Whether or not it is on your Christmas list, Santa is almost certain to deliver us a general election in 2024, perhaps as early as May.
The campaign should, in theory, be a time for wide, informed political debate about the future of social care, to a public that – the evidence shows – is unhappy with the current state of social care and wants to see real reform. Yet in recent years, the relationship between social care and election campaigns has been problematic, to say the least. Election firestorms about the ‘death tax’ (2010) and the ‘dementia tax’ (2017) have cemented a reputation for being the ‘third rail’ of politics – one that burns anyone who touches it. That’s a real problem: social care is one policy area that cries out for a broad, public conversation. Without it, reform is harder to achieve. Plus, pragmatically, if parties shy away from social care and don’t include reform in their manifestos, it is much less likely to happen when they are in Government.
Everyone in the sector bears some responsibility for keeping social care on the political agenda. How we choose to engage with the political parties, their policy proposals and the wider election debate can and does affect the extent to which social care will be raised, now and in future campaigns. So, it is perhaps time to make some New Year’s resolutions about how we’ll engage with the election campaign. Here’s my personal checklist of things to do/not do to make social care a topic with which the parties are more willing to engage. You can think of it as an ’asset-based’ approach to social care electioneering.
Forget perfection. There is so much about social care that needs changing but it’s not going to happen overnight. No party is. going to come forward with plans to tackle all the issues in adult social care at the same time. Accept that and work with what’s on offer.
Similarly, accept the lack of detail. No party is going to be presenting fully worked-up, fully costed plans for social care, especially not in a manifesto aimed at the public rather than the policy specialist. Fine – this is the time to applaud the direction of travel rather than wanting GPS-precise details about the destination.
Keep it as simple as possible. Social care IS complicated but fight the tendency to describe (and argue) every last nuance of it. The social care sector has an unfortunate (and deserved) reputation for this. Accept a degree of imprecision in language, accuracy etc. and focus on the bigger picture.
Accept that you’ll sometimes have to discuss social care through an NHS lens. It may rankle to be asked, yet again, to discuss hospital discharge but use it as an opportunity to make a few broader points about social care rather than moan that it’s always seen that way.
Avoid getting sucked into debates about how reform will be funded. It is this funding issue which has tended to trip up parties during campaigns. The potential benefits of social care reform – the additional people who will get care, the lives that will be improved etc. – in fact have wide public support. Talk about these.
Finally, talk about problems in the sector but also benefits and solutions. Use the word ‘crisis’ sparingly (though don’t shirk from it when it’s appropriate) but temper that with examples of where change has happened. Talk about other countries that have introduced reforms. Make reform seem possible, achievable – because it is.
Of course, none of this absolves us of the responsibility to call out the daft and dodgy ideas that may surface. Or to hold this and previous governments to account for delays and failures. But we don’t have to spend all of our time there.
Is this a sensible approach? I think so. Will I stick to it? Perhaps. It’ll require more discipline than I typically possess. And of course, New Year’s resolutions were made to be broken.
Happy Christmas and New Year.