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Care England

WELCOME FROM CARE ENGLAND Welcome to our first issue of Savings, Solutions, and Sustainability – a publication focused on helping care providers navigate challenging financial pressures to support business operations.

As we step into a new year, Care England will continue to work tirelessly and support social care providers to put their best foot forward; this publication aims to remain on top of the economic, sustainability and procurement issues hitting the headlines nationally and will offer solutions. Alongside this publication, our latest report, CARE FOR OUR FUTURE: The roadmap to a sustainable future for adult social care, is essential reading for care providers and we have big ambitions in terms of our policy and influencing work.

Whilst we continue to work with our local and national partners in relation to the delivery of these recommendations, it’s now incumbent upon us, as sector professionals, to look inward and reflect on how we can provide our own solutions to the problems we face.

Each edition of Savings, Solutions, and Sustainability includes expert-led technical features covering operations and solutions in relation to Care England

cost saving, and several salient themes including workforce and funding. Collaboration and partnerships are central to Care England’s ethos and this publication is part of an exciting collaboration with Care Management Matters (CMM), which has been publishing in the social care sector for 20 years.

Adult social care providers are facing increased running costs, including food and electricity, with some struggling to pay their staff a wage in line with inflation, which affects recruitment and retention. There is currently no long-term plan for staffing and the challenges of the last four years have seen years wiped off the balance sheet of care providers. Surveys have shown that between 40% and 50% of care providers have considered exiting the market in the past 12 months and a growing number believe they may need to exit the market in the next six months to two years if the environment does not change. Against an increasingly challenging

backdrop of ongoing pressures and in the likely absence of further Government action this side of the general election, it is imperative that care providers are part of a wider community of opportunities to help troubleshoot the issues affecting your service and push you forward to deliver your core ambitions. Care England is the body to help foster those opportunities.

Our ‘Cinderella service’ has been neglected time and time again, at the expense of staff, the people we support and wider society.

Despite these challenges, the sector remains one that is hopeful and brimming with talent and enthusiasm. Care providers up and down the country continue to deliver essential services, supporting vulnerable individuals to maintain their independence, achieve their individual goals, and enjoy a high quality of life. Thank you to everyone who delivers selfless acts of kindness every single day in this incredible sector that I’m lucky enough to have worked in for many years.

Ensure your voice is heard and submit your questions and content suggestions for future editions. We are here to help, listen and act on your behalf. I would like to thank our contributors and supporters who have been involved in this issue.

I hope you have a wonderful end to 2023 and look forward to hearing your news, whether it’s good or bad, in 2024. I really hope you enjoy the publication and welcome your feedback.

Professor Martin Green OBE Chief Executive, Care England 5