Government Intervention: UK Social Care

The sector’s underfunded, and there have been reports of private payers subsidising public payers because of this issue. How do you look at your social responsibility as private equity-backed, independent care operators in the UK?

The social responsibility lies with the government. We have to get the government to understand the true cost of care. I reject the criticism of people bringing money into this sector. If it wasn’t for external investment, there would be no new services whatsoever. There has been no provision by the government in new buildings or services for about 30 years. This is now a system reliant on private practise and organisations putting in investment.

You lay the blame strictly on the government?

Absolutely. It is the government’s fault.

What has been the source of the issue?

The government is in complete denial about the importance of social care. They obsess about the NHS. In the recent election campaign, we saw more and more commitments to give more and more money to the NHS. We’ll soon have a £200 million NHS, and yet, it still claims to be underfunded and in crisis.

There is no proper approach to social care or maintaining people in communities. The inability of the government to deal with primary care means people are going to their A&E departments when they could be going to primary care, and the government should have a much broader approach to that. Care homes could be centres of support for people with long-term conditions in communities.

We have seen the government pouring money into the NHS but not recognising that social care is inextricably linked to it. It’s particularly irritating when they constantly talk about “health and social care” and have renamed the department the Department of Health and Social Care. They talk endlessly about integration, but they’re not doing anything to ensure equity across the system.