Minister welcomes Social Care Reports

Reforming adult social care is about so much more than easing hospital pressures, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has emphasised.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt

The Minister was commenting on the publication of update reports on the work of the Social Care Collaborative Forum. Established in April 2023, the Forum is working to implement proposals stemming from the public consultation on the Reform of Adult Social Care in Northern Ireland. Its membership includes providers, regulators, trade unions, service users, carers and Departmental officials.

Today sees the publication of the Forum’s 2023/24 End of Year Report and 2024/25 Delivery Plan.

The Health Minister stated: “I very much welcome the ongoing work of the Social Care Collaborative Forum.

“Too often, social care is talked about solely in relation to hospital pressures and delayed patient discharges. While this is undoubtedly a significant issue, social care is about so much more than this.

“Reforming, growing and enhancing social care is of fundamental importance to society as a whole. At its heart, it means enabling people to live independent, safe and fulfilling lives in the community.”

The Collaborative Forum’s End of Year Report details progress in a number of key areas including:

• Implementing early review teams in the Trusts with a view to developing a regional model to monitor and review service user’s homecare needs and packages of homecare. This led to almost 1,100 homecare hours being recovered and allocated to cases of unmet need;
• Implementing improved digital solutions in Trusts to more effectively manage homecare packages;
• Agreeing a dataset which will allows Trusts to consistently monitor available care home bed capacity;
• Introducing the Trusted Assessor/Care Home Liaison process to minimise delays in patients moving from hospital to care homes;
• Developing a workforce strategy for the social care workforce;
• Developing the Care In Practice Career Framework for social care with opportunities for qualifications and continuous professional development; 
• Developing a new entry qualification into social care.

The 2024/25 Delivery Plan focuses on key themes: Building a Sustainable Workforce; Improving Commissioning and Contracting Arrangements; and Developing Improved Partnership Working.

Members of the Collaborative Forum recognise that social care worker pay, terms and conditions of work remain the most pressing issue in terms of stabilising the existing workforce and building a sustainable workforce for the future.

In that context, and in conjunction with the establishment of the Collaborative Forum, the Social Care Fair Work Forum was re-established in December 2023.

The Fair Work Forum is made up of representatives of employers, trade unions, government departments and other statutory agencies who are working together to influence priorities and policy regarding fair work in the social care sector in Northern Ireland.  Working closely with the Collaborative Forum, a key deliverable for the Fair Work Forum in 2024/25 will be the development of an evidence-based case to support a Real Living Wage sector.

Notes to editors: 

1. The public consultation on the Reform of Adult Social Care in Northern Ireland followed the 2017 publication of an expert panel report, Power to People. It advocated “systematic reform of the whole system of adult care and support” and also stated: “Northern Ireland is not alone in these challenges. The same pressures and the pressing need for reform are true for most developed countries. In the course of this review we have formed the view that there is an appetite for changing the way in which adult care and support is organised and delivered in Northern Ireland, with an evident commitment to make the changes that are needed.”  https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/experts-report-adult-care-and-support

2. The Power to People report followed the 2016 Bengoa expert panel report on health reform. It similarly concluded that there was an “unassailable case for change”, commenting. “If we do not change the way we provide health and social care, the situation will only continue to get worse – the demand will continue to increase, activity will remain static and waiting times will continue to lengthen.” https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/health-policy/systems-not-structures-changing-health-and-social-care
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