Spokespeople from the care sector have responded to the shadow health secretary Wes Streeting’s announcement of Labour’s ambitious plans for a ‘National Care Service’ to match Sir William Beveridge’s vision of the NHS. 

Streeting revealed in an interview with The Guardian that he has asked the Fabian Society to look into how to fund and structure plans that would be brought in over several parliaments. 

 “I would love to see a national care service delivered exactly on the same terms as the NHS, publicly owned, publicly funded, free at the point of use, but we’ve got to be honest about the scale of the challenge,” he said. “Our starting point is to make sure we deliver national standards for care users and better pay and conditions for staff who work in social care.”

Streeting described the process as “a journey, not an event”, that would not be delivered overnight or even in a single parliament: “It’s about how we lay the foundations for it in the first term of a Labour government and then look to build on it in a second or third term.”

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, chief executive of National Care Forum said the shadow secretary of state’s commitment to a set of national standards, values and better pay, terms and conditions for staff is “very welcome” but had stipulations: “Any national care service needs the not-for-profit care and support sector if it is to deliver on these commitments.

“Our members, all not-for-profit providers, are born out of the ‘public service ethos’ he describes and therefore bring a wealth of knowledge and experience integral to any new national structure.”

Mike Padgham, chair of Independent Care Group, welcomed the news: “A National Care Service is something we have campaigned for now for some 20 years or more as it would set social care provision on a par with NHS care and create cradle-to-the-grave care in this country.

“I agree that any such service must place the status and recognition of the social care workforce at its heart. There must also be room for public, private and charitable provision through small and larger providers, to ensure choice.

“At the end of the day, this is an opposition party proposal and dependent upon the Labour Party gaining power for its fruition, but it is good to have the idea become part of the conversation around care, even if it is short on detailed proposals at this stage.

“We cannot continue as we are, with 1.5m people living without the care they need and care providers closing daily. Something has to change, root and branch reform must come and we welcome this proposal into the debate.”

BKR Care Consultancy managing director Bhavna Keane-Rao thinks a healthy competitive market is needed, that’s both an excellent private and public market: “When you have a nationalised service, unless done well, it can be a disaster, as was the case when local authorities owned care homes.

“Denmark has an amazing care market but it’s based on a different model. We do need to get to the stage where social care is on par with NHS. What we forget is that a lot of the NHS is private companies, like GP surgeries. This has to be done away from political football and party politics.”

A spokesperson from healthcare management company HC-One said that irrespective of ideology and political beliefs, the priority should be making sure that every person has access to a high-quality, personalised care service, and that the quality of care they receive is not determined by their financial means. 

“To make this a reality, we have long called for a reform programme that would provide the funding needed to invest in carer pay, training, and career progression, whilst enabling providers to build the technology and infrastructure needed to meet the needs of the UK’s ageing population. 

“With proper funding, and fees that reflect the true costs of delivering care, it is possible to have an efficient, high-quality, privately owned but publicly focused care system that delivers for both those needing care and for taxpayers. This is the experience of many other developed nations, and with political will, long-term political planning and funding, and effective regulation, it can be the solution for the UK too. 

“We look forward to engaging with the Labour Party and Fabian Society to showcase the many positives private providers bring to the social care sector – particularly the level of capital investment that we and other providers have made, and are continuing to make, in the UK’s care infrastructure needs – and to discuss how the Labour Party’s plan can focus on resolving the long-standing challenges the care sector faces and which are creating extreme pressure at this time.”

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