This final episode of the "State of Our Nation" podcast features a heartfelt conversation between co-hosts Kari Gerstheimer and Anna Severwright as they reflect on the series, and discuss the current challenging state of social care.

They double down on the onslaught of recent policy and financial decisions that seem to be negatively impacting people who rely on social care; discuss reactions to the newly launched Casey Commission and look forward to series 3.

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This episode of the State of our Nation shines a light on the critical issue of health and social care inequalities faced by Black and other minority ethnic groups in the UK. Our guest this time is Charles Kwaku-Odoi, CEO of the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN) who shares his experience to highlight the key issues. Namely, a lack of trust in healthcare systems, negative experiences with services, language barriers, and a lack of cultural and religious sensitivity in delivery that makes individuals feel that the services offered are not for them.

Kari, Anna and Charles discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic amplified these existing disparities and Anna draws a parallel between the lack of trust experienced by the Black and minority ethnic communities discussed by Charles, and the lack of trust that many disabled people have in the social care sector due to their own past negative experiences.

Charles describes all the ways CAHN is working to address these inequalities through community-led initiatives including the involvement of trusted community figures and healthcare professionals and other culturally relevant approaches to building trust. In combination these methods are all increase and improve access to equitable care.

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Join Kari and Anna as they welcome Svetlana Kotova from Inclusion London to discuss the complexities of charging for social care. Svetlana Kotova. Director of Campaigns and Justice is a lifelong advocate for disability rights, and shares her journey from her early years in Russia to her impactful work in the UK. When she first arrived in the West she was surprised to discover that disability rights had not been "solved" and became involved with the ongoing struggle for equality in the UK. She initially focused on legal cases to support disabled people using the Equality Act to challenge discrimination and social care decisions and has now shifted her focus to broader legal and policy work. In this episode she shares Inclusion London's campaign to highlight the impact of social care charges with the significant increase in the cost of living.

Find out more about Inclusion London here

Read about the Charging campaign here.

Find out more about what the law says about charging by going to AccessAva on the Access Social Care website.

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In this episode, Kari and Anna ask a critical question: are they actually doing more harm than good?

Anna shares a frustrating personal experience where a strengths-based review felt rigid, unhelpful, and ultimately left her feeling confused and boxed in, rather than empowered. This leads to a deeper exploration of the potential downsides of these assessments. Do they truly unlock our potential, or more often lead to reduced support? Join us as we delve into this important topic.

This episode's legal tips section highlights the valuable resources available on Access Ava to help you navigate these complex processes.

Learn how to confidently prepare for assessments, understand your entitlements, and ensure your voice is heard. Access Ava offers informative videos, easy-to-read guides, and specialised toolkits for both individuals and professionals, making it your go-to resource for navigating the social care assessments.

We're developing a new assessment tool kit for Access Ava and we need your input! If you're interested in helping us develop it we'd love to hear from you.

Contact us at enquiries@accesscharity.org.uk to get involved.

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Welcome to the State of Our Nation podcast. We recorded this episode in the run up to Christmas 2024 with Anna Severwright, Kari Gerstheimer and guest, James Bullion, former director of Adult Services at Norfolk and president of ADASS, also DHSC lead for social care discharges and recently, interim Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC.

This omnibus edition of the podcast looks backwards over the past year as well as taking a look forward into 2025. The team also discuss Access Social Care's ongoing legal case surrounding freedom of information requests for transparency in social care funding. James lends his support by saying: "I'd certainly recognise as a regulator, this issue of transparency, being really clear about what the evidence is, has got to be your starting base for how you make a case. And then for us as a regulator pointing out once a year to Parliament what the deficit is, and we'll certainly do that as we go through the next year."

The episode begins with Anna asking James to reflect on the legacy of the last administration and ends with his 3 wishes for social care; "money for prevention, sort the workforce out, give a bit more local control".

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Anna Severwright and Kari Gerstheimer talk about the why language matters with Bryony Shannon.

They explore how the language we use within and about social care exposes and perpetuates our attitudes and behaviours, and consider how we can create safe spaces for people to challenge language together so we can co-produce more inclusive expressions to describe social care terms.

Find out more about Bryony’s work here:

https://rewritingsocialcare.blog/

Legal Tips: There is no such thing as a magic wand but there are magic words.

Listen from 25 minutes for this section.

There is no such thing as a magic wand but there are magic words. Listen to this section to help you spot when you need to use a phrase to transform your social care outcomes.

• Watch out for blanket statements in conversations like "we don't do that here". This may be unlawful as they suggest the local authority is not addressing the needs of the individual which is a requirement under the Care Act. If you hear a problematic statement like this ask for it in writing to create a paper trail.
• "Willing and able" - if a carer is not ‘willing or able’ to continue to provide care or a level of care they do not have to and the local authority has to step in.

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Anna Severwright and Kari Gerstheimer discuss the importance of 'people power' in social care and how lived experiences can and should shape decision-making.

They share insights on co-production and the need for genuine involvement of individuals in service design, highlighting positive examples from councils like Hammersmith and Fulham. Anna reflects on the challenges faced in advocating for change and emphasises the value of peer support and preparation in navigating social care assessments.

Top Tips: Local Authority Assessments

Vicky Hughes is a legal case worker at Access Social Care with a background in social work, having worked on a community learning disability team.

She brings her knowledge and experience working in this area to offer some great tips on how to prepare for assessments to present a strong case for consideration.

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In the first part of the episode, Anna and Kari discuss the findings from the latest edition of the ASC State of the Nation report which looks into adult social care advice seeking.

Anna and Kari are joined by the authors of the report, Amit Kohli, Head of Data at Access Social Care and Hannah Hewish, Legal Manager and Data Lead at Access Social Care. The report is based on data gathered from enquiries into a range of partners; Carers UK, Ealing Independence Age, RNIB, SCOPE, Age UK Mencap, Citizens Advice as well as Access Social Care's online helpline tool AccessAva as well as their case work.

It shows a staggering 222% increase in the number of people calling national help lines to seek social care information and an increase of 206% increase In the number of people requiring specialist social care Legal advice.

The second part of this episode is Care Act Legal Tips and this episodes shines a light on Advocacy and the care act. What it is, Who is entitled to it and tips to help people get an advocate when they need one.

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