‘Who Cares? We Care!’: Why we attended the Social Care Day of Action in Westminster

Last week I attended the Social Care Day of Action, organised by Provider’s Unite. A new coalition, set up in December 2024, Provider’s Unite is a grassroots organisation ‘uniting community care and support providers across the UK to advocate for the social care sector’.  

They have been hard at work holding the government to account; earlier in the year, they sent an open letter to the Chancellor calling for an immediate review of the living wage and employer national insurance contributions after the past budget announcement and hosted a social media day of action.   

The Social Care Day of Action last week was the next step in their campaign to get the government to listen to their demands, particularly focusing on challenging the increases to national insurance contributions and how this will raise costs for social care providers .   

What’s it all for?

Social care funding has experienced decades of neglect at the hands of various governments. Promises of reform have been consistently broken, ignored or delayed, and investment regularly fails to meet demand.  

Workers in the sector are struggling under challenging conditions and low pay, and providers are hit time and again by increasing costs, resulting in many struggling financially, going out of business or handing back contracts.  

The more recent developments, like proposed increases to national living wage (NLW) and employer national insurance contributions (NIC) have further compounded these long-standing issues, bringing the sector to yet another crisis point.  

Following these proposed increases, Brainkind’s payroll costs are expecting to increase by 7% due to this alone next year, and we will need this to be covered within our statutory contracts as our charitable voluntary activities will not be enough to cover this.  

Like many other providers, we can no longer subsidise care placements on behalf of the NHS and local authorities and are needing to make difficult decisions about what we can offer – ultimately impacting the people we support.  

The Nuffield Trust have recently undertaken a survey of care and support providers to establish the impact of the NIC and NLW changes in the recent budget, which in total would be an additional cost burden of £2.8bn. The survey found out of the providers that responded: 

• 73% will have to refuse new care packages from local authorities or the NHS  

• 57% will hand back existing contracts to local authorities or the NHS  

• 64% will have to make staff redundant  

• 22% are planning to close their businesses entirely  

And there are even more issues for complex and specialist care providers, such as those like Brainkind.  

With local authorities also operating with massively reduced budgets, NHS commissioners are choosing lower cost care options, meaning those providing a more comprehensive care package with higher upfront costs are finding it harder to fill beds.  

As people are placed in cheaper, but often less clinically effective or appropriate settings, this limits their opportunity to get the very best out of their rehabilitation and will impact their recovery, often resulting in a lower quality of life and greater reliance on healthcare services further down the line.  

Here at Brainkind, our mission is to help everyone with a brain injury or neurological condition to thrive, and every person deserves to receive the care and support they need to live well, but the current system does not support this. 

It’s with all this in mind that I signed up to attend the Day of Action on behalf of Brainkind. The challenges facing the sector impact us all. It’s time for us to join together and demand reform as one, effective voice.   

On the day 

Opening the door to the meeting room, I am completely unprepared for the crowds. It is full to the brim with over 3,000 attendees and a real buzz of excitement hangs in the air; groups of providers are wearing matching hats, waving home-made banners, or carrying fluorescent flags. I speak to a huge range of people coming out to represent their organisation, some attending with people they support, others are CEOs, clinicians or from central services. For some people, it is their first ever protest. All of them share one thing in common: the desire for change.  

Spilling out into the street, we begin to slowly weave our way to the Houses of Parliament. The air is filled with whistles, shouts, and the chant: ‘Who cares? We care!’  

Upon arrival, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Helen Morgan, addresses the crowds. She says they are calling on the government to exempt social care providers from the national insurance contributions increase and says they must ‘bite the bullet and find the long-term solution for social care.’ A great cheer goes up from the crowd as she says: ‘2028 is too late’, referring to the planned commission on adult social care reform, scheduled for publication in three years.  

The crowd gradually drifts over to Parliament square, where photos are taken, more protests songs are sung, and a picnic is shared. There is immense positivity in the air, and it is a heartening sight to see people from all across the country, from hundreds of different organisations, all gathered to support each other and fight for those who rely on our care.  

What next?

Later that day, the House of Lords passed an amendment to exempt social care providers from National Insurance hikes. The bill has now been passed to the House of Commons for their consideration of the Lord’s amendments, with the date yet to be announced.  

Provider’s Unite are determined to keep up the pressure, and Brainkind is behind them. We will be contacting all of our service MPs urging them to support this amendment when it is time to vote in the Commons. Over 108 MPs are already standing with Providers Unite, and we hope to see this number increase.  

Challenging these costs is just the start. Brainkind will continue to speak out for the future of social care, campaign for change on behalf of all those we support and fight for a world where everyone with a brain injury or other neurological condition can thrive.