The Prime Minister’s efforts thus far to reform social care are to be applauded

There can be no denying that there has been a shift in emphasis on social care since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.

Few incumbents of 10 Downing Street have ever approached social care reform with the same zeal as the current PM.

This is a shift that is to be welcomed and the PM should be supported across the political spectrum in his efforts to deliver long overdue reform.

The latest research on the social care workforce is a reminder of the long road ahead to tackling the crisis in care that has engulfed the country.

While vacancies in adult social care in England have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, workforce growth is slowing with fewer British people joining and international recruitment falling significantly.

Burnham’s remark that care workers “should be the best-paid people in society, not the worst” is apropos given the number of posts filled increased by 1.4 per cent (22,000) in the latest period, less than half the increase compared with the previous year, according to research by Skills for Care (SfC).

SfC chief executive Professor Oonagh Smyth says it feels like a “defining moment for adult social care”. Similar sentiments have been reflected across the care sector.

It shows that the PM is on the right track when it comes to tackling the social care crisis.

A refreshing aspect of Burnham’s approach to social care reform is that he’s willing to show his hand as to how his government would fund a National Care Service, even if it does leave him open to criticism.