We attend Parliamentary Roundtable

Community Integrated Care has been proud to take part in a social care roundtable, hosted by the Adult Social Care APPG and The Care Workers Charity, at the House of Commons (Wednesday 13^th September).

Chaired by Labour MP, Mohammed Yasin, the session provided an opportunity for care workers and people who draw on social care to have their voices heard by Government representatives, in recognition of Professional Care Workers Week.

Service Leaders for our South-Central region, Gill Edwards and Aimee Murray, and Sushma Majithia – one of our charity’s Quality Advisors, who is supported and employed by our charity as an ‘expert by experience’ – joined the roundtable, representing our charity and sharing their insights and experiences of accessing and working in social care.

The roundtable also brought together local MPs and Party Spokespeople, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, Karolina Gerlich, and representatives from a range of organisations– including Affinity Trust, Learning Disability England, MHA, Anchor and Care Tech.

Highlighting some of the key challenges currently faced by the social care sector, discussions focussed on ways that care workers’ efforts can be recognised, how colleagues are too often under-valued, and what short and long-term actions the Government need to take, to improve the lives of people working in our sector.

Gill Edwards said: “I was really proud to represent Community Integrated Care at today’s event, alongside my colleagues, Aimee and Sushma. The roundtable provided a real, tangible opportunity for us to raise awareness around the improvements we want to see in the sector, and rally for improved reward and recognition for our incredible people.”

“As part of our charity’s Unfair To Care research, world-leading experts in job evaluation – Korn Ferry – demonstrated that a frontline social worker is highly-skilled and equal to roles such as that of a Healthcare Assistant within the NHS, but are paid between 39% and 42% less than their equivalents. It was great to speak directly with Government representatives, alongside our peers from across the sector, to emphasise the impact of our workforce and the changes that we urgently need to see, to improve the lives of colleagues and the people we support. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Adult Social Care APPG and The Care Workers Charity for this fantastic opportunity.”

Speaking at the event, Sushma shared her lived experience and the importance of her support team. She said, “If it wasn’t for my support team, I wouldn’t be here at this event today, sharing my experiences. It’s really important that our care workers are paid fairly and rewarded for the work they do so they can continue to support us to have the best quality of life possible.”