3 December 2024

“To help shape the future of social care, it’s vital that we act on the right voices”

Member Spotlight: Carr Gomm’s National Involvement Group is showing how to place the perspectives of those who navigate the system every day at the heart of change, says Becs Barker

Amid ongoing discussions about the future of Scotland’s social care, listening to the voices of those with lived experience has never been more vital. Debates around the National Care Service, fair work, equal access, and person-centred support often dominate the headlines. But it is vital that these conversations are grounded in the perspectives of those who rely on and navigate the social care system every day.

At Carr Gomm, we are dedicated to ensuring these voices are heard, amplified, and acted on. Through our National Involvement Group, we champion the involvement of people we support in shaping not only our organisation but also the wider social care landscape.

Pictured right: Charlotte from the National Involvement Group chats with Lucy Wren, Chief Executive for Carr Gomm and Becs Barker, Operations Manager, Involvement

Elevating Voices, Shaping Change 

Our National Involvement Group plays a vital role in shaping both our organisational strategy and broader social care policy. They are instrumental in developing our Strategic Plan, ensuring that the perspectives of those receiving support remain central to Carr Gomm’s strategic direction. Recognising that connection and learning are fundamental rights, they have championed digital inclusion, enabling us to expand opportunities for people to connect, learn, and maintain their wellbeing through digital platforms. They also continually refine our Welcome Handbook, making it more accessible and truly reflective of the people we support.

The group’s impact extends far beyond our organisation, with our members serving as vocal advocates at the national level. They provided critical insights to the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, with one member describing a powerful moment of feeling directly heard by the Health and Social Care Minister. They actively participate in Scottish Parliament consultations, particularly around Self-Directed Support, boldly challenging the complex language used in the bill that was “clear as mud” and obscured understanding. On the National Care Service, the group consistently emphasise one crucial message: Government and Parliament must listen to and include people who need social care — they are the genuine experts.

Community and Connections

A sense of belonging is important to the group who, whilst valuing their opportunity to influence Carr Gomm and wider social care policy, have developed a sense of connection with one another. Recently, the group connected with Enable Ukraine, a social care organisation in Ukraine, demonstrating that shared humanity transcends borders. In their inaugural meeting, members from both countries connected through hobbies and shared interests, seeing each other as individuals, rather than being defined by circumstance.

Our National Involvement Group represents more than a consultation mechanism. It’s a dynamic network that proves what’s possible when we genuinely listen and act on lived experiences. We’ve seen tangible results from this group’s involvement. Concerns about our bi-annual questionnaire’s accessibility led to a complete redesign. Members’ desire for more community involvement prompted us to create a dedicated Involvement Development Manager role in our organisation.

Looking ahead

As we stand at a critical moment in Scotland’s social care landscape, one thing is crystal clear: people must sit at the heart of the conversation.

The people supported by Social Care have stories, insights, and wisdom. They know the intricate realities of navigating social care. They understand its strengths and its profound challenges. They are the true experts on Social Care.

It’s time we amplify these voices. Not just hear them but centre them. Because true person-centred support isn’t something we do to people — it’s something we do with people.

If you’re interested in chatting further or connecting with the National Involvement Group, please do reach out, becsbarker@carrgomm.org

Becs Barker is Operations Manager: Community Contacts, Involvement, Quality and Innovation, at Carr Gomm

Additional Resources:

Charlotte from the National Involvement Group chats with Lucy Wren, Chief Executive for Carr Gomm and Becs Barker, Operations Manager, Involvement

https://youtu.be/S3hTqcEnt_I?si=fGug4xkag8ij4Cw6

https://youtu.be/QVTripsODVE?si=1Iko7Mi4CHXloYvv

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 July 2023

4 Steps Guest Blog: “It’s too easy to think that social care is about someone else. It’s about all of us”

Providers must have better resourcing to reflect the societal importance of our work in communities across Scotland, says Andrew Thomson, Deputy CEO of Carr Gomm

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others“.

George Orwell’s fusion of political and artistic purpose was always intended to have a wider application than simple political satire. Social care in Scotland can often feel ripe for satire, although there is nothing funny about systematic underappreciation and underfunding.

Inelegant tension exists throughout, and remains inexplicably embedded in, our system. The maxim from improvement science states that “every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets”, and we have a system that Derek Feeley describes as containing “unwarranted local variation, crisis intervention, a focus on inputs, a reliance on the market, and an undervalued workforce”.

Scottish Government policy sets the minimum adult social care wage. The Scottish Government and CoSLA decide the financial uplifts to cover the costs of the policy. Social care providers implement the policy and volubly articulate again the wider implications, failings, and consequences of the policy. We’ll do it all again next time too. Our system is designed to aggregate the underfunding and to ignore the cost-of-living crisis; we get poorer each time we go around. There is no sign of the powerful recognising that the social care system is increasingly unsustainable.

The Scottish Government has set the wage at £10.90/hr, or 104% of the statutory minimum wage. The Scottish Government sets the value of working in our sector. Practitioners working for local authorities or the NHS are excluded from the Government’s policy and are paid more than 20% more for undertaking equal work. All practitioners are equal, but…

It feels like a lifetime ago that we clapped our hands on a Thursday night in acknowledgement of the essential work undertaken by key workers as Covid ravaged our lives and freedoms. We recognised the importance in society of those that care for others. It is too easy to think that social care is about someone else, but social care is relevant to our colleagues, our friends and families, our neighbours. Ourselves.

Every one of us has the right to live a full life. And every one of us should have the right to be supported by a practitioner that has been comprehensively inducted, continually developed, registered with a professional body, professionally qualified, scrutinised by an external regulator, and appropriately remunerated. We have all of the former, we simply need to recognise – as Feeley already has – the latter: that our workforce is undervalued.

As a first step, the First Minister has committed to raising the wages of frontline adult social care professionals to £12/hr. It’s a small step on the road towards appropriate remuneration, although thus far, the Scottish Government has not published a timeline and so we wait. I call on the First Minister to implement this improvement from 1 April 2023.

The oft-quoted, lazy narrative about social care is that it is broken. But Carr Gomm is not broken. The people we support are not broken. We simply need better resourcing to adequately reflect the societal importance of our essential work in communities throughout Scotland.

Andrew Thomson is Deputy Chief Executive of Carr Gomm, a leading social care and community development that supports over 3000 people a week across Scotland.

Find out more about our 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign and get involved.

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