Building support for change
The National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC), held every autumn, is a chance to be with colleagues to learn, debate and shape the future of services that affect millions of people’s lives.
Crucially, those colleagues include people who draw on care and support, and they are just as expert as the rest of us when it comes to thinking about what the future should be.
In respect of adult social care, our shared starting point is clear: it is about people’s rights and relationships and, at its best, it helps ensure that everyone can pursue the things that matter most to them.
But we would all recognise that, as things stand, we don’t see the ‘best’ of our sector often enough.
Whether it’s funding pressures and their consequences, a primary focus on the NHS by government, or strain on the workforce and unpaid carers, the full set of conditions needed for adult social care to truly thrive rarely exist together.
A broader challenge is the overall level of priority afforded to care and support by the public and therefore government.
“The ‘three shifts’ set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England echo what councils and partners have been advocating for years”
That stems in part from the public’s, and government’s, understanding of adult social care; not just how it operates, but why it matters and should matter to all of us.
How we talk and communicate about care and support is therefore central to building support for change.
NCASC takes place at a pivotal moment with the Casey Commission now under way to examine the long-term future of social care in England.
Its findings and recommendations have the potential to help shape the next phase of adult social care’s evolution.
NCASC will therefore be an important opportunity to come together to engage with this crucial debate, ensuring that local government’s ‘wish list’ is co-produced, well-defined and well-heard.
Other agendas further set the context for our work.
The ‘three shifts’ set out in the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England – particularly the move from treatment to prevention – echo what councils and their partners have been advocating for years.
Neighbourhood health, with its focus on place-based, person-centred care, is gaining traction.
Workforce reform, including the proposed fair pay agreement for adult social care, is central to building a sustainable workforce that is best able to attract and retain skilled staff.
These developments, and others, pose challenges, but also open doors for innovation and partnership. Again, how we talk about them, and frame them in our conversations, matters.
As the new Chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, I am very much looking forward to NCASC, and the chance to talk to people who draw on care and support.
In a time of complex challenges, the peer support and exchange of learning NCASC provides are invaluable.
I’m sure I’ll come away with even greater pride in the leadership councils show every day in improving people’s health and wellbeing, as well as an even greater sense that we cannot do it alone.
I encourage everyone to have those conversations and to really listen.
That way, we can build a narrative about the future that is compelling, authentic and – most importantly – gives us the best chance of delivering better services with and for people who have reason to draw on them.
- The National Children and Adult Services Conference takes place from 26-28 November in Bournemouth. To find out more and book your place, please visit www.local.gov.uk/events