Archbishop’s call for NHS bosses to be held accountable over care for elderly

Dr John Sentamu wants NHS commissioning bodies – the organisations which allocate funds to care providers – to be the subject of regular financial inspections of their own and to accept a share of responsibility for “the success and failure of provision”.

He also reiterated his desire for all carers to be paid the living wage – and challenged the main political parties to protect social care funding ahead of the next general election in order for the country to meet the challenges posed by an ageing population.

Dr Sentamu was speaking at a major conference in York to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Independent Care Group (York and North Yorkshire) campaign group.

He believes there needs to be greater accountability to avoid a repeat of past scandals that have shocked the nation. “Quality assurance is a good thing, but that alone will not deliver a well-funded social care service,” said the Archbishop. “I would like to suggest that the commissioning bodies also ought to be inspected, to ensure that sufficient funds are provided for the work they commission, and therefore ought to be accountable, together with the providers, for the success or failure of provision.”

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