THE General Synod voted overwhelmingly for a motion urging the Government to draw on the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Care and its focus on the notion of covenant, as it delivers its manifesto commitment to creating a National Care Service. The report called for a clear Christian vision to mend the social-care system: a plan of action that would give equal dignity to everyone
Introducing the debate on the Tuesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury hoped that the Independent Commission on Social Care, chaired by Baroness Casey, would “initiate a national conversation about care”.
Too many people struggled to get access to care, too many councils struggled to provide it, and more of the burden was falling on unpaid carers, the Archbishop said. This meant that two million people over the age of 65 and 1.5 million of working age did not get the care that they needed; and others “may not be getting the right care in the right place”.
The Archbishop commended both social prescribing as “a method of engaging with health and care services that enables people to access the wonderful activities already run by churches” and the work of the Church Urban Fund in equipping and resourcing them.
The motion commended good practice, the “excellent and context-specific work of parishes” that helped people to flourish. Ruth Allan (Guildford) spoke of Hymns for All, which took hymn-singing into care and community settings. Hymns were “part of our DNA”, and remained so even for those whose memories were now impaired.
Sandra Turner (Chelmsford) praised the warmth, welcome, and good outcomes of lunch clubs for people who were alone. David Ashton (Leeds) confirmed this: “We visit them, we see them, we’re happy to be with them: there’s a link between people being alone at home and how the mind deteriorates later on,” he said.
Shayne Ardron (Leicester) was an advocate of holistic care of “others and ourselves”. She spoke of her mother’s dementia and the signs of the Spirit’s presence even when body, mind, and spirit had all been damaged by the illness: “We are more than our minds.”
The Commission’s “compelling” vision could not be realised unless the shortage of the workforce was addressed, Abigail Ogier (Manchester) said. An adult social-care worker, she said that, while staff had been acclaimed “heroes” during the pandemic, recognition was “painfully short-lived. Social care is once again being treated as an afterthought.”
Canon Alice Kemp (Bristol) spoke of society’s dismissive attitudes to disabled people. Her son has complex needs, but was now, she said, flourishing in residential care. “A creative care system predicates that all are made in the image of God and loved and valued.”
The Revd James McCluskey (Chelmsford) reminded the Synod that the National Care Covenant was backed by strategy and funding in providing for a pastoral and sacramental position. “We’ve got to resource the parishes with clergy. Ask the Archbishops’ Council to ensure this.”
Alison Coulter (Winchester) said: “The biggest nettle to grasp is money. [Funding] for social care grew by just half a per cent.” There could be an opportunity now for “a wider societal conversation about what we want and how we will fund it”.
Prebendary Rosie Austin (Exeter) spoke of the difficulty of access to care in rural areas, and the many people who could not be discharged from hospital because of a lack of carers. “Rural residents face systematic exclusion without transport,” she said.
Professor Peter Harris (Southwell & Nottingham), who worked in the NHS, applauded the Commission’s vision as “the current way forward”. Social-care needs had to be tackled “collectively between the Church and the Government, not independently”, he said.
The Revd Martin Poole (Chichester) spoke of the frustration about the position of overseas workers across all NHS Trusts, who had to return to their country of origin because their salaries could not be increased to the level required for them to stay.
The Revd Dr Susan Lucas (Chelmsford) spoke of her 97-year-old mother, who had been able to “live and die well” because of “the care we were able to put in place for her, which should be open to everyone: equitable, relational, locally delivered”.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, found a clear overlap between social care and housing. The lack of retirement homes, or the unsuitability of alternative housing, was forcing many elderly or disabled people to struggle on alone in large houses, she said. She applauded new intergenerational communities as a creative way of responding to that challenge, and urged parishes and dioceses to explore possibilities.
The Revd Dr Charlie Baczyk-Bell (Southwark), who worked in forensic mental health, spoke of the damage that failure to attend to sufferers’ mental health problems could bring.
Fiona MacMillan (London) described herself as “a disabled woman of working age in receipt of support”, and spoke of the limitations to living when funding ran out. “Churches have an important role to help people to flourish as they are,” she said.
Jane Evans (Leeds) compared the £400,000 a week earned by a footballer with the £400 earned by a carer on the minimum wage. “What does that say about us as a society?” she asked. “Care is a calling. If we don’t value it properly, we are saying something deeply troubling about what matters to us as a society. If our treasure is entertainment and profit, then our hearts are not where Jesus needs them to be.”
The motion was carried by 245-0 with one recorded abstention. It read:
That this Synod:
(a) endorse the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care and its vision for changing how adult social care is perceived, organised, delivered and experienced;
(b) commend the excellent and context-specific work of parishes to ensure that all people, made in the image of God, are supported to flourish, and encourage churches to learn from one another by sharing examples of good practice;
(c) note the need to draw on the views, voices and experiences of disabled people and older people in policy matters which particularly affect them;
(d) call on HM Government to draw on the Archbishops’ Commission’s report and its focus on the notion of covenant as it delivers on its manifesto commitment to create a National Care Service.
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