We need a complete overhaul of the social care system to protect our most vulnerable residents

The time to act is now to ensure that even more families do not experience the horror of finding their loved one bruised, bleeding and terrified, writes Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP



The Brexit gridlock continues to dictate that vital issues, such as social care, are kicked into the long grass. The social care green paper is case in point of this.

Following Boris Johnson announcing in his first speech as prime minister that he plans to find a solution to the social care crisis, I want to make clear that we will be watching his action – or rather inaction – on this important topic. Theresa May promised to prioritise mental health at the start of her tenure – that was soon lost in the Brexit quagmire. Social care must not be used as a political football.

As it currently stands, when the unthinkable happens in a care setting loved ones often do not know how or where to speak out. Sadly, my family found this out the hard way.

Nothing prepares you to find your loved one with a black eye, cuts in their mouth and scratches all over their face in a place where they are meant to be safe.

Certainly nothing prepares you for discovering that these injuries occurred and you were not told, that no one called an ambulance despite a head injury, and that not a single person had any answers or proof whatsoever as to how these injuries occurred.

When this happened to my father, I was able to raise this issue in Parliament – a luxury not afforded to most people. I found my father with a catalogue of injuries and have been seeking an explanation as to what happened ever since. As no one has been forthcoming with answers, the reality is that we may never know what happened over the course of those six fateful months.

While the green paper is due to explore how social care is funded, what people from across the UK are overwhelmingly telling me is that the system needs overhauling. We must ensure that our most vulnerable, and their families, know how to complain when the worst happens.

If there was greater safety monitoring in my father’s extra care facility, and an independent advocate and reporting mechanism, then our family may have received more answers. I raised this directly with Matt Hancock when I met with him earlier this year to discuss how we can better protect our most vulnerable residents.

I have been meeting with experts within the social care sector to listen to their views on how social care can work for the most vulnerable and how all complaints can be fairly investigated.

We need to ensure that the often-ignored voices of the most vulnerable are listened to. Inspections should start from the lived experiences of those who live there. It is vital that we do not have a system where only the easiest, most available, voices are taken into account. This can fail the most vulnerable in our care. At worst, it costs lives.

Personal finances are the main factor that governs a person’s decision on residential care, but money is not in itself a guarantee of extra safety and care. Let me be clear – this is an issue that can affect everyone, regardless of background.

The Government must be more aspirational with how they think through care models for our vulnerable elderly. If this were happening to the UK’s children, the country would be in uproar – and, quite rightly so.

As parliamentarians, the time to act is now to ensure that even more families do not experience the horror of finding their loved one bruised, bleeding and terrified. Fundamentally, there must be greater accountability when atrocities take place against our elderly. Their quality of life should not be deprived. We must give our vulnerable a fair voice – they need to be heard.

This cannot go on any longer.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan is Labour MP for Tooting and shadow sport minister