One constant theme running through interviews was the lack of value people assign to social care, with the perception that it was “all about personal care” and dominated by elderly care.
In the survey, respondents felt that the poor perception of social care is having the third biggest impact on the ability to provide social care in the UK right now after Covid and its after-effects and the cost-of-living crisis.
Social care has often felt like the poor relation to healthcare, which was, in the eyes of those we spoke to, demonstrated on a national scale by the response to mandatory vaccinations: imposed in the social care sector but dropped when NHS staff rebelled.
“So, we had this mandatory vaccine that came about, you started telling everyone that you can only come in if you get mandatory vaccinated. That in itself meant that we lost a lot of staff, then they decided to U-turn it because that would ruin the NHS. It’s a shame that no one cared about the six months we did it to social care and all the amazing staff we lost, and it wasn’t until the NHS were impacted that this got the attention it deserved,” says Palvi Dohdia.
31%
of all respondents say the NHS was seen as a higher priority (than social care) because of its greater visibility
The improving perception of social care
However, all sectors agreed that the public’s perception of social care has improved in the past five years, with 70% agreeing, compared to 21% who said it had worsened and 9% who said it had stayed the same.
The vulnerable adults’ sector was the most positive, with 81% saying it had improved, compared to 59% in elderly care.
The pandemic is credited with helping to improve the perception of social care. During initiatives such as ‘clap for carers’, people in the industry “felt recognised for a few months,” says Yasmine John, CEO of My Care My Home, who works in domiciliary care in Wales. She says working throughout lockdowns in a recognised essential role made people realise that the role was important, but that they weren’t being recognised as a professional in the same way as nurses or doctors.
What, if anything, do you think has caused this change in the public’s perception of your social care sector?
The owner of a domiciliary care franchise who took part in our research believes that if people understood how social care works, they’d start respecting the sector more.
Charlotte Rowe, care practice manager, Markel Care Practitioners says: “Editorials highlighting the point of poor perception of social care and reframing it in a positive light would be of benefit to the sector: broadening the understanding of social care would be beneficial to changing perceptions.”
Decision makers’ perception of social care
Survey respondents felt that the importance of social care in the eyes of decision makers was linked to whether decision makers understood the interdependence between the sector and the NHS. 41% felt this was a critical factor, with 31% saying the NHS was seen as a higher priority because of its greater visibility.
“We need to have a workforce which is recognised for what they do. That workforce has a lot of responsibility in terms of direct care of individuals. They need to be skilled and trained. For me, someone who is caring for an older person needs a much greater degree of skill than someone who is working on a till in a supermarket, because that kind of care requires investment in training and support,” says Adrian Hayter.
We need to have a workforce which is recognised for what they do.