Hello
If ever there was a time for leaders to demonstrate the ability to think long term, and to stop acting in a politically (with both a small and a capital ‘p’) expedient way, then this is it.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the world had gone entirely mad, with various groups polarised around issues such as Brexit, and the Presidency of Donald Trump.
Certainly from a U.K. perspective, the spectre of Brexit looms large. In or out, deal or no deal. People are confused, angry, worried, and divided. One problem with that, apart from the division, worry, anger, and confusion, is that much else is being sidelined in the national and domestic arenas. One such issue, and a major one, is the failure to provide adequate Social Care.
In a recent Guardian article, from which I quote, it is described as a slow motion car-crash. Interestingly I have been describing it as a slow motion train crash. That’s not some strange coincidence. Anyone who happens to take only slightly more than a cursory glance at the current supply and demand situation (care resource v care required) will see that the ‘system’ is buckling under the strain. It is buckling badly. And even the mildest form of extrapolation will reveal the utter futility of, even for one nanosecond, believing that the capacity to cope requires anything less than a total fiscal, community, cultural and governmental overhaul.
To quote from the Guardian article, “The numbers are astonishing: 500,000 council taxpayers in Somerset help fund the care needs of 6,500. Their support takes 42% of the council budget of £320m. Adding children’s services consumes a total of 60%. These are statutory obligations, so other services must be cut – such as libraries, Citizens Advice and road gritting“.
Please read that quote again, and let it sink in.
The BBC’s Panorama programme highlights some of the horrendous difficulties faced by families and people trying to keep the system functioning. (A note about that programme is contained in the link to the Guardian article, attached below). Having viewed a preview of the programme, the economist Andrew Dilnot author of the Dilnot Report on Social Care said he wept. “Anyone who doesn’t, has no heart.This is a national crisis, facing one in four of us now – or soon. As medical advances keep us alive, we must grasp that our care system is badly out of date”.
I would certainly agree that it is badly out of date, the bigger issue is that with every month that passes, it rapidly escalates from being badly out of date to being catastrophically out of date.
The out of control train needs to slow down soon, because we are all in it’s path. You may be lucky, and it may miss you, but you’ll be hard pressed to avoid suffering some collateral damage.
And so whilst our politicians preen and posture and jostle around Brexit, many for self-aggrandising reasons, some because they do feel a duty of care, it would serve us all well if the hysteria was dialled-down, so that we can actually recognise the most competent and ethical leader when (hopefully not if) they appear, and allow them to do their job.
We could then perhaps focus on the social care crisis. Yes it’s easy to pretend it will go away or won’t affect us, so please turn up the volume on strictly celebrity love jungle on ice. Unfortunately it will not go away, but it can be tackled effectively.
However, for that to happen, we will need scathingly honest, strong, moral, public spirited leaders who do not play the self preservation card at the drop of a hat.
Unfortunately those types of leaders are in short supply at the moment.
The current care system, like much of the political class, is not fit for purpose.
An injection of decency is required.
Best wishes
Mike
Here is the link to the Guardian article: