Prof Green, chief executive of Care England, has sounded a warning over Labour’s NI tax raid
Social care is the backbone of a compassionate society, enabling millions to live with dignity and independence.
Yet these results expose an unbearable truth: providers are being driven to close their doors, leaving vulnerable individuals and families without the essential care they rely on due to an ill-considered approach to change Employers’ National Insurance Contributions by the Government. Providers are not asking for special treatment; they are asking for parity.
How can we justify exempting the public sector and the NHS from the ENIC changes but expect social care providers, who provide 70-80% of public social care, to absorb these insurmountable costs on margins lower than the additional cost incurred by the ENIC change?
This crisis is about real people. It’s about an older person left waiting for care that doesn’t come, adults with disabilities losing vital support, and a care worker having to leave a profession they love because they can’t make ends meet. We need the government to wake up to the human cost of these policies which directly impact their ability to implement strategies around prevention, digitisation, reducing waiting lists, and discharging people from hospital. The Government must take action before it’s too late.
The message is crystal clear: We are watching the fabric of our care system unravel in front of our eyes. If the Government fails to act now, services will close, people will go without care, families will be left to shoulder unbearable burdens – and the NHS, already on its knees, will collapse under the weight of unmet social care needs. Every day of inaction pushes providers to implement their exit strategies and scale back services to point from which there may be no return.