The landslide election of a Labour government provokes a strange mixture of high hopes and low expectations - from children with special needs to adults with dementia and mental health problems who rely on social care services.
A survey conducted before the election by the disability charity Benefits and Work revealed that 59% of disabled claimants anticipated that things would improve under a Labour government.
Yet critics of Labour’s manifesto proposals, such as geriatric consultant and British Medical Journal columnist David Oliver, remain unconvinced.
Dr Oliver points out that despite much aspirational talk about closer collaboration between health and social care, the Labour leadership has made no specific commitments to provide additional resources or staffing.
Labour proposes a new national care service, but has avoided concrete proposals to tackle the financial crisis facing many local authorities that has left several facing bankruptcy. A cross-party report published earlier this year indicated that councils in England required investment of £4 billion to maintain current services.
In the face of the acute distress facing councils, Labour’s manifesto waffles about the need "to build a consensus for longer-term reform".
The new health minister Wes Streeting has suggested that reforming social care is a long-term project that might take 10 years. As Dr Oliver says, this sounds like "we promise a plan to make a plan".
Families dependent on social care services don’t need further inquiries and policy reviews and debates – and we cannot afford to wait ten years for essential services.
For example, one area in which urgent measures are needed is the recruitment and retention of social care staff.
Like many others, our son with autism and learning disabilities is dependent on care workers whose pay is scarcely above the minimum wage. The vast majority come from overseas and many workers and their families face oppressive and bureaucratic immigration restrictions that act as a deterrent to employment in social care.
Now we have Labour in power in both Westminster and in our local councils, we should expect a more co-ordinated approach to issues of social care.
- Mary Langan is chair of Severe and Complex Needs Families Reference Group (SCALD)
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