New whitepaper from social care leaders presents blueprint for Labour to support the sector

Seven key recommendations delivered to Government following Darzi report and ahead of the Labour conference and Autumn budget, including:

• Concrete reforms to CQC assessments to recover from “not fit for purpose” failures
• Create a national support hub for five million unpaid carers
• Pass legislation requiring Director of Adult Social Care representative on NHS ICB boards
• Transform carer retention by reducing travel times for homecare workers 
• Seed a Teach First style programme for Social Care Leaders  

Tuesday 17th September, London: Today, a new whitepaper entitled Ready to Care: The First Steps to Fixing Social Care has been released with recommendations from 20 leading UK social care experts across various sectors, including providers, local authorities, NHS trusts, and policy organisation and provides a practical blueprint for the new government to address social care challenges, with recommendations that can be implemented in the Autumn budget and take effect by the end of the year. 

The whitepaper, published by Birdie, a leading homecare technology company, comes in the wake of the Darzi report, which focuses on NHS reforms and acknowledges the need now to shift to care in the community and the role of social care.  

It is co-authored by Max Parmentier (CEO of Birdie), Harry Dunn, (Policy Consultant at Birdie) and Rachael Crook (CEO of Lifted, award winning social care provider). It is also supported by notable co-signatories including Martin Jones MBE and CEO of Home Instead, the world’s leading provider of home care services and the Darren Stapelberg, CEO of Grosvenor Health & Social Care, the UK’s second-largest independent provider of domiciliary care in the UK. 

The whitepaper outlines seven key recommendations to guide the focus and reforms needed in social care:

• New legislation to amend the 2022 Health and Care Act, mandating Director of Adult Social Care representatives are on all NHS ICB boards nationwide - removing silos, improving coordination, reducing hospital admissions, and streamlining discharges.
• NHS England to delegate healthcare tasks to trained care workers for three acute conditions (UTI, pneumonia, cellulitis) and three chronic conditions (diabetes, dementia, hypertension). Research shows enhanced community care could have prevented 855,000 emergency admissions in 2019/20; a delegation framework would expand community care and keep thousands of patients out of hospital. 
• Establish a national online support service for the 5 million unpaid carers, whose care is valued at £162 billion—nearly the NHS budget. This would provide essential information and resources, identify previously unrecognised carers, and collect valuable data to inform future policy.
• Reduce the hidden burden of travel time for homecare workers. Currently, homecare workers are sent to scattered areas, spending nearly 20% of their time travelling according to the Home Care Association and 75% aren’t receiving proper compensation. The paper recommends the Department of Health and Social Care implement neighbourhood-based models, where local authorities divide regions to form consortiums to streamline service delivery and reduce travel time.
• The CQC to undergo a rapid overhaul using digital tools. Reform care assessments by focusing on a few core quality indicators tracked in real-time, streamlining inspections, allowing for mock evaluations, and shortening lengthy inspection times.
• Mandate real-time data sharing between hospitals and care providers by integrating social care software with the NHS Capacity Tracker. This will improve patient discharge processes, resource planning, and collaboration between the NHS and social care sectors.
• Seed a Teach First style programme for Social Care Leaders: DHSC should reallocate existing funding to provide start-up capital to establish a leadership development programme. This would be modelled on the success of Teach First but applicable to career changers and promising care workers as well as graduates.

The whitepaper shines a light on the disconnect between the NHS and social care sectors, which contributes to 1.1 million blocked beds and 64% of medically fit patients having to wait for social care as of April 2024. While Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has indicated a shift towards community services over hospitals following the Darzi report, more can be done to connect the NHS and social care. The whitepaper calls for integration to tackle these issues, proposing a unified "village of care" model that brings together both health and social care systems into a patient-centred system. This includes legislation to ensure the Director of Adult Social Care leaders sit on NHS boards and to transfer more acute and chronic conditions to community care.

The paper also exposes often overlooked issues in social care, such as the long travel times endured by home care workers, who make up 43% of the workforce. It highlights how extended travel between clients reduces their overall pay, as local authorities only compensate for a few minutes of travel per visit. The paper suggests a new framework where providers form local consortiums to cut travel times and improve staff retention, with potential for nationwide implementation. Finally, the paper suggests solutions for the often-hidden 5 million unpaid carers in society.

Max Parmentier, CEO and Co-Founder of Birdie said: “Social care is one of the most important pillars of our society and economy. Although the sector has come a long way, we still face severe challenges, with over 400,000 people awaiting assessment to start being cared for and a significant funding gap to sustain the level of current care delivery in the community. The Darzi report highlights the role of social care in transforming our health and care system. Every day, I meet social care leaders expressing their deep commitment to improving our system - they’re ready to help. This whitepaper reflects their dedication, shaped by extensive input from sector leaders, and presents a range of low-cost, high-impact reforms that the new government can implement before the end of the year. We hope these recommendations will drive meaningful progress and result in visible changes in the Autumn budget alongside Darzi report recommendations so we can ensure ongoing sector progress in the NHS and in social care.”

Rachael Crook, CEO and Co-founder of Lifted said: "In social care, we are used to solving problems. The social care leaders we interviewed are committed, resilient, and passionate about supporting carers and families across the country. And yet, we know, we must do more with less.  We have brought together the best of the sector to present innovative practical low-cost solutions that can be implemented by the Labour Government now. They have already indicated they are open to change and are prioritising this sector to establish a care system we can all be proud of."

To read the full whitepaper and explore all seven recommendations, download it here.

Co-signatories of Ready to Care: The First Steps to Fixing Social Care include:

• Martin Jones MBE and CEO of Home Instead
• Darren Stapelberg - CEO, Grosvenor Health & Social Care
• Camille Leavold - CEO, Abbots Care
• Lucy Campbell - CEO, Right at Home
• James Townsend - CEO, Mobilise
• Sam Hussain - CEO, Log my Care

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-ENDS-

For more information, please contact: birdie@wordsandpixels.co 

About Birdie and the other co-authors

Birdie is on a mission to reinvent the ageing journey, building a future where technology connects our entire health and social care system, centred on the individual within their community.

Launched in 2017, Birdie’s smart homecare technology now empowers over 1,000 providers to transform how they operate, enabling them to run healthier businesses and elevate care outcomes.

Birdie was ranked sixth in Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 in 2023 and invited to Tech Nation’s Future Fifty programme in 2024. The company is headquartered in London and employs a team of over 170 employees.

Max Parmentier is the co-founder and CEO of Birdie, one of the leading home healthcare technology providers equipping thousands of care providers to deliver more efficient, higher quality care. Max worked at McKinsey and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He advises several think tanks on technology, health and economic policy.

Rachael Crook is the CEO of Lifted, an award winning social care provider, and the CEO of SponsorSwitch a technology platform matching exploited overseas care workers with ethical employers. She is an Obama Leader, and former Senior Advisor in the Prime Minister's Implementation Unit.

Harry Dunn is Policy Consultant at Birdie, and is a final year medical student at Cambridge University. He has spent time working for the CEO of Europe’s largest digital healthcare company, and on national policy at the NHS Confederation.