I appeared on Politics Live this week to discuss the latest announcements on NHS pay. Since the Tories came to power, nurses starting salaries have fallen in real terms by £840 a year. By giving NHS staff a 1% pay rise, the Government is in fact giving them a real-terms […]
National
Liz makes the economic case for social care reform in Budget debates
Today I spoke in the final day of Budget debates in Parliament. I argued that reforming social care is a matter of social justice and an economic necessity, and that the governments failure to grasp this fact is undermining growth, productivity and the need to get value for taxpayers’ money […]
Liz speaks about lack of support for social care in the Budget
Rishi Sunak’s budget on Wednesday had absolutely no mention of social care. This pandemic has exposed the impact of 10 years of social care funding cuts, and our carer workers and families deserve better. The Chancellor then told the BBC that the reason that social care plans hadn’t been brought […]
Liz calls for strategy to vaccinate all care home staff
This week, we discovered that only 69% of care home staff in England have been vaccinated against coronavirus. In London, this is as low as 52%. This is incredibly worrying. We need a clear strategy from the Government, that addresses lies and misinformation about the vaccine. We also need […]
Chris Whitty: Medics and care staff have ‘professional responsibility’ to get Covid vaccine
Official data shows that only 52% of staff in care homes for the elderly in London have have their coronavirus jab. This is incredibly worrying – the vaccine could save their own lives, as well as the lives of people in care. The government must put in place a strategy […]
Covid-19: Care home residents in England to be allowed one regular visitor
The Government have announced that from March 8, care home residents in England will be allowed one regular visitor. This is something Labour has been campaigning on since last June. However, we need confidence that things will really change. We need legislation, to make visits to care homes a legal […]
Tragic toll year of loneliness has taken on elderly laid bare
Labour has been calling for care home visits to resume for months. I wrote to Matt Hancock last June asking for families to be treated as ‘key workers’, with the same testing and PPE as staff. Now, we are almost a year into this pandemic, and blanket bans on care home […]
Liz speaks at ‘It’s Our Community’ Conference
Today, I spoke at the ‘It’s Our Community’ Conference, organised by the Yorkshire Socialist Health Association. It brought together providers, users, families and voluntary groups across Sheffield to discuss the need to transform social care and support for disabled adults in particular. I spoke about the prospects for the future, […]
Liz challenges Government on cladding scandal
I appeared on Peston to discuss the latest announcements from the Government. In particular, the Government have recently announced an additional £3.5bn to remove cladding from high rise buildings over 18m tall, following the disaster at Grenfell in 2017. This has been sold as an ‘exceptional intervention’ by the […]
Liz meets with families of care home residents
Yesterday, I met with families with relatives in care homes who had been locked out by the pandemic. Some of them have not seen their loved ones in almost a year. We all know that our loved ones need protecting against this awful virus. But it is hard to see […]
Liz joins ‘Pay Fair for Care’ Rally
I spoke at the Future Social Care Coalition‘s ‘Pay Fair for Care’ Rally on Wednesday. Transforming social care is one of the biggest challenges of our generation. That’s why we need all frontline care staff to get the fair pay, terms, and conditions they desperately need. 1.2 million care staff […]
Care homes still breaking Covid rules despite fatal outbreaks, inspectors say
Reports from the Care Quality Commission show that in the last month, 40% of care homes inspected in England are ‘inadequate’, with some failing to put even basic infection control measures in place. Ministers must look at these reports as a matter of urgency – they will be very worrying […]