Mayoral Candidate Backs Social Care Reform
A candidate in the forthcoming mayoral election in York and North Yorkshire has thrown his weight behind reform of adult social care.
Independent candidate Keith Tordoff says the sector needs root and branch reform to make it fit for purpose to serve the needs of older and vulnerable adults in the region.
“Nothing less than total reform of the sector will be good enough,” he said. “The demographic of York and North Yorkshire, with a strong representation of older people, demands that we treat their care far more seriously than we currently do.
“Chronic under-funding, a lack of proper pay and recognition for the workforce and providers leaving the sector will all need to be tackled if we are to provide the care that people deserve.
“We should be judged as a society by the way we look after our older people and at the moment we are letting them down. It may need some heads banging together but we have to improve the funding for social care, pay the workforce properly and end the exodus from the sector that is currently going on.
“Social care provides a vital service to the fabric of our society and to our local economy. If elected, I will be making reform a high priority to bring about real improvement to the quality of life of people living here in our region.”
Mr Tordoff had a successful career in the police force before becoming a businessman, growing million-pound businesses in several sectors. He is a patron of Dementia Forward and was awarded the MBE in 2018 for services to business and the community.
He recently met with Mike Padgham, Chair of the social care provider organisation, The Independent Care Group (ICG).
Mr Padgham said: “It was refreshing to meet with Keith and to hear that he shares our passion and desire for social care reform. Hopefully, he will include that in his campaign message for the mayoral election.
“York and North Yorkshire, like the rest of the country, are suffering due to the crisis in social care and people in this region are going without the care they need.
“At the same time, care providers are closing or handing back delivery contracts and a chronic shortage of staff is hampering care delivery.
“Whilst we continue to campaign at a national level for government change to social care, it is also vital that we enlist the support of local politicians to do all they can to bring about change at a local and regional level.
“Measures to get more funding in to the local delivery of care and to provide better pay for the workforce so that we can recruit are all immediate and urgent priorities for this region.”
Mr Padgham has also held talks with the Conservative candidate for the mayoral post, Keane Duncan and hopes to meet with other candidates shortly. The Mayoral election for York and North Yorkshire will be held on 2nd May.
