Social care review has failed to address low pay, Registered Nursing Home Association says

Dame Denise Platt’s review of social care is “flawed” because it has not addressed low pay in the sector, the Registered Nursing Home Association has said.

It criticised the recent review, commissioned by the department of health, for failing to call for more resources for social care.

Frank Ursell, the chief executive of the RNHA, said yesterday that while he supported Platt’s drive to raise public awareness about the contribution of social care employees, she had not addressed the fact that “hundreds of thousands” of employees were paid at or around the minimum wage.

He added: “Until or unless the amount of money invested by national and local government in social care is increased, we will continue to see social care for vulnerable people provided largely by people who are among the worst paid in the British workforce.

“It is worrying that Dame Denise has avoided mention of resources and levels of remuneration of social workers. Without that, her strategy for improvement may prove to be something of a pipe dream.”

Platt’s review, the Status of Social Care, published a fortnight ago, said the sector lacked confidence and was “timid in its vision and ambition” for adult social care.

She proposed the creation of a social care skills academy, a research centre, new awards for social care and a journal for the sector similar to The Lancet.

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