Editorial - A crisis in social care: time for rethinking?

Abstract

The post Brexit “points based” immigration system does not list “care worker” as an eligible occupation on the “skilled worker” route;therefore, from January 2021, care workers cannot immigrate to take up these roles, and the pay for such workers falls well below the necessary salary threshold [1]. Relatively less attention has been paid to the crisis in support provided to older people in their own homes and to younger people with physical health conditions and impairments and learning disabilities, and relatively no attention has been paid to the social care needs of people with mental health challenges. (Wall, 2021, p. 2) The 2014 Care Act [4] imposes on local authorities a duty to promote an individual’s well-being, where well-being is defined in terms of nine principles [5]: personal dignity (including treatment of the individual with respect);physical and mental health and emotional well-being;protection from abuse and neglect;control by the individual over day-to-day life (including over care and support provided to the individual and the way in which it is provided);participation in work, education, training or recreation;social and economic well-being;domestic, family and personal relationships;suitability of living accommodation;and the individual’s contribution to society. (Crowther, 2019, p. 56) This vision very much resonates with recovery-focused transformation in the mental health sphere: a focus on the person in the context of their life and community where treatment and support are seen not as an end in themselves but as a means to enable people to live the lives they want to lead (see, Repper and Perkins, 2003, 2012).