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NHS Confederation - NHS leaders respond to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care's interview in The Telegraph
Danny Mortimer responds to Secretary of State Steve Barclay's interview in the Daily Telegraph.
Responding to the interview with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Rt Hon Steve Barclay in the Daily Telegraph, Danny Mortimer, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation said:
"We have been calling for urgent action to support the NHS and social care ahead of this winter and we are pleased to hear the Health and Social Care Secretary acknowledge the serious challenges he and the government face, and to in particular acknowledge the centrality of social care. The problems won’t however be resolved by more working groups: decisive action is needed and is long overdue.
"The Secretary of State is correct to seek to address the workforce crisis and international recruitment is undoubtedly preventing the problem getting worse. That route alone is not going to be sufficient to fill the 105,000 NHS vacancies and 165,000 in social care. Successive governments have failed to secure the medium and long term future of the health and social care workforce and this has to be addressed."
“One step the Secretary of State could take is to immediately introduce a new national minimum care worker wage of at least £10.50 an hour. This would help attract more workers to social care and prevent further numbers being lost to the retail and hospitality sectors.”