Hello! Welcome to this new monthly update, where I, Gabriella, will be giving you the lowdown on any important updates happening in social care!

Government updates:

It was only last week that the NHS workforce plan was announced. This plan is the governments first ever long-term workforce plan, set to improve recruitment and retention over the next 15 years in the NHS. However, the government has not committed to developing a workforce plan for social care. This has been heavily criticized as a missed opportunity, as both sectors share crucial staff groups, and face the same urgent need for long-term investment to improve staffing recruitment and retention, to be able to provide good quality care. Read more about this here!

A new bill has been announced ‘Social Housing (Regulation) Bill) to improve the quality of social housing, also known as the ‘Awaab’s Law’ after the tragic death of 2-year old Awaab Ishak. Read more here.

Consultation alert: The government are seeking your views on visiting in care and health settings to inform their decisions around making visiting rules mandatory. Read more and submit your response here.

Campaigns you should know about:

‘My Time to Care’ is a campaign that starts local carers in Somerset. Six new videos have been launched to empower carers and showcases the strength, resilience, courage, and selflessness of care workers. Watch the videos here.

A new campaign ‘The Social Care Superpower Campaign’ launched last week, run by the Cygnet Social Care division. The campaign aims to highlight the extraordinary people who work in care, showcasing the incredible skills and work they do. Learn more here.

Age UK are now running a campaign called ‘We can’t wait for care’, putting a call to action for help to end the long wait for care. Learn more about this important campaign here.

Work to be showcased:

Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation have been doing incredible work since the Winterbourne View abuses in 2011, developing multiple guides that help ensure people with a learning disability are supported in getting the right care at the right time. Learn more here.

Events:

The BNSSG Integrated Care Board are running a series of seminars of local researchers of the work being done in Health and Care. It is on Monday the 17th of July 2023, between 1-2pm. Register here.

Links:

Read the NHS workforce plan here.