for effective reform and improvement in the medium term. The recommendations of this phase will be aligned with Government’s spending plans which will be set out at the Spending Review in the spring.
The second phase, reporting by 2028, will make longer-term recommendations for the transformation of adult social care. It will build on the commission’s first phase to look at the model of care needed to address the country's ageing population, how services should be organised
to deliver this, and how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system.
Government has invited opposition parties to take part in the commission, with the aim of building a cross-party and national consensus on the responsibilities the state and individuals have for social care, how to meet the rising demands caused by an ageing population, and how best to structure the National Care Service.
Commenting on the reforms and independent commission, Andrew Pike, Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Dementia UK, said, ‘We welcome the launch of the Government’s independent commission to reform adult social care in England. But with the final report not due to emerge until 2028, thousands will remain stuck in limbo. There are nearly one million people living with dementia in the UK – they deserve access to good quality social care now.
‘It is vital that the Government delivers this long overdue reform by urgently increasing sustainable funding, reducing waiting times for local care assessments, developing a National Carers Strategy for unpaid carers, and delivering a social care workforce with the capacity, resource and skills to meet the needs of people affected by dementia.’
Sarah Jones, Chief Executive at Anchor, said, ‘Meaningful reform of social care is long overdue, and we welcome the intent to achieve cross-party agreement to finally address an issue affecting growing numbers of some of the most vulnerable people in the country.
‘In the meantime, organisations supporting older and vulnerable people are facing significant financial challenges which may reduce our capacity to help just when demand is growing. It is therefore vital that short term steps are taken to alleviate the crisis while the commission does its essential work.’
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said, ‘Far reaching reform and refinancing of social care is long overdue, so [the] announcement is unequivocally good news – it could potentially finally break the logjam that has stood in the way for many years. We say “potentially” because while we've no doubt Baroness Casey will do an excellent job, the real question is whether the Government will act decisively on her conclusions. In this respect history is discouraging, but it's imperative that the current administration breaks the mould and puts the commission's recommendations fully into practice.’
Elizabeth Finn Homes
The profit-for-purpose care home group has appointed to its Board Ruth French and Julian Ide as Non-Executive Directors. Ruth brings social care expertise as the owner and Director of Stow Healthcare, an East Anglian care home group, while Julian, a financial services professional, most recently served as Vice Chair, EMEA at Franklin Templeton, where he managed strategic partner accounts across the region.
Healthcare Homes Group
Home Meadow care home, part of the Healthcare Homes Group, has appointed Noby Jacobs as its new Care Home Manager. Noby brings over a decade of experience in nursing and healthcare to the home, which holds a 'Good' CQC rating. A Registered Nurse with an NVQ Level 5 in Leadership and Management for Health and Social Care, Noby is passionate about supporting staff development and fostering a compassionate care environment.
We Care Group and Summit Care Group
Not-for-profit care group
Greensleeves Care has announced that Chief Executive Paul Newman will step down in February to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer at the We Care Group and Summit Care Group. Under his leadership, Greensleeves Care was recognised as one of the UK’s Top 20 Large Care Providers and, in his new role, Paul will work alongside We Care and Summit Care Groups’ Founder, Bernie Suresparan, who transitions to the role of Executive Chairman.
Sector Pulse Check 2024 published
The Sector Pulse Check 2024, an annual report from learning disability charity Hft and Care England, has been published. According to the report's findings, the UK’s adult social care sector is teetering on the brink of collapse.
Whilst the Government’s announcement of a new adult social care commission headed up by Baroness Louise Casey has been welcomed by the two organisations, the survey findings in the report have revealed a sector that cannot wait until 2028.
"We urge the Government to consult with Hft and other providers who have done the research and are ready to collaborate on practical, immediate measures."
Hft and Care England are calling on the Government to take urgent action to prevent major consequences for those who draw on care and support, providers and their staff, with two key policy asks:
• Firstly, to commit to a credible, multi-year funding settlement for adult social care in the 2025 Spending Review, to financially support providers who have suffered from underfunding, and ensure future funding accounts for wage increases, inflation and National Insurance contributions.
• Secondly, a fully funded plan to support the workforce and bring care workers’ pay and conditions in line with their NHS counterparts, arguing that status and respect are just as crucial as wages to make care work an attractive career for the next generation.
In support of these two key recommendations, Hft and Care England believe the Government should look for cross-party support to deliver a number of urgent measures, including:
• Fully fund the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, or exempt care providers entirely.
• Removing the ban on dependents for international social care staff.
• Enforce fee uplift announcement from the start of each new financial year, and mandatory payment timelines for local authority and integrated care board payments, with penalties for delays.
The report's authors believe that the new commission does not need to spend months
looking at what the issues are – it should work directly with the sector and use data such as the annual Sector Pulse Check, Dilnot Commission findings and recommendations from the recent Darzi report to identify and focus quickly on the actions to be taken.
Based on responses from more than 200 small, medium and large adult social care providers – collectively responsible for supporting over 128,000 people – the Sector Pulse Check 2024 report gives an overview of the current state of the social care sector and presents the case for urgent change.
90% of providers cited rising workforce costs as one of their top three cost-pressures, with 95% reporting that increases in the National Living Wage are their deepest concern. This is due to the shortfalls in fee increases from local authorities to cover these costs – reported by 85% of providers – leaving them to absorb the gap.
Due to the increasing financial pressures:
• Three in 10 providers have been forced to close parts of their organisations or hand back contracts to local authorities.
• One-third are considering leaving the market altogether, which would leave an estimated 275,000 people without the care they would expect and are legally entitled to – set to become more of a reality following the changes to National Insurance contributions in the 2024 Autumn Budget.
• 37% have curbed investment into building future capacity for care.
Domestic recruitment continues to be a struggle for providers, with 85% of providers reporting that the biggest barrier to recruitment is pay rates. To improve recruitment and retention, providers highlighted that conditions and benefits aligned to the NHS would make the biggest difference to people entering the sector.
International recruitment was the most frequently reported method for filling vacancies, with 40% employing this strategy. However, changes to the UK’s immigration rules have led to a severing of this lifeline, as providers reported a significant drop in international applications.
Commenting on the report's findings, Steve Veevers, Chief Executive at Hft, said, 'The Government’s recognition of the urgent challenges facing adult social care is a welcome step forward and we look forward to working with Baroness Casey's commission.
However, the sector can ill afford a lengthy process to identify the solutions. The evidence is already clear.
‘This year’s Sector Pulse Check is the next critical step for outlining clear, actionable solutions. It provides a detailed, up-todate picture of the sector’s pressures and highlights urgent priorities such as workforce shortages, funding instability, and improved support for care workers.
'While the announced reforms show promise in improving coordination between health and social care, immediate action is crucial to stabilise the sector and ease the growing strain on care providers and the NHS. We urge the Government to consult with Hft and other providers who have done the research and are ready to collaborate on practical, immediate measures. The Sector Pulse Check provides the roadmap – now we need action to ensure the care sector’s future through decisive steps, not deferred promises.'
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive at Care England, said, 'Providers face impossible choices: absorbing unsustainable costs, changing their care models, cutting back on services or shutting their doors entirely. This isn’t just a warning; it’s a crisis unfolding in real time. Years of unrelenting financial strain and a workforce stretched to breaking point have left social care hanging by a thread. Without immediate intervention, the consequences will be devastating for those who rely on care every single day.
'Carers deserve a workforce strategy that serves as a testament to their unwavering dedication – a blueprint for meaningful change that ensures they’re properly paid, given real opportunities for development, and recognised for their vital contribution to society. This requires not just funding but a cross-party commitment to implement transformative, long-term solutions for the sector.
'The Government talks of delivering "an NHS fit for the future", but let’s be clear: you cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care. We are ready to work alongside Baroness Casey and the Government to turn this commission into a catalyst for genuine change. But let’s be clear: the status quo is no longer an option. Every delay, every failure to act, pushes more care providers out of the sector and leaves more people without the support they need.'
To read the full report, visit the Care England website
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New partnership to judge Longitude Prize on Dementia
Challenge Works, a global leader in the design and delivery of challenge prizes, has joined forces with expert researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE) to help evaluate the five finalist technologies in the Longitude Prize on Dementia that could revolutionise life for people living with dementia. The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a £4.4m prize funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK and delivered by Challenge Works.
The prize announced 24 semi-finalists in June 2023, each receiving £80,000 and a package of expert support. Five finalists were selected in October 2024, ranging from hightech specs to help people recognise objects to football pitch sensor technology applied to predict and prevent falls. The finalists have each received a further £300k and a package of expert support. They will have until November 2025 to develop their products, before a winner is announced in early 2026 and awarded the £1m grand prize.
The research, which has been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, will see academics from LSE’s Care Policy and Evaluation Centre
(CPEC) working alongside Challenge Works to evaluate the products. The specialists in health and social care will assess the success of the technologies and provide independent expert analysis to inform the discussions and decisions of the Lived-Experience Advisory Panel – a group of people who have lived experience of dementia including people living with dementia, carers and former carers – and the judging panel when selecting the £1m prize winner.
The LSE team will produce a series of reports detailing each of the five finalists’ products, including the development process and use of co-design. It will include examination of the effects of the finalist technologies on the quality of life for people living with dementia and determine which, if any, additional resources are needed to improve the products. The report will be published in late 2025.
Martin Knapp, Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at LSE, will oversee the evaluation and will be supported by colleagues including Juliette Malley, Associate Professorial Research Fellow at CPEC, Chiara De Poli and Valentina Zigante, both research
officers at CPEC.
Commenting on the new partnership set to judge the Longitude Prize on Dementia, Caroline Purslow, Head of Global Health at Challenge Works, said, ‘These five groundbreaking technologies have been designed to help people living with dementia maintain independence in their home and continue their day-to-day activities. The researchers supporting the prize have significant experience in advanced, evidence-based methods for measuring the impact of health and social care-focused technologies. Their input to the prize and assessment of the solutions will be crucial.’
Martin Knapp, Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at LSE, said, ‘Advanced assistive technology holds immense potential in revolutionising the lives of people with dementia. Using the best possible evaluation process for this prize, in collaboration with colleagues at Challenge Works and the finalists themselves, we can help ensure these products can make a real difference.’
To find out more about the prize and the five finalists in contention, visit the Longitude Prize on Dementia website
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New SCIE guidance to help tackle inequalities
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has launched a new best practice resource for the adult social care workforce, Tackling inequalities in care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
According to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, people with learning disabilities and autistic people continue to experience unacceptably poor health outcomes in comparison to the rest of the population, leading to lower life expectancy and a higher number of avoidable deaths.
During the pandemic, a report from Public Health England found that people with learning disabilities were four times more likely to die from COVID-19 – with researchers estimating the real rate may have been as high as six times once accounting for unreported deaths.
Prior to COVID-19, research published in The Lancet revealed a lack of awareness, understanding and skills among the health and social care workforce about the health risks facing people with learning disabilities and how to ensure that they receive the right care.
SCIE’s new guidance aims to close the gap in skills and knowledge across the
adult health and social care workforce. It gives commissioners and practitioners the practical steps, confidence and legislative awareness needed to improve experiences of care and support.
SCIE established the SCIE Fliers, a group of people with lived experience of learning disabilities and autism and worked with them as part of this project to understand their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and draw out lessons and opportunities for learning.
This guidance encompasses learning from SCIE’s discussions and work with commissioners, service providers and people with lived experience, as well as drawing on existing tools and resources.
Commenting on the new guidance, Kathryn Smith OBE, Chief Executive at SCIE, said, ‘SCIE’s vision is for a society that enables people who draw on social care to live fulfilling lives; where good, high-quality care maximises people’s choices and removes social inequality. It must be accessible to everyone who needs it – and empower them to live the lives they want to live.
‘This guidance highlights the important
steps we must take to achieve this vision and transform the lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people. We must address systemic barriers and ensure that co-production is central to the design and delivery of care and support services. Only then will we have a system that is fair, equitable, and fit for the future.’
John Hersov, SCIE Fliers facilitator and consultant with over 40 years of experience in learning disability advocacy, said, ‘This guidance reminds us of what still needs to be done to ensure that health and social care services are truly responsive to the needs and requirements of this group of people.
‘It reinforces the need to cut through organisational charts and jargon-filled terminology to impact meaningfully on the individuals that we are there to serve. The video personalises these aims. Hearing from experienced self-advocates who know what they are talking about; emphasising again that you need to try to understand better the person you are supporting.’
To read the new guidance in full, visit the SCIE website
Provisional local government finance settlement published
An open consultation outlining the provisional local government finance settlement for 2025/26 has been published. The consultation, which seeks views on proposals for the local government finance settlement for 2024/25, includes the following measures relating to adult social care:
• £5.9bn to be provided through the Social Care Grant, supporting both adult and children’s social care – whilst equalising for the adult social care precept. This is an increase of £880m compared to 2024-25.
• £2.6bn to be distributed through the Local Authority Better Care Grant.
• £1.05bn in 2025/26 to be distributed for adult social care through the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund.
Commenting on the provisional settlement, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said, ‘It is good that the Government has provided details of how it will compensate councils for direct costs they will face through increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions (ENICs). However, this falls short of the £637m we have estimated it will cost councils next year. We have also warned that indirect
ENICs cost increases, through commissioned providers, will cost councils up to an extra £1.13bn next year.
'While we are pleased that councils will receive extra social care funding, which will help towards these indirect costs, we continue to worry about the impact the ENICs rise will have on the organisations that the sector relies on to deliver vital care and support, especially smaller charities and providers.
‘Councils continue to face severe cost and demand pressures, and the recently launched Spending Review will be critical to the future of our local services. It is good that the Government has committed to providing councils with multi-year settlements as part of that process, but it must include significant and sustained increases in overall funding for councils. However, this alone will not address the multiple issues with the way local services are funded, and councils stand ready to work with the Government on creating an improved and a more sustainable future funding system that works for all of local government.’
Michelle Corrigan, Director at the Digital Care Hub, said, ‘We know that 75% of providers are considering reducing or stopping
digital developments because of workforce costs. But safe, digitalisation is a modern business necessity. As we have said before, it’s virtually impossible for care providers to operate in the modern world without digital record systems that integrate well with hospitals, social services, GPs, pharmacists and other care and health partners. It’s an essential business expense which must be built into funding calculations.’
Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the National Care Forum, said, ‘The costs of the Budget for social care have been estimated by Nuffield Trust to be £2.8bn. This inability to recognise and understand the importance of care and support in millions of people’s lives every day is incredibly disappointing and this settlement will do little to address the urgent issue of unmet need. There are an estimated 418,029 people currently waiting for a care and support assessment to allow them to stay at home, living well with choice and independence. This figure only represents people that local authorities are aware of.’
To read the open consultation, visit GOV.UK
Providers’ group puts social care to music
The social care provider organisation, The Independent Care Group (iCG) has taken the unusual step of highlighting the vital care of older and vulnerable adults in a song. The iCG has released a charity song called Who Cares?, the proceeds of which will go to The Care Workers’ Charity. The song has been co-written by iCG Marketing Executive Brian Johnson and performed by co-writer, Ivor Novellonominated singer-songwriter, Boo Hewerdine.
The project has been sponsored by health, social care and charity lawyers, Hempsons. It is part of a longterm campaign by the iCG to promote and highlight social
care and fight for improvement to the sector.
To accompany the song, Brian Johnson has directed and edited a video, shot by Silsdenbased filmmaker, Dawn Feather. The video features footage taken at social care locations in North Yorkshire. The pair filmed sequences with staff and residents in care and nursing homes belonging to iCG Chair and Saint Cecilia’s Care Group Executive Chair, Mike Padgham, with Harrogate-based health and social care provider, ubu, who support vulnerable adults to live independently in their communities.
The song, distributed by Horus Music, is available to purchase as a digital download here.
Audley Group raises £40m
Audley Group has raised nearly £40m in a sector-first sale and leaseback deal. A major investor has purchased the freehold of five operational Audley Villages across the UK. These constitute a total of 550 properties in villages from 25 years old to others recently opened.
Audley Group will enter a 50-year lease on the five sites and will retain operational management of the villages, thereby offering continuity to all owners and team members while providing secure inflationlinked income back to the investors. At the end of the 50 years, Audley Group will purchase back the villages for £1.
Commenting on the announcement, Nick Sanderson, Founder and Chief Executive of Audley Group, said, ‘Investors are waking up to the opportunity in the retirement living sector and recognising the robust nature of the underlying income. Innovative funding
IN FOCUS
Christie & Co publishes Business Outlook 2025 report
WHAT’S THE STORY?
Christie & Co’s Business Outlook 2025 report has labelled 2024 as a year of growth in the UK care market, with the majority of operators having reported improved occupancy levels, a reduction in agency usage and a return in buyer confidence which resulted in an increase in transactional activity across the market.
WHAT WERE THE FINDINGS?
structures […] showcase the opportunity and flexibility the sector can offer.
‘Owners purchase their properties on a 125- or 250-year lease and, in return for the services and amenities offered, pay both monthly and deferred charges that deliver secure inflation-linked income which allows for highly predictable rent to flow to our new investors. The income protected as it is by the leasehold structures created offers a degree of inflationary income protection few other asset classes can offer.
‘Increasing supply is critical to help a greater number of people live long and healthy lives, while aligning with increasing institutional appetite. We look forward to continuing to realise this ambition with forward thinking investors that understand the importance of funding solutions that will in turn unlock future development.’
‘Small/medium-sized groups’ (groups of three to 19 care homes) were the most active buyer group in 2024 thanks largely to the return of occupancy, this is a notable shift from the most active in 2023 which was first-time buyers and independent purchasers. However, deal times continued to be delayed as issues with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) persisted.
Christie & Co also noted a reduction in the number of closed, vacant care homes in 2024 – this asset class made up 12% of the company’s healthcare sales in 2024 compared with 16% in 2023. This is largely due to a material reduction in closed care home instructions and is not a reflection in declining investor appetite for re-purposing this stock.
There was a clear reemergence of real estate investment activity following a relatively benign market environment in 2023 whereby investors adjusted to a range of factors including higher interest rates, inflationary pressures, and an upward movement in
Government gilts. Christie & Co witnessed yields stabilise in 2024, with market activity seeing a notable pick up.
WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?
Richard Lunn, Managing Director – Care at Christie & Co, said, ‘2024 was another challenging year and the care sector which, like many, employs a significant workforce is notably impacted by the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions with little certainty that local authority fee increases will be sufficient to cover the differential. However, strong operators are alive to all the challenges, and we are sure that appetite for the whole spectrum of care businesses will continue and, therefore, 2025 will see an increase in activity from a range of buyers and real estate investment trusts (REITS).’
Jordan Rundle, Director and Head of Healthcare Development and Investment at Christie & Co, said, ‘Following a prolonged period of headwinds in the land and development market, momentum is building in the new build sector, and this has been largely driven by stabilisation of costs and improved underlying trade performance in the private pay arena. As confidence returns, we are already seeing a noticeable uptick in demand from operators for good quality consented care home sites and anticipate greater land deal volumes over the next 12 months.’
To read the full report, visit the Christie & Co website.
People living in homes making health conditions worse
New analysis from the Centre for Ageing Better has warned that the Government cannot hope to meet its missions on stabilising the NHS and growing the economy
"The highest proportion [...] with these [...] problems are living in the rented sector (51%)."
while the nation’s sub-par housing stock is making the country’s 50+ population sicker.
The research looked at people aged 50 and above with a range of health conditions impacted by substandard living conditions including respiratory diseases, congestive heart failure, lung conditions such as asthma, heart disease and neurological disease. Housing problems identified included rising damp, water leaks, bad condensation, electrical or plumbing problems, rot and decay, being too cold in the winter and structural issues.
The new statistics reveal that of the 4.5 million people aged 50 and above in England with a health condition that is exacerbated
by their home environment, one in three (33%) live in a home with a housing problem including one in seven (15%) who report having three or more housing problems.
Around one in two (46%) of people aged 50 and above from BAME backgrounds with one of these health conditions has at least one problem with their home, totalling nearly 500,000 older people. This is compared to around one in three (32%) of people aged 50 from White backgrounds with a health condition who had at least one significant problem with their home. People aged 50 and above from a BAME background and with a health condition (15%) were also more than twice as likely to have five or more issues with their housing compared to their White counterparts (6%).
The highest proportion of older people with these health and housing problems are living in the rented sector (51%) but the largest number, totalling 2.2 million people over 50, own their home outright. Older renters with a health condition are up to three times (14%) more likely to have five or more issues with their home than someone 50 or over who owns their home outright.
People aged 50 and above with a health condition that deteriorates in the cold, damp and other poor housing conditions and with a significant issue with their homes, were most likely to live in London (52%) followed by the North East (35%) and the North West (35%). The South West (27%), the West Midlands (28%) and the East of England (28%) had the lowest proportions.
Commenting on the analysis, Dr Carole Easton OBE, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said, 'Our latest research shows that our poor-quality housing crisis is putting people with health conditions in their 50s, 60s and beyond, in harm’s way. This is obviously terrible for those individuals who live in homes that carry a very real risk of making them sick, particularly when winter comes around.
'But it is also very bad news for the country. Older workers living in homes that are making their health conditions worse are going to be less likely to be able to work and help grow the economy. Older people whose serious health conditions are made worse by their homes will require treatment, putting additional winter pressures on our health system.'
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
Mehiläinen acquires Lithuania’s largest private healthcare provider
Mehiläinen, Finland’s largest social care and healthcare provider, has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire InMedica Group, the largest private healthcare provider in Lithuania.
Expansion into Lithuania will make Mehiläinen the largest private healthcare provider in the Baltic countries. InMedica Group is a medical network that offers primary, specialist, dental and hospital care, as well as mental health services and diagnostics across Lithuania. With over 3,500 employees and 89 facilities, the company provides over 2.7 million physician visits annually and is a primary healthcare provider for more than 310,000 patients. InMedica Group’s revenue is expected to exceed €150m in 2024.
The transaction is expected to be the largest healthcare
services transaction in the history of Baltic mergers and acquisitions. ‘This is a landmark transaction for our fund and its investors, as well as for the entire Lithuanian healthcare market. As a fund, we have fulfilled our mission – we have created the right conditions for a relatively small business to become a market leader and an integral part of the healthcare system.
‘After evaluating potential investors, we believe that Mehiläinen is the best possible next owner for the InMedica Group, as it has exceptional resources, capabilities and the corporate culture to support InMedica Group’s continued growth and development,’ said Nerijus Drobavičus, partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Board at InMedica.
US dementia cases set to double by 2060
A new study published in Nature Medicine journal has shown that the risk for Americans of developing dementia after the age of 55 is 42%, which is more than double the risk reported by older studies.
"One in two Americans [are] expected to experience cognitive difficulties after age 55."
From 1987 to 2020, the study documented 3,252 participants as having developed dementia. This translates to an overall lifetime risk for dementia among middle-aged Americans of 42%, taken as an average of the 35% risk in men and the 48% risk in women. The risk translates into an estimated half a million cases
in 2025, rising to a million new cases a year by 2060, according to the study.
The results also showed a higher risk among Black adults and in those who carried a variant of the APOE4 gene (between 45% and 60%), which codes for a protein that carries cholesterol and other lipids in the bloodstream. Having a certain version of APOE4 is thought to be the single biggest genetic risk factor in developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
‘Our study results forecast a dramatic rise in the burden from dementia in the United States over the coming decades, with one in two Americans expected to experience cognitive difficulties after age 55,’ said study senior investigator and epidemiologist Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, who serves as the founding director of the Optimal Aging Institute at NYU Langone, who co-authored the study.
Barchester’s Director of Nursing wins global award
Barchester Healthcare’s Director of Nursing, Julia Atherton, has won a Global Award as the Most Outstanding Director of Nursing in Residential Care in the World in 2024. The Global Awards were created to celebrate and reward the best individual and company performances in seniors housing/care trends, healthcare IT, apps/digital innovation, disability housing and care services and the medical tourism
sectors worldwide.
The awards recognise the rapid growth of these sectors worldwide and the capacity of individuals to influence and set new performance standards across countries, regions and the world. The awards focus on elevated performance; the creation of new business models; contrarian thinking; recognising and embracing new trends; market leadership; inspirational
performance and the elevation of the customer experience.
Julia Atherton, Director of Nursing for Barchester Healthcare, said, ‘I always knew I wanted to be a nurse and every day when I wake I reflect on how lucky I am to have a job that I have thoroughly enjoyed for 45 years and know that each day I can make a difference to a resident, patient or relative, and my clinical experience leads and
supports the Barchester clinical team to be the best in the social care sector.’
Dr Pete Calveley, Chief Executive Officer at Barchester Healthcare, said, ‘I am incredibly proud of Julia, she is an exceptional nurse and with her 45 years of experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role of Director of Nursing at Barchester.’
Give your laundry a clean bill of health
Robust processes within on-premises laundries (OPLs), paired with Electrolux Professional solutions will keep your laundry healthy
WHY AN ON-PREMISES LAUNDRY?
Benefits will vary at each care home but there are some universals; direct control of the cost of the operation, the quality of output as well as the speed of processing, potentially reducing the volume of lined required. Removing the transport element that a third-party provider would require potentially offers environmental benefits too.
BEST PRACTICE
When utilised, an OPL forms a critical component of any care home’s facilities management strategy. However, without effective separation and hygiene control, the cross contamination of different laundry items could prove to be a catalyst for the spread of disease and bacteria.
ENSURING SAFE CATEGORISATION AND COLLECTION
Laundry should be collected and categorised according to factors such as the risk of cross-contamination or infection.
Wet or soiled infected items should be wrapped inside dry items so as to not compromise the structural integrity of the wash bag before it reaches the wash, staff are encouraged to follow a method popular among NHS health estates, whereby linen bags are tied securely using the “swan neck” method.
All bags should be labelled with identification tape to help aid collection and redistribution, indicating the owner of personal items such as clothing.
The laundry room should be kept clean and sanitised regularly, with visible signage and user guides indicating best practices should be placed throughout the room.
Staff should aim to wash items within a few hours of collection.
CONSIDER A BARRIER SOLUTION
They offer the best way to ensure total separation between dirty and clean laundry and feature a dedicated loading point for dirty laundry, with the unloading point located on the reverse of the machine.
As the name suggests, the two are separated by a barrier, eliminating the risk of any cross contamination, splitting the OPL into ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ zones with staff working accordingly.
Although a barrier solution is optimal, strong hygiene standards can still be achieved with traditional front load machines if a proper process is developed and followed.
LOADS’ OF INNOVATION
Dryers should be positioned close to the unloading point of the washers to reduce the manual labour required to transport wet linen. This has traditionally been restricted by the need for the supporting ventilation ducting for a dryer.
However, heat pump dryers do not require exhaust or water cooling, meaning they can be installed almost anywhere. A small footprint and ultra-quiet operation further boost the product’s ‘plug & play’ capabilities, making them an ideal fit for a care home’s OPL.
A longstanding misconception is that heat pump dryers are far slower than conventional alternatives - while this may have once been the case it is no longer. Electrolux Professional’s Line 6000 Heat Pump Dryer, has cycle times of just 35 minutes – only five minutes longer than a standard model. They also reduce energy consumption by up to 65% versus a vented dryer.
OVERCOMING PRESSING INEFFICIENCIES - IRONING
A Flatwork Ironer with front delivery is suited where space is at a premium, as it allows the ironer to be mounted against the wall. Electrolux Professional’s Line 6000 Flatwork Ironers feature an optional Feed Alone function, allowing it to be more easily operated by a sole loader. The two automated folding clamps extend this ease of operation to folding laundry.
Of course, hygiene remains a top priority. Enter the Direct Ironer Advanced Moisture Management System (DIAMMS™). When this smart solution’s sensor encounters the linen fibre, the cylinder speed will automatically adjust to deliver bacteriafree laundry. Crucially, if the linen humidity exceeds the RABC international standard of 8%, an indicator on the user interface will then flash up.
DISCOVER MORE
To find out more about the full range of Electrolux Professional solutions, we’d be delighted to welcome you to our Center of Excellence where you can explore our range of washers, dryers and more.
To book your visit email us on the below uk.marketing@electroluxprofessional.com
Experience the Excellence www.electroluxprofessional.com/gb
SELECTING SMART SOLUTIONS
The intuitive ClarusVibe interface is designed to deliver a smart and effortless way of managing the wash process. Its Hygiene Watchdog function ensures that all linen is fully washed and thoroughly decontaminated, by alerting the operator should a cycle have failed to do so. Plus downloadable reports can look back at performance, verifying cycles have completed correctly.
Electrolux Professional’s Line 6000 range of high-spin commercial washers benefits from a host of energy saving features to reduce running costs by up to 40% versus an equivalent washer. The Automatic Savings program ensures only the necessary volume of water is used in line with the weight of the load; while the Intelligent Dosing function then calculates the exact amount of detergent and chemicals needed for the wash.
Its worth noting all Electrolux Professional Line 6000 solutions hold the prestigious 4-star rating from Ergocert, meaning they have been user-tested to minimise tension and strain on operators, alongside promoting better physical and cognitive interaction.
MEASURING THE IMPACT
Will Labour’s Budget be the final straw for adult social care?
Gordon Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer at Healthcare Homes, explores the damning implications of Government’s Autumn Budget Statement and questions policymakers' grasp on the reality of operating a care business in today’s climate.
The adult social care sector in the UK is in crisis. The increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions (ENICs) (1.2 percentage point increase, bringing the rate to 15%) and the lowering of the NI earnings threshold (from £9,100 to £5,000) announced in the Autumn Budget Statement, combined with a larger than expected increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) (6.7% increase, taking it to £12.21), quite simply dwarf the insignificant uplift in funding earmarked for social care.
In addition, Government’s provisional local government finance settlement for 2025/26 offered little in the way of reassurance for local authorities who will struggle to meet the increased costs that providers will face as a direct result of the Budget. Analysis from the Nuffield Trust found that the 18,000 independent organisations providing adult social care in England will be faced with increased costs of an estimated £2.8bn next year. While only a small fraction of this has been allocated by Government via the Social Care Grant next year.
Concerns falling on deaf ears
As the Chief Executive of a provider operating 48 care homes and 10 homecare branches catering mostly to self-funded care users, it is deeply frustrating when I see yet another Government kicking the proverbial ‘social care can’ further down the road, leaving care providers struggling to attract and retain valued committed staff; reward them fairly for the incredible work they do; equip them to do their jobs; and deliver the care our ageing population needs and deserves.
The raising of the NLW is of course welcome and a large number of our colleagues will clearly benefit. But let’s not kid ourselves. The funding made available to local authorities does not adequately fund this and does not address the growing funding shortfall. Moreover, there remains enormous inequity between how we reward those working in social care and those working in the NHS.
In the period immediately following the Budget, I wrote to the 39 MPs in whose constituencies we deliver care, urging them to challenge Government’s refusal to exempt social care providers from the double ENIC contribution hike and support immediate action to mitigate the risks posed to this essential industry. Six acknowledged, two took action and two agreed to meet – although too late for any chance of challenging the legislation to be possible. Frankly if that is the extent of interest amongst MPs in the situation facing social care, the sector is in more trouble than I even dared to think.
Not all care providers are alike
Our sector is extremely diverse, with different operating and funding models. We each cater to different parts of the market and achieve widely varying economies of scale across our homes. In short, we are affected very differently by changes to costs that are beyond our control as well as by our clients’ ability to meet the costs of care. Any operator with a business model that is heavily geared towards NHS and local authority provision will have margins that are already cut to the quick, particularly following the challenges of COVID-19, the staffing crisis that followed, a significant hike in energy prices and a period of high inflation. But one thing has not changed – for many years, the rates paid for publicly funded social care have failed to keep pace with changes in the costs of delivering care. In 2024, Care England estimated the ‘in year’ shortfall to be in excess of £2.1bn. Even this ignores the cumulative shortfalls of prior years.
Like many social care providers, Healthcare Homes has shown creativity and innovation in addressing these pressures. Even in a difficult recruitment climate, we have dramatically reduced reliance on expensive agency staff; we have invested in improving retention; and we have utilised opportunities to attract international workers. We have also invested in technology that improves the effectiveness of our teams and our ability as a business to manage costs. These are ‘business as usual’ measures for any care provider. In a market characterised by razor-thin margins we have to work extremely hard to keep costs as low as possible as we fully recognise that care is a significant and unwelcome cost burden for whoever funds it.
Implications of the latest ENI increase
The announced changes to the ENI rate and earnings threshold in Government’s Autumn Budget Statement places an additional financial burden on an already overstretched social care sector. It will represent a significant and unbudgeted increase in operating costs. The changes will directly affect a provider’s ability to invest in staff development; invest in systems and technology; and in the fabric of their services. It is also likely to impact takehome pay for those earning above the NLW. Being a regulated sector, whilst staffing levels are not fixed by law, the Care Quality Commission may quite rightly challenge services that cannot demonstrate adequate levels of care as a direct result of staff shortages. Ultimately, the Budget’s measures risk pushing many care providers into
making difficult, but unavoidable, decisions about maintaining some services altogether. Recruitment and retention are already two of the biggest challenges faced by the sector. It has been argued for many years that without a robust workforce strategy that professionalises care, funds fair pay and promotes training and career development, the sector will never be in a position to deliver the quantity and level of care that an ageing population will require. Skills for Care’s Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England contains valuable recommendations and represents the minimum that Government should implement.
Financially prudent for the public purse
Government’s decision to increase ENICs contributions aims to bolster funding for public services and the NHS and naturally, the NHS is exempt from the increase. However, the decision to further tax the social care sector to deliver this funding flies squarely in the face of the stark reality that without a healthy social care sector, the NHS will still fail. The social care sector plays a critical role in relieving the pressure on hospital beds. The social care sector offers the public purse far better value for money in terms of caring for older people who are frail but are medically fit to be discharged from hospital.
“Care home beds remain vacant whilst hospitals struggle to clear their beds.”
Not only is the cost of a care home bed less than one third of the cost of a hospital bed, a stay in a care home (following discharge) comes with a private room, unlimited visiting, social interaction, a full activity programme that fosters wellbeing and even free parking! Importantly it also carries a significantly reduced risk of cross-infection.
Every year, when winter pressures are reported by the NHS, care home admissions
would normally increase. However, in the past couple of years, outside of London at least, this has been less and less the case, with care home beds remaining vacant whilst hospitals struggle to clear their beds. Even as I write, we as an organisation are finding it extremely hard to reconcile the dramatic headlines about hospitals declaring ‘states of emergency’ with the mere trickle of requests coming from integrated care boards and local authorities to access the available beds that we can offer.
Given the challenges that the health and social care system faces and the growing demands of an ageing population, we need to be creating more jobs in care, not less, and we need to be encouraging greater investment. None of the actions taken by Government reflect this ambition and the social care sector is being forced to do the exact opposite. The consequences for the health and social care system, for communities and the emotional and financial strain on families struggling to find and fund the right care for older family members are dramatic.
A vision for the future
The recent changes to ENICs are just one in a series of setbacks for an embattled adult care sector. They place providers like Healthcare Homes at a crossroads, facing mounting costs, workforce challenges and inadequate funding. Without immediate Government action, the consequences for many providers, their staff, and the people in their care could be significant. The dedication of all those who work in social care is unwavering, both on the frontline and in the boardroom. Their commitment deserves to finally be met with equal resolve from policymakers.
Government’s recently announced reforms and independent commission to transform social care, including a stated commitment to better integrate health and social care, is a welcome step in the right direction. However, integration will only succeed if social care is funded and valued as an equal partner. This requires a shift in perception – from viewing social care as a cost to seeing it as an investment in the country’s health and wellbeing. CMM
Gordon
Cochrane is Chief Executive Officer at Healthcare Homes.
How has your organisation responded to the impact of the measures announced during Government’s Autumn Budget Statement? Visit www.caremanagemenmatters.co.uk and leave a comment on this feature or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
BRIDGING THE GAP:
Local and national older people’s housing
Last November, the Older People's Housing Taskforce published its final report, Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population. Dr Rebekah Luff, Senior Research Analyst at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), discusses SCIE’s ongoing work to facilitate the report’s recommendations.
The taskforce, launched in 2023 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care, recognises how our homes are essential to our wellbeing, now and as we age. The final report represents a significant joint effort but is by no means its conclusion – it is a call to action and the start of a longer journey to ensure high-quality housing options for us all as we age.
Time for change
The taskforce’s report sets out evidence for an ongoing concern within health, housing and social care; that the current housing options and availability for older people are not keeping up with demand, in terms of an
ageing population and the diversity of our older population. It outlines that we need an estimated 30-50,000 new later-living homes per year, but currently provide nearer 7,000. Too many current leasehold options are unaffordable for most English households aged over 75.
More than nine in 10 over 65s live in mainstream housing but only 12% have housing that meets some of the basic accessibility criteria, such as a level access to their building. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution, but rather an opportunity to provide attractive options for people across mainstream and specialised housing and income and housing equity levels. By maintaining the status quo, we are failing to realise the benefits of housing for health services, social care, the wider housing market, local communities and, of course, individuals and their families. Continuing with the current systems and speed of change is not viable.
Working in partnership
The taskforce, Chaired by Professor Julienne Meyer CBE and with 19 members, including SCIE’s Chief Executive Officer, Kathryn Smith OBE, sets out an ambitious response to these challenges. It provides a vision and a challenge for all of us to ‘think housing’, ‘address ageing’, ‘promote wellbeing’ and ‘create inclusive communities’.
Government is certainly ‘thinking housing’ with its ambition to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years. Yet, there is limited focus on how housing is interlinked with health and wellbeing, and an essential, underpinning component to both our health and social care systems. There is an opportunity to ‘think ageing’ and fully align the national housing strategy with the prevention strategy – enhancing both to ‘promote wellbeing’. It is essential that health, housing and social care work in partnership, and this is far more likely to succeed at a local level if it is woven into policy at the highest level.
The local picture
As well as contributing to research, evidence and policy at a national level, we have been delving into how this plays out locally. In 2020, SCIE led a commission which looked at the role of housing in the future of care and support. Our aim was to ensure that older people had a range of suitable housing options at the right time. Professor Julienne Meyer CBE was one of the co-chairs of the commission which was funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust.
Publishing our report, A place we can call home: A vision and a roadmap for providing more options for housing with care and support for older people, alongside evidence and resources in 2021, the commission set out a vision and roadmap for change. This included an immediate priority for local areas to develop place-based plans for housing for older adults. We found that most local areas did not have a plan, or it was very limited. As a result, they were reactive, not proactive in setting out what they needed and where the gaps were.
In turn, developers and potential investors had no steer from local authorities as to what was needed in each area and to what standards this was expected to be delivered. In addition to needing a plan, we set out how this plan or strategy should be developed and delivered by a housing partnership that includes housing, health, social care, providers, community groups and of course, the public and older people themselves.
The taskforce makes a very similar recommendation under ‘strengthening planning policies’ that local planning authorities be required to co-produce an older people’s housing strategy in consultation with older people with lived experience and that this strategy is based on a robust local assessment of need. The taskforce further recognises that to develop and deliver such a strategy, there should ideally be a cross-functional team across housing, health and social care with single leadership.
A shared vision
At SCIE, we have been looking at how these plans can best be developed in a way that increases the likelihood they will be delivered, and what Government could do to enable this. We have been working to bridge that gap between what the commission, and now the taskforce, have recommended, and what is happening on the ground.
Earlier this year SCIE published a resource, Toolkit for place-based plans for housing for older adults, to support local areas in creating effective place-based plans that include a full range of housing options for older adults. It sets out 10 steps that can together be used to write a detailed business plan or strategy. The steps include understanding demand, understanding the local market, identifying preferences and needs, drawing on best practice, assessing costs and benefits and exploring commercial options.
In developing this toolkit, we drew on a range of existing reports, literature and resources. We also undertook detailed conversations with people from a wide range of job groups that would be involved in developing such plans, as well as those who would be interested in reading them – including developers and providers. Through these conversations, we shaped each of the steps, but also heard repeatedly about the challenges of developing a housing partnership, particularly how difficult it was to bring relevant local authority departments together, and to work with health, including integrated care boards. The inclusion of wider groups, including providers and representative groups or charities, was quite rare when developing a strategy, although
their importance and experience were acknowledged, and they told us they would like to be involved. One charitable provider remarked that they would love a seat at the table if only they knew where the table was. There was in effect a ‘step zero’ to our toolkit which was developing a housing partnership.
A different approach
An innovative example of how such a partnership can be brought together to decide on its priorities is with a ‘Serious Game’. SCIE evaluated a pilot study of a Serious Game in Southwark. Developed and facilitated by Socialudo, this Serious Game enabled players to set priorities and face the repercussions of decisions to help them explore the complexities of planning for the future.
Players took on roles such as policymakers, developers, service providers and the community, often different to their day-to-day roles. This encouraged perspective taking, stepping back to view the wider picture, making difficult decisions and identifying priorities, all while working together to increase the wellbeing of residents in ‘Hopetown’. About half of the players were from Southwark Council and half from external organisations including health, charities, providers and housing associations.
Over the evaluation, we found evidence of strategic thinking, with players having time away from daily pressures to think about ageing in place, and the importance of making time for strategic planning with the right people; perspective taking, with the experience of taking on different job roles leading to a better understanding of other stakeholders; motivation to collaborate with more stakeholders, whereby the game reminded participants about the importance of networking and building connections within and outside the local authority; and enabling choice and control, whereby the importance of enabling older people to have choice and control and the need for meaningful co-production were emphasised.
Having published the toolkit and the Serious Game pilot evaluation, we have continued to work with local authorities to support them in using the toolkit to develop their own housing strategies. This journey is ongoing, but there is some initial learning that is relevant to and chimes with the taskforce’s recommendations.
No small task
Understanding your local population and the housing preferences and needs of older people now and into the future is no small task. It requires time, resources and the capacity of staff with the necessary skills. Co-producing a strategy in a housing partnership takes even more time and skill – but the strategy is more likely to be implemented.
Teams and departments can face the initial challenge of making an internal case to be permitted to undertake a detailed strategy. Those local authorities we have worked with would welcome a national policy steer, setting out an expectation that local areas produce an older people’s housing strategy. For this strategy to be co-produced and developed by a partnership, some practical support in terms of resources for experienced staff to drive forward a strategy is needed. Without this, there is a danger of strategies being tick-box and perfunctory and not acted upon.
This is a timely opportunity for Government, local areas and the wider health, social care and housing sectors. With Government’s lead, we can all play a role in moving towards the vision of high-quality housing options for us all as we age. CMM
Dr Rebekah Luff
Integrating AI
for Predictive, Personalised Care
Bridging the gap between compassion and innovation
Together, we will design a vision of care and inspire change in the sector.
Guiding you on a journey of digital transformation
Giving you more time to deliver outstanding care and drive your success CareVision
INTO PERSPECTIVE
Is NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) currently fit for purpose?
In this issue’s Into Perspective, following a recent report from Age UK on NHS Continuing Healthcare, CMM explores whether the system is currently fit for purpose.
NHS Continuing Healthcare is free health and social care for some adults with long-term complex health needs, which is arranged and funded solely by the NHS and provided outside of the hospital environment. The national framework was introduced in 2007 and most recently updated in 2022. However, a recent report by Age UK titled Continuing to care? Older people let down by NHS Continuing Healthcare has highlighted how the NHS CHC funding regime is leading to older people and their families missing out on funding.
The report states, ‘The current CHC funding regime is an extreme postcode lottery, which risks deepening inequalities and causes older people and their families enormous additional stress. Older people with ongoing chronic health problems, and associated high levels of social care need, are unfairly losing out. The CHC funding
regime desperately needs to be reformed as a part of a review and restoration of our social care system.’
The NHS advises that, in order to receive NHS CHC funding, individuals must be assessed by integrated care boards (ICBs) according to a legally prescribed decision-making process. This process is used to determine whether the individual has a primary health need that requires a package of care, the costs of which are met by the NHS. The Age UK report states, ‘In theory, eligibility decisions should be independent of budgetary constraints and finance officers should not be part of a decision-making process. However, in practice, NHS bodies have been under pressure to make savings from their CHC budgets for at least the last seven years.’
There are two pathways to CHC –standard and fast track. In quarter four of
2023/24, 24% fewer people were assessed for standard CHC when compared to quarter two of 2017/18, while there was an 18% increase in the number of people assessed for fast-track CHC. Based on this data, the Nuffield Trust has questioned, ‘whether people are receiving support at the right time, and not only when their condition has deteriorated significantly’. It points out that, by early 2024, just one in five people undergoing assessment were deemed eligible for a standard CHC package.
The assessment looks at the patient’s needs in relation to four key characteristics. These are: nature (the characteristics and type of needs and the overall effect these needs have); intensity (the extent and severity of the person’s needs and the support required to meet them); complexity (how a person’s needs present and the skill required to monitor symptoms, treat conditions and manage the care); and unpredictability (the degree to which a person’s needs fluctuate, including the risks to health if care is not provided).
Concerns have also been raised about the waiting times for referrals. The CHC assessment process states that a decision on eligibility should be made within 28 days of receiving a completed checklist, which is done by a healthcare professional such as a nurse, GP or social worker. However, the Nuffield Trust’s data reports that, as of 31st March 2024, 1,730 referrals were incomplete and had been delayed by more than 28 days. Within this figure, 40 people had had their decision delayed by over 26 weeks.
Care packages are reviewed after three months, the focus of which should be on whether the care plan is still appropriately meeting the patient’s needs, and thereafter every 12 months. If a person is not eligible for CHC, they are potentially liable to pay all of their social care costs, in what is clearly a challenging time for patients and their families.
Inadequate and inconsistent delivery
Tom Gentry, Joint Head of Health Influencing, Age UK : @age_uk Email: tom.gentry@ageuk.org.uk
In our recent report on NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), we concluded by imagining an ideal world in which social care was sufficiently funded, supported and fully integrated with the NHS. In such a world, there may not be a need for CHC.
"The future for CHC includes tackling not only the inadequacies of delivery now but also the wider system."
Government announcements at the beginning of 2025 suggest that such a world is a very long way from being realised, if at all. If the current, incredibly unambitious, timetable is pursued, we see some minor tinkering by the end of the decade and substantial change by the middle of the next. And only then if a variety of political and economic stars align.
This speaks to the core of this question – what is the purpose of CHC? By the letter, it is to provide a package of ongoing care, funded by the NHS, where someone has been assessed
and found to have a ‘primary health need’. Once someone has passed the often many hurdles required to be found eligible, this is mostly what it delivers, and for those people, it can be transformative. Were this process entirely in line with the rest of the National Framework and not beset with the wide variation we identified in our report, then perhaps the answer to the question: ‘Is CHC fit for purpose?' may be ‘yes’.
CHC is not unique in health and care services for being inconsistently delivered and subject to postcode lottery, though it may be one of the starker examples. However, there is a question at the core of CHC about the role it arguably plays as a stopgap. In its original form, to answer the question, what level of health-related care can a local authority reasonably expect to be delivered? And more recently, given the growth of fast-track funding, in providing support for people nearing the end of life? The future for CHC includes tackling not only the inadequacies of delivery now but also the wider system, making sure those gaps do not exist at all.
We have seen enough insufficient CHC packages
Belinda Schwehr, Director, Centre for Adults' Social Care – Analysis, Information and Dispute Resolution (CASCAIDr CIC) : @cascaidr Email: bzschwehr@cascaidr.org.uk
Tension between national discharge to assess (D2A) guidance, the national framework for NHS CHC and the Care Act needs to be examined to address the central legal problem – who is doing what when a person is discharged using a pathway 3 bedded setting, without being ‘checklisted’, when the fee comes out of a pooled budget? D2A is Government-imposed deferral of the Care Act duty to assess on the mere appearance of care and support needs.
Since the 2022 redraft of the national framework, reasons for not ‘needing’ to checklist patients have multiplied. A swathe of Ombudsman’s reports has found conflicting use of non-time limited NHS ‘interim/stepdown’ beds and four-week D2A ‘settling’ beds, or long-term NHS rehab versus council-funded ‘reablement’ beds. Always, the question is, ‘Free, thank you, but for how long? Nobody told me!’
How could it ever be a rules-based system when nurse co-ordinators are required to ‘manage demand’? The cost-shunt is damaging social services, particularly for working age adults. If someone is ineligible, the council must pay the shortfall
between their means-tested charges contribution and the package’s full cost (unless its NHS partners have adopted a forwardthinking approach to shared care), because the person is far less likely to have amassed assessable housing wealth.
A flow of Administrative Court case law has been prevented by asserting that the criteria are true to the 1999 Coughlan decision.
The ‘remedy’ is layers of internal and surreal ‘due process’ via complaints and a panel system in an NHS hierarchy that knows little of public law or governance – each layer making the disputed eligibility decision a little less judicially reviewable.
CHC care planning is amenable to legal challenge, however. Several children’s cases have recently been won against ICBs. There will be a successful judicial review of care planning by an ICB for a qualified adult patient soon. We have seen enough irrationally insufficient CHC commissioned packages to think it is high time that public law rode to the rescue.
CASCAIDr CIC would appreciate attention to a public consultation poll in support of the first phase work of the Casey Commission.
Hitting the
Marketing your care business effectively
Sally Rasmussen, Founder of Fearless Marketing, explains why one-size-fits-all marketing is causing care businesses to miss their targets.
When it comes to care businesses, whether you are running a care home, a home care service, or you are a specialised care provider, be assured that no two care companies are the same. Each has its own unique ethos, audience and goals. So why should your marketing strategy look like every other care business out there? Spoiler alert – it should not.
Care is personal – your marketing should be too
Care is deeply personal. Whether it is providing support for older residents, helping individuals with disabilities to live independently or offering specialist services, care businesses are built on trust, empathy and a tailored approach. It is no surprise then that a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy fails to resonate in this industry.
It is crucial to focus on brand identity development, ensuring your brand reflects your ethos and the unique care you provide. Your brand is your promise, and every touchpoint – from your website to your brochures – should reinforce this promise with clarity and consistency. By reviewing your current brand identity for strengths and weaknesses, you can polish it to ensure it is effective and that your uniqueness shines through.
What makes marketing generic?
What actually makes marketing generic as opposed to bespoke? Good question. Generic marketing is marketing that, put simply, does not stand out. It does not highlight anything unique about what you offer to whom and generally tries to do too many things and achieves none.
For example, instead of running multiple smaller campaigns, you might run a single large-scale campaign that aims to reach as many people as possible. A great idea, surely? Not quite. Instead of focusing on the struggles of distinct groups of customers, a large-scale campaign attempts to boil these down to one diluted message, which can fail to cut through the noise.
Personalised messaging is much more than sending someone an email addressing them by name. You need to have a deep understanding of potential customers’ reasons for needing your services, and the hurdles they need to overcome, to be able to create truly relevant content.
The problem with cookie-cutter marketing
What exactly is the issue with off-the-shelf marketing strategies? Let’s break it down:
1. It misses the nuance
No two care businesses are alike. From the services you offer to the community you serve, your business has specific strengths, challenges and goals. A generic marketing plan with stock photos and a ‘professional’ tone of voice through your copywriting does not account for these nuances, leading to campaigns that feel irrelevant and are therefore ineffective.
For example, there is no point hammering out countless TikToks if you know your potential clients are not on social media. A bespoke plan should also take into account things like how much time you have available to dedicate to marketing, budgets and which areas you already have covered.
2. It blends you into the background
In a competitive industry like care, standing out is not just beneficial – it is crucial for survival and growth. You may find it easy to set your business apart face-to-face, but when up against countless other providers on the internet, has your business got what it takes to stand out? Customers these days are bombarded with similar content, so you need something special to shine through. This is where bespoke marketing comes in. Cutting through the noise does not necessarily mean doing lots of fancy things. With the right help and tools, you can simply focus on what matters and easily create refined and effective content that leaves a lasting impression. This approach can help you to perfect your foundations – developing a true understanding of the difference between branding and marketing and helping you to refine these to communicate your unique story effectively.
3. It neglects multi-channel strategies
You may have an all singing, all dancing digital marketing strategy. That is great but ignoring print advertising is a missed opportunity. Print remains a powerful medium for reaching older demographics and local communities. Care businesses can achieve stronger community engagement through thoughtfully designed leaflets, local newspaper ads, care magazines and brochures.
As the customer journey is no longer linear, you need to make sure your marketing efforts reflect this and cover all areas to avoid customers slipping through the cracks. A bespoke marketing strategy is tailored to your unique customer-base and their habits, meaning you can focus on the channels that are most worthwhile. >
4. It fails to resonate
Far from a simple transaction, selecting a care provider is a deeply personal decision. Generic marketing messages that focus solely on how your home looks rather than the care it provides or on prices and promotional offers can miss the emotion connected with choosing a care provider. You do not want potential customers to feel like a number, so ensuring your marketing has personality and establishes trust is key.
Recognise individual needs and ambitions
A tailored marketing strategy focusses on four key areas:
1. Research and develop mission, vision and values
A strong foundation begins with well-researched and clearly articulated core values that guide your branding and marketing efforts. For care businesses, this means aligning your messaging with the compassion and trust you deliver daily.
2. Map and optimise the customer journey
An optimised customer journey is essential. From the moment a family discovers your website to their first call, every interaction should reflect your brand’s professionalism and care. Tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems can help streamline this journey.
3. Leverage digital presence
Prioritise digital visibility through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns and third-party platform presence. These strategies ensure your care business is easily discoverable by families searching for specific services.
4. Engage in community marketing
Community engagement through partnerships, events and local advertising can significantly boost your brand’s reach. Print materials, when combined with digital outreach, create a comprehensive strategy that resonates with different audience segments.
The building blocks of a bespoke marketing strategy
You may not know where to start with building a great marketing strategy that is tailored to your business and will deliver results. Practical steps to develop and implement a successful strategy include:
1. Assess and improve your website
Your website is the heart of your digital presence. Ensure it is:
• User-friendly and mobile-responsive.
• Packed with valuable, easy-to-find information.
• Optimised for SEO to increase traffic.
2. Utilise social media
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are invaluable for building trust and showcasing your care business’s personality. Importantly, ensure your content complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data protection laws.
3. Incorporate Print Advertising
Do not underestimate the power of print. Thoughtfully designed brochures, flyers and ads in local and care-specific publications can connect with audiences who may not be as active online. Print materials also lend credibility and a tangible connection to your brand.
4. Prepare and pitch press releases
Media coverage is another way to reinforce your credibility. Use press releases to share stories about your achievements, innovations, or community involvement.
5. Produce a budgeted marketing plan
Allocate resources wisely by creating a detailed, actionable marketing plan. Regularly measure effectiveness to refine your efforts and improve the return on your investment.
Real-life examples of personalised marketing in care
It is all very well us saying that personalised marketing is the way to go, but does this
method actually deliver results? In our experience, yes. Let’s look at how some care businesses applied the principles we have discussed, and more importantly, what they achieved as a result.
Example 1:
A home care service
A small home care provider took steps to optimise their digital presence and strengthen community ties. It ran hyper-local Facebook ads, distributed print leaflets in targeted neighbourhoods, and used testimonials in both digital and print formats. The result? A marked increase in enquiries.
Example
2:
A dementia care specialist
This care home set out to position itself as an expert in dementia care. It used SEO strategies to attract online traffic, created print brochures with family-focused messaging and gained local press coverage by hosting educational workshops. This multi-channel approach significantly boosted its reputation and client base.
Make it about you
The Care Marketing Academy’s ‘12 Steps’ framework, upon which the recommendations in this feature are based, prove that successful marketing is not about following a template – it is about tailoring strategies to reflect your business’s unique strengths and goals. By combining digital strategies with traditional methods like print advertising, you can create a well-rounded approach that resonates with diverse audiences.
If a potential customer visited your care business in person, you would likely take time to understand what they are looking for and explain the specific ways in which you can help them. You need to ensure your online and print marketing does the same, so potential clients and their families can see themselves in the messages you put out.
Personal marketing allows you to create a connection – the basis for a long-lasting relationship. Lastly, if you only take one thing away, embrace a marketing strategy as bespoke as the care you provide – great care deserves great marketing. CMM
Medline Constultancy Limited
A TIMELY DEBATE: The case against assisted dying
Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at Disability
Rights UK, provides the charity’s view on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, arguing that it only perpetuates existing inequalities facing Disabled people.
Opinion on assisted dying is deeply divided across the population, as reflected by the parliamentary vote on the second reading of the Bill on 29th November. We as Disabled people also hold widely differing views.
At Disability Rights UK, we oppose the Bill, alongside other Disabled people’s led organisations. Our trustees recently reviewed our position and moved from neutral to against. This shift was heavily influenced by our experience of COVID-19, where 60% of deaths were of Disabled people and where there was active devaluing and de-prioritisation of our lives.
Another factor that influenced the change in position was the continued significant underfunding of public services, in particular social care,
which exists to give hundreds of thousands of Disabled people the everyday care and support we need to live full and dignified lives. In reality, this underfunding denies many of us this basic right. The goal of Disability Rights UK is to create an inclusive society for Disabled people and our view is that the Bill does not move us in this direction.
We live in a society permeated by deeply rooted negativity towards being Disabled and beset by profound inequalities in life chances. A society that is struggling with underfunded and inadequate health and care services. In these circumstances, we do not believe that giving the right to choose an assisted death is safe for individuals or that it moves us towards an inclusive society.
There are 16 million Disabled people in the UK, 24% of the population. We come from a range of backgrounds and have different life experiences; however, we face many shared barriers to full inclusion. We experience negative attitudes, discriminatory policies and practices and inaccessible information and environments. We are often excluded from political and policy discussions about things that affect us, and our personal preferences are often ignored or overlooked.
Devaluing of our lives
So often, our impairments or health conditions are viewed as a deficit or burden by others, and sometimes even by ourselves. Being non-Disabled is viewed as the gold standard and being Disabled is viewed as ‘lesser’. This ableism is deeply entrenched within our society. It manifests itself in negative attitudes towards Disabled people, which most of us encounter from friends, family and strangers.
It also manifests itself in the way society is organised. We saw this clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Government failed to protect and support Disabled people, leading to disproportionate deaths including those of younger Disabled people. We saw the wrongful use of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices. We saw Disabled people being deprioritised for critical care. Can we trust decisions on assisted dying, when they are made within the context of deep-rooted ableism and discriminatory attitudes, policies and practices?
Systemic inequalities
Disabled people disproportionately live in poverty, experience lower educational attainment, are more likely to be unemployed or in low paid, insecure jobs and often live in inaccessible homes. These widespread inequalities mean that many Disabled people are struggling to survive with mental and physical impairments and health conditions, with the concept of choice often being a far removed one.
In 2017, The UN found the UK Government guilty of ‘grave and systemic violations against Disabled people’, particularly in regard to the lack of support for independent living within the community and failure to ensure a decent standard of living. In addition to inequalities affecting Disabled people, the UK population as a whole experiences profound health inequalities, with life expectancy and healthy life years being much worse for those living in the poorest places. Can we trust decisions on assisted dying when inequalities, including health inequalities for Disabled and non-Disabled people, are so profound?
Inadequate health and care services
Many Disabled people are today struggling to access health and social care services. The decline of public services during austerity, the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare and the ongoing underfunding of public services under the new Labour Government deprive Disabled people of essential health and social care support.
It is well documented that millions of us are waiting too long for healthcare, that thousands of us are being denied social care or having our support cut and that 100,000 people are not able to access palliative care. Millions of us want the best possible support to live a full life and to experience a good death, yet every day the state lets us down. Can we trust decisions on assisted dying within the context of grossly inadequate public services?
Conflicting NHS cultures
The NHS is a service that helps us to live, by providing treatment or cure, or by helping us to manage our condition. Throughout our lives, we need to be confident that the NHS is there to enable us to live. Can the culture of promoting health and wellbeing sit alongside a duty to actively assist people to die? Could a right to assisted death mean that less effort and resources are put into giving us the best possible support to enable a pain-free, comfortable and compassionate death?
Whilst the right within the Bill is restricted to those with a terminal diagnosis, who are within six months of death, is it not likely that the cultural shift may result in patients and clinicians seeking to widen the right? This is certainly what has happened in countries that have already introduced assisted dying, such as Canada.
Insufficient safeguards
It is hard to see how any safeguards can give us watertight assurance. We will not know that the safeguards have broken down until it is too late. With what certainty can doctors predict the time of death? Can doctors really establish whether a request for assisted dying is a settled one, made without coercion? Can we be sure that ableism, inequality and lack of public services are not playing a part in the decision to request an assisted death? What evidence could a judge be shown that enables them to approve the request? Can the judge ask for more evidence to be produced? We are very familiar with miscarriages of justice. The recent infected blood and Post Office scandal inquiries show us the state is not as benevolent as we might wish. Let’s not add to this list.
An unjust spotlight
Millions of Disabled people want support to live our lives. We want access to the best healthcare, genuine support from social services, homes that are accessible and a society without attitudinal, institutional, information and environmental barriers. It is our everyday experience that we don’t live in an inclusive society with the support and services we need to flourish.
It feels hugely unjust to have the spotlight put on the right to die, when millions of us are being denied the right to live. Far too many of us who live with impairments and long-term health conditions have had to fight for our right to live, as those around us, including health practitioners, question the quality of our lives and de-prioritise our healthcare.
It is devastating for many of us to witness the focus on the right to die, when for hundreds of thousands of Disabled people, our right to live is routinely denied. Let’s put the focus on giving everyone the experience of a good life. CMM
RESOURCE FINDER: Technology
Which organisations can you rely on to support your digital transformation journey? CMM has selected some of the sector’s leading technology providers and shared their areas of expertise.
Ablyss
Tel: 01625 535685
Email: sales@ablyss.co.uk
Website: www.ablyss.co.uk
SECTORS
• Residential care homes.
• Nursing homes.
• Supported living.
SERVICES
• Care management software.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Ablyss is one of the most highly established care management system providers in the market, with over two decades of experience creating products that put service users' families at ease. Founder Sally White remains steadfast in her approach to produce flexible care management software to fit every residential care provider perfectly.
Ablyss offers cost-effective solutions to improve the quality of care planning and record keeping, and increasing operating efficiency and the ability to evidence compliance. Ultimately, allowing care teams to elevate the level of care given to service users. Ablyss products allow providers to spot
trends and patterns in order to rectify issues quickly and look to introduce preventative measures. Perfect for all types of residential care, including those running care homes or supported living services, to specialist dementia, learning disability, or palliative care settings, all Ablyss customers are supported by an unrivalled customer service team.
Blyssful by Ablyss is the company's latest cloud-based, care management software. With its help, you can create a system tailored to your service users’ individual needs whilst providing flexible and secure access. Plus, the highly experienced Ablyss team will get you and your staff set up and underway quickly, making it easy for you to integrate our solution into your existing workflows. Known for its unrivalled customer support, the expert Ablyss team is here for you every step of the way to ensure that you are always getting the most out of Blyssful.
Contact the Ablyss product specialists today to discover how Blyssful by Ablyss can benefit your residential care business.
The care sector has ever-increasing demand and ever-dwindling resources; while most first-generation homecare technology does a great job of digitising processes, taking paper processes and putting them on a screen does not solve the essential problem of ‘there’s never enough time, there’s
never enough people’.
Birdie is different from other homecare technology providers: it makes the business of caring easier, faster and safer with the power of data.
Data-powered smart technology gives you the power of insight and automation, so it is easy to make smart decisions and act on them. Over 1,000 care providers chose Birdie as their smart care technology partner of choice, which is why it has been named Technology Support Provider of the Year at the LaingBuisson awards. If you want to make easier, faster and safer choices for you and your clients, Birdie’s smart, data-powered technology is the partner that can help you fly. Get a demo to see why care businesses of all sizes use Birdie to transform the way they care, unlocking a new way to operate and building a supported workforce of carers.
CoolCare
Tel: 0113 385 3853
Email: info@coolcare.co.uk
Website: www.coolcare.co.uk
SECTORS
• Care homes.
• Homecare.
• Care home groups.
• Independent care providers.
SERVICES
• Care home administration software.
COMPANY INFORMATION
CoolCare is centred on admin made easy, with its services aimed at making operating care homes easier, more efficient and more profitable. CoolCare knows what good looks like and it seeks to help you love your administrative tasks by making them simple. Its intuitive design drives higher staff confidence and increases the impact of digital adoption, while CoolCare’s user-friendliness makes it the software of choice
for some of the UK’s leading care home operators.
CoolCare saves your records digitally with smart features that are easily accessible across multiple care homes and teams. In addition, smart workforce processes create less work for everyone, meaning improved outcomes, less cost and more time saved. Not to mention enhanced recruitment and retention prospects. You can also manage staff hours efficiently with CoolCare. No more paper timesheets or hours of reconciliation. Just automated clock-ins, accurate shift adjustments and quick checks. Streamline your residents’ finances too with accurate and speedy invoicing. Lastly, seamless enquiry tracking empowers you to increase occupancy, manage self-funder ratios and monitor weekly fees, supported by live reporting to show you're on track.
Log My Care
Email: sales@logmycare.co.uk
Website: www.logmycare.co.uk
SECTORS
• Learning disability.
• Supported living.
• Domiciliary care.
• Residential care.
• Nursing homes.
• Live-in care.
• Retirement villages.
• Mental health care.
SERVICES
• Positive behaviour support plans.
• Incident management system (includes alerts, escalation, follow up and reporting).
• Dedicated goal, progress and outcome tracking (includes group-level reporting).
• Risk and initial assessments.
• Care and support plans.
• Service user and carer profiles.
• Daily logs and body maps.
• Handovers and task management.
• Rostering – schedule shifts and visits.
• Needs and skills-based matching.
• Real-time event monitoring for managers.
• Reporting and data export for HR and payroll.
• eMAR – control stock levels and view medication history.
• Digital signatures.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Founded in 2017 by Sam Hussain and Adam Hurst in response to increasing pressures on the care sector, Log my Care is an intuitive platform designed to simplify care management. By gathering key insights, it helps care providers allocate resources effectively and streamline daily tasks, allowing you to focus on what matters most – person-centred care. Log my Care is trusted by over 1,300 care providers, who praise the platform for its user-friendly functionality and suitability for any care setting. Designed with input from care providers and the people they support, it is the platform of choice for enriching the lives of everyone in care.
Nourish Care
Tel: 0238 000 2288
Email: hello@nourishcare.com
Website: www.nourishcare.com
SECTORS
• Residential care homes.
• Nursing homes.
• Learning disabilities.
• Domiciliary care.
• Dementia care homes.
• Supported living.
• Mental health.
• Substance misuse.
• Hospital and maternity.
SERVICES
• Digital care planning.
• Personalised and contextual care plans.
• Assessments and interactions for every care type.
• In-app dashboard reporting.
• Integrated with eMAR, Nursecall and other leading technology providers through the Nourish Partnership Programme.
• Homecare worker and residential care worker apps.
• GP Connect.
• Insights and analytics.
• Family portal.
• Service management.
• Compliant with all Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) standards.
• 24/7 support.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Nourish Care is a leading DSCR platform, used by 350,000 carers daily to support over 400,000 people. The Nourish platform is flexible and configurable to wrap around the unique needs of your care service. With powerful built-in features such as reporting and analytics, custom interactions and personalised timelines, everyone within the circle of care is continually informed, giving more time for person-led, community-centred care.
Outcomes focus on:
• Medication management.
• Preventative care and chronic disease management.
• Wellbeing and engagement.
• Occupancy management.
• Personal wellbeing and falls prevention.
• Care administration and workforce management.
• NHS systems such as GP Connect and eRedBag.
PainChek
Tel: 0333 577 3397
Email: info@painchek.com
Website: www.painchek.com/uk
SECTORS
• Care homes.
• Nursing homes.
• Learning disability and/or autism.
SERVICES
• Pain Assessment tool.
COMPANY INFORMATION
PainChek is a regulatory cleared medical device for the assessment of pain, enabling best-practice pain management for people living with pain in any environment, including those who cannot reliably self-report their pain, those who can, and those who fluctuate between the two. PainChek has enabled best-practice management across 100,000 licensed beds in more than 1,840 aged care facilities, with more than 7,500,000 digital pain assessments conducted to date, and is trusted by thousands of nurses, carers and clinicians.
• Application Programming Interfaces (API) integration and reporting.
• Body map/wound care.
• GDPR-compliant record keeping.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Person Centred Software's Connected Care Platform offers integrated solutions that cover the entire digital transformation journey and the full spectrum of care management. These solutions help drive outstanding care and improve the lives of people living and working in social care. Solutions include care management, medication management, resident experience, learning and development and care operations.
On the Connected Care Platform, you can use one or multiple connected solutions, all through a single device. Each solution focuses on a particular aspect of care delivery
and when used together, they facilitate improved outcomes for residents and care workers and enhanced efficiency, effectiveness and compliance within care settings. From user interface to functionality, Person Centred Software's seamless integration philosophy also extends to solutions its valued partners offer, providing greater flexibility and opportunity to connect all aspects of your care management.
Customers' quotes
'I thoroughly recommend partnering with Person Centred Software because the Connected Care Platform enables our complex needs nursing home to stay compliant, safe, effective and efficient. If you are considering switching to PCS – whether from another provider or transitioning from paper – I encourage you to take the leap! Opt for the full package, and you will not regret it.' Rohan Patel – Home Manager, Larchfield House.
'We have been using Person Centred Software's digital care planning system for almost a year now. This innovative system has seamlessly integrated all four of our residential and nursing homes, drastically improving efficiency and enhancing the quality of care provided to our residents.' Hannah Blight –Assistant General Manager, Woodlands & Hill Brow.
'The mCare system was instrumental in helping the home achieve its 'Outstanding' CQC rating. Using the system makes audits much easier; it has helped with compliance and gives us all the information we need to show CQC, helping to demonstrate that we are meeting our regulatory duties and delivering the care we have promised.' Josie Greveson –Registered Care Home Manager, Ashfields Care Home.
Radar Healthcare
Tel: 0330 223 2740
Email: enquiries@radarhealthcare.com
Website: www.radarhealthcare.com
SECTORS
• All health and social care organisations.
SERVICES
• Compliance tools.
• Activity tools.
• Quality assurance tools.
• System management tools.
• Powerful analytics.
• Unique API.
• Dedicated customer support.
• Radar Healthcare community.
COMPANY INFORMATION
In 2024, Radar Healthcare had over 125,000 monthly users and 600,000 logins, resulting in over one million events being raised and 600,000 audits being scheduled. Radar Healthcare is dedicated to helping health
and social care organisations across the world to improve learning and drive positive outcomes. It does this through its interoperable risk, quality and compliance platform, which supports the quest for excellence through incident management, risk management and audit management software, as well as quality improvement plans and workforce compliance.
Intelligent analytics enable actions to be triggered directly from this data, which can also be monitored to create events, automate notifications around concerns and improve operational intelligence across one or multiple locations. In this way, you can improve safety, reduce risks, increase compliance and productivity and improve care delivery through quality assurance and operational efficiency.
Are you looking for a solution to help reward, retain, assure & grow your workforce?
The Care Professional Academy is now available nationwide for all Social Care Providers!
The Care Professional Academy can support you to enhance your recruitment & retention strategies, whilst promoting a positive culture across your organisation. With this online platform you will be able to reward staff plus have access to a learning & development tracking system as well as:
Offer an effective employee benefit scheme across your adult social care workforce.
Give your staff access to our Employee Assistance Programme and Wellbeing Hub.
Run reports and have evidence at your fingertips for governance/compliance at a micro and macro level.
View your teams’ certificates in one place.
Over 13,000 care professionals and care providers are already benefiting from the Care Professional Academy’s comprehensive resources. Whether you’re looking to boost
your recruitment efforts, retain valuable staff, provide an employee benefit scheme or improve the overall wellbeing of your teams, the Care Professional Academy can provide the tools and support you need to succeed.
Don’t let recruitment and retention challenges hold your care organisation back. Take action today and see how the Care Professional Academy can make a real difference.
Join over 13,000 Care Professionals and Care Providers actively using the Care Professional Academy today! Visit careprofessional.co.uk T: 01707 937990 E: contact@careprofessional.co.uk ...or simply scan the QR code, leave your details and we will call you.
Care Professional Academy App, our portal in the palm of your hand… For all the latest Academy updates follow us @SocialCareAcad
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE 2025 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
CMM is thrilled to have announced the finalists for the 2025 Markel
3rd Sector Care Awards.
CMM’s sincere thanks go to everyone who entered this year’s awards; the judges faced the challenging task of creating a shortlist of finalists and winners from the exceptional nominations received. As the ceremony approaches, CMM is pleased to confirm that Sally Lindsay will be returning to host the awards in 2025.
About the awards
Over the last 11 years, the awards have grown and become a highly respected fixture on the care sector events calendar. CMM is looking forward to welcoming everyone at The Grand Hotel in Birmingham on Friday 14th March 2025, where the ceremony will take place.
The Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards were originally created to celebrate the work of small, not-for-profit providers who did not necessarily have a PR team or lots of resources to dedicate to showcasing the positive influence they were having on people’s lives. CMM and the National Care Forum (NCF) came together to work on the concept, giving national recognition to the care workforce in a different way.
The Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards focus on creative arts, community engagement, innovation, quality improvements, integration, technology and governance. These categories and the entry criteria have always been based on specific strategies –from Government and the sector – and have evolved over time to maintain relevance in an ever-changing landscape.
The awards shine a spotlight on so many worthy individuals and organisations that
improve the lives of people with tremendous challenges up and down the country. The entries demonstrate the diversity and capability of organisations in the voluntary and/or not-for-profit sector, all of which do so much good for so many different people.
The awards’ judging day is a highlight of the year for the CMM team and offers judges and sponsors the opportunity to step inside the lives of those working in the 3rd sector and hear the raw and honest accounts of their experiences. The judging panel included experts from Choice Support, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Association of Mental Health Providers (AMHP), the Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC) and more.
Thank you to all the judges who joined CMM on Friday 24th January 2024 to meet the finalists virtually and to hear about their incredible achievements.
New for 2025
This year, the Campaigning for Change Award has been renamed to the Dame Esther Rantzen Campaigning for Change Award, in honour of the journalist and broadcaster who hosted the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards ceremony between 2014 and 2019.
Dame Esther Rantzen recently revealed a terminal lung cancer diagnosis and has been actively campaigning in support of assisted dying. MPs have since voted in favour of Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill by 330 votes to 275, which took place in November 2024. The legislation will now be scrutinised in more detail by a committee.
Meet the sponsors
Markel UK will once again be the headline sponsor of the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards. CMM is delighted to have the sponsorship of Markel and others so that free ceremony tickets can continue to be offered to finalists, as well as keeping the awards free to enter.
Markel UK is a dedicated supporter of the care sector with 10,000+ charity and third sector clients. Markel UK also has insurance, legal, tax and consultancy capabilities. This includes its specialist care consultancy, Markel Care Practitioners, which helps clients with a range of issues including risk management, inspection preparation and continuity planning.
Swift Management Services is a leading health and social care consultancy, partnering with providers of all sizes – from independent care facilities to large NHS Trusts. It offers expert guidance on various regulatory matters, from launching new services to navigating complex compliance issues for existing operators. Swift’s flexible consultancy services include short- and long-term support, helping providers maintain governance systems. It also provides interim management solutions to help providers maintain operations while filling key roles.
Social Care People is passionate about helping sector organisations recruit more effectively. Specialising in the social care sector, Social Care People offers free training on the crucial aspects of recruiting in a challenging market. Social Care People is committed to supporting the sector in overcoming its recruitment challenges and building strong, capable teams for the future.
Care Choices is a multi-media publisher, event organiser and podcast producer. Care Choices works alongside industry governing bodies, local authorities and care providers to publish impartial information for individuals and their families or carers – from paying for care to assistive technology and legal guidance. Its expanding portfolio includes publications, websites and events for senior executives in care and support, care seekers and their close relatives, families of children with additional needs and the practitioners who work with them. With 30 years’ publishing experience, the largest portfolio of care and support directories in the UK, and over two million page views annually, Care Choices is the perfect route for care providers to reach people actively seeking care and support. CMM
CMM’s 2025 finalists
The Dame Esther Rantzen Campaigning for Change Award
• Intergenerational Music Making and Intergenerational England.
• Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the National Stalking Consortium.
Collaboration (Integration) Award
• Palliative Care Urgent Response Service – DHU Health Care CIC.
• Abi Sweet and Linda Hodgkinson – the Sanctuary Square project team and Alive Activities/Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI).
• New Vision Bradford and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
Community Engagement Award
• Brighton & Hove Music for Connection.
• The Connect Hub and Café Connect.
• Deaf & Sensory Network.
Compassion Award
• Bernadatte Charehwa – Woodleigh Community Lifeline.
• Emma Kiss – Outlook Care.
• Rosemary Stephen – Making Space.
Creative Arts Award
• Intergenerational Music Making.
• The Wey Aye Lego Man Exhibition – Ngage NE.
• Belong Chester Intergenerational and Experience Day Teams.
Dementia Care Award
• Alzheimer Café Isle of Wight.
• Janet Griffiths – Making Space.
• Bromley Dementia Hub Team.
Development and Innovation Award
• Uk3 Lions CIC.
• Apax.
• Guy Manchester – The Hoppiness Project and Alive Activities.
End of Life Care Award
• Palliative Care Urgent Response Service.
• Gaynor Millson – St Luke's.
• St George’s Nursing Team – Outlook Care.
Leadership Award
• Jill Davies – DHU Healthcare CIC.
• Neal Williams – Aspire Living.
• Sam Avery – Thera South West.
Making a Difference Award
• Edward Dean – Anxious Minds.
• Bernadatte Charehwa – Woodleigh Community Lifeline.
• Tracey Dennis-Andrews – Encompass Care.
Social Care Nursing Award
• Jan-Axle Enabore.
• Helen Cowan.
• Emma Brannan.
Technology Award
• Crossroads Care Surrey.
• Apax.
• The Tech Lending Library – Alternative Futures Group.
Headline sponsor
Book your tickets
Join CMM as the winners are announced in a face-to-face lunchtime ceremony at The Grand Hotel, Birmingham, on Friday 14th March 2025. Book your tickets on the awards’ dedicated website. Please also talk to CMM about sponsorship, another fantastic way to be a part of the celebrations. Sponsorship opportunities allow you to showcase your organisation amongst some of the sector’s leading associations, alliances and thinkers.
You can take a look at last year’s winners and finalists to see what truly makes the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards such a special event. To stay up to date, don’t forget to follow the awards on X: @3rdsectorcare #3rdSectorCareAwards. For more information, visit the awards’ dedicated website
THE MANAGERS CONFERENCE 2025
10th-11th March 2025
Hosted annually by the National Care Forum (NCF) and Skills for Care, in collaboration with ARC England, the Managers Conference at Wyboston Lakes Resort, Bedfordshire, is the only conference dedicated to supporting social care managers.
The carefully curated and varied programme of plenaries, panels and interactive workshops is perfect for care managers, aspiring managers and deputies. Whether working in residential or nursing care, homecare, housing with care, supported living, extra care, outreach care, support services or dementia care, the programme has something for every care manager. The conference also includes two exhibition spaces where a wide range of quality suppliers, including the event’s main sponsor, Marr Procurement, will demonstrate their products and talk through solutions with delegates.
"Registration for the Managers Conference closes on 20th February and tickets are selling fast."
Opening the conference on Monday evening, delegates are invited to network and catch up with colleagues at a drinks reception followed by dinner and evening entertainment, which is included in the registration price. On-site hotel accommodation is also included and following breakfast, the full conference and exhibition spaces open at 8.15am on 11th March.
An opening plenary session delivered by Care Rights UK and the More Than a Provider collaborative will amplify campaigning contributions made by working-age adults and older people with lived experience. The session will highlight how people with learning disabilities and autistic people helped
campaigns like My Vote My Voice to increase the number of people voting in the general election. Care Rights UK will provide an older person’s perspective and talk about the Care Supporter campaign which strives to ensure every older person in a care setting can have a trusted loved one for support.
The navigation and negotiation of successful fair pay agreements for care workers will be discussed in an in-depth panel session featuring expert speakers from Nuffield Trust, Anthony Collins Solicitors and Making Space who will bring a care provider’s voice. Delegates will have the chance to choose their workshop track according to interests. Workshops will cover regulation, technology and AI, learning disability, workforce and learning and development and will be run on an interactive, collaborative basis, enabling delegates to take away instantly implementable ideas back to their care settings.
Sure to be a popular session will be a workshop run by Sanjay Dhrona, Managing Director at The Close Care Home, who will explain how to move from an ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Outstanding’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating. For those wanting to understand more about the ethics, benefits and pitfalls around implementing artificial intelligence (AI), Bev Futtit, Digital Transformation Lead at NCF, and Katie Thorn, Project Lead at Digital Care Hub, will facilitate an informative session.
In a further workshop, delegates will see demonstrations of safety and wellbeing monitoring solutions for working-age adults in independent living as well as circadian lighting systems and sensor technology aimed at reducing falls and improving sleep, mood
and cognitive function for older people in accommodation-based settings.
Workforce remains one of the biggest challenges facing providers and, in a solutions-led workshop, Jane Brightman, Director of Workforce Strategy at Skills for Care, will explore how recommendations from the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care can be implemented on the ground. Meanwhile, Tom Owen, Director at My Home Life England, will run a discursive session uncovering what it takes to be a care and support manager, challenging delegates to think differently about their roles, try new opportunities and re-frame conversations with senior teams.
Registration for the Managers Conference closes on 20th February and tickets are selling fast. Registration for the full conference and exhibition, including overnight hotel accommodation, drinks reception and dinner together with breakfast, lunch and refreshments during the conference is £355+VAT per person. A small number of day delegate tickets just for the conference and exhibition, including lunch and refreshments on Tuesday 11th March, are available at £199+VAT per person.
WHAT’S ON?
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Health and Care Explained 2025 4th-5th February 2025, Online www.kingsfund.org.uk
National Dementias Conference 6th-7th February 2025, London https://dementiasconference.com
Digital Health and Care conference 18th-19th February 2025, Edinburgh https://events.holyrood.com
Palliative Care Emergencies, Cornwall Hospice Care 20th February 2025, Hayle www.eventbrite.co.uk
Caring UK Conference 5th March 2025, St Mellion and 6th March 2025, Loxton www.careengland.org.uk/events
NCF Managers Conference 2025 10th-11th March 2025, Bedford www.nationalcareforum.org.uk/events
Public Sector Data Summit 13th March 2025, Edinburgh https://events.holyrood.com
Care England 2025 Conference & Exhibition 13th March 2025, London www.careengland.org.uk/events
UK Care Week 2025 19th-20th March 2025, Birmingham www.ukcareweek.com
CMM EVENTS
Event:
Date/Location: Contact: Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards 2025 Friday 14th March 2025, Birmingham Lisa Werthmann, Director, 01223 207770 lisa.werthmann@carechoices.co.uk www.caremanagementmatters.co.uk/event/ markel-3rd-sector-care-awards-2025
Please mention CMM when booking your place. Sign up online to receive discounts to CMM events and for more information on our upcoming events in 2025.
Taffy Gatawa, Chief Information and Compliance Officer at everyLIFE Technologies, details practical steps for care providers to enhance data security.
Care providers handle vast amounts of sensitive personal information. This includes health records, personal details and care plans, all of which are important for delivering effective, person-centred care. However, access to personal data comes with the need for stringent data security measures. Providers must navigate a maze of regulations and adopt robust practices to ensure people’s data remains safe.
Data security breaches undermine confidence and can harm the people to whom the data relates. In addition, providers may face fines which could lead to loss of business. Providers are handling large volumes of data which is subject to strict rules and regulations regarding who should access it and how it should be handled. Therefore, it is important that providers fully understand their responsibilities as data controllers.
“Commonly used business tools, such as email, give malicious actors the opportunity to trick staff into inadvertently sharing data.”
Frequently, providers mistakenly assume that data security is the sole responsibility of software suppliers. Therefore, providers might fail to ask software suppliers critical questions about cyber resilience and how data is handled. This can lead to greater exposure to risk for providers by failing to hold suppliers accountable for data processed on providers’ behalf.
Like all organisations processing personal information, care providers must comply with the UK Data Protection Act and The General Data Protection Regulation framework. The Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate also set out rules about protecting people's information. In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) provides advice and guidance for businesses on how to stay compliant with the regulations. Adherence to these regulations is non-negotiable. With the growing integration between health and care systems, ensuring secure data exchanges is paramount. Providers should verify that suppliers adhere to best practices for safe data sharing. The assured solutions list is a good starting point to check that suppliers have met
the standards required for data sharing with health systems.
Public registries like the Information Assurance for Small and Medium Enterprises can help confirm suppliers' Cyber Essential Plus credentials, providing an extra layer of assurance. Requiring suppliers to have an independent third-party review of their security practices and systems, such as penetration testing, is also recommended.
Many look to technology to prevent data security breaches. However, ensuring staff awareness of data security and providing ongoing appropriate training is often overlooked. It is important that staff feel confident about data security practices, how to recognise risks and how to report any data security incidents. Embedding a culture of shared responsibility for data security reinforces its importance.
Commonly used business tools, such as email, give malicious actors the opportunity to trick staff into inadvertently sharing data through phishing methods or the spread of malware via links. Training staff to recognise suspicious emails is key. Keeping passwords secure including the use of multi-factor authentication is another powerful and cost-effective tool.
Even with robust measures, breaches can occur. If they do, it is important to document all relevant information for investigation which may involve third parties like the ICO. Try to identify the cause and halt the breach immediately, assess the impact and use prompt and transparent actions and communication to minimise harm and maintain trust.
Regular audits are essential for identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance. Establishing a routine audit schedule demonstrates a commitment to safeguarding data and can help pre-empt potential breaches. Through audits, providers can identify areas for improvement and share best practices across their services. There are lots of training resources available via the Digital Care Hub, Skills for Care and eLearning For You.
Achieving operational efficiency does not mean compromising on cyber security, and providers should prioritise both. PASS by everyLIFE Technologies is the first supplier to meet all 14 NHS Digital Social Care Record standards. These standards, which include stringent requirements for data security, clinical safety and interoperability, ensure that providers can rely on solutions that are secure and operationally robust.
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