State of our Nation

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.

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 AssessmentsVicky 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.

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.

The State of the NationThe State of our Nation Podcast looks at all things to do with social care in England today. Series 2, Episode 1: Introduction to the new series & The power of truth: why government transparency on social care funding matters Featuring: Dr Anna Severwright OBE and Kari Gerstheimer, CEO Access Social CareIn this episode Access Social Care Founder and CEO Kari Gerstheimer is joined by her new co-host Dr Anna Severwright from #SocialCareFuture. They begin by exploring how they both came to be so passionate about social care rights and talk about the organisations they convened. Kari also updates Anna on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that ASC have made over the last 2 years to better understand how the government decides how much budget to allocate to adult social care funding. The requests have been denied by 2 government departments in spite of the Information Commissioner supporting their disclosure in the public interest. Kari outlines why this case is so important and outlines ASC's plan to begin a.sector wide campaign for greater transparency.Click here to visit Access Social Care websiteClick here ot find out more about #SocialCareFuture

Episode 10: The State of the Nation Report - Behind the NumbersFeaturing: Hannah Hewish (Legal Strategy Manager at Access Social Care) and Sarah O'Grady (Social Affairs Correspondent at the Daily Express).This month, Access Social Care Founder and CEO Kari Gerstheimer is joined by Hannah Hewish and Sarah O'Grady for a special episode discussing the findings of our latest State of the Nation report.The report is the result of an innovative data collaboration project working with nine different helpline organisations. It allows us to produce a comprehensive assessment of the complex issues facing our sector, and spotlights the emerging themes in social care advice provision.In this episode, Hannah provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of the report and takes us through some of its key findings. We then hear from Sarah about some of the issues behind the numbers, based on her extensive experience reporting on social affairs.Click here to read the State of The Nation Report

Episode 9: Overseas recruitment in social careFeaturing: Dr Cecilia Anim CBE, Clinical Nurse and former President of the Royal College of NursingThis month Kari is joined by Cecilia Anim for a special mini episode discussing overseas recruitment in the social care sector - a hot topic in the news right now.They talk about government proposals to reduce immigration, staff shortages and the exploitation of international workers, as well as how to improve staff retention and why we must properly appreciate the vital work of those in the sector. 

Featuring: Alan Bird (Chief Technology Officer at Access Social Care), Victoria Albrecht (Founder and CEO at Springbok AI), Miriam Valencia (Head of Digital Content at Access Social Care) and Finbar Mulholland (Product Manager at Access Social Care).This month, our CEO Kari Gerstheimer is joined by Alan, Miriam and Finbar from Access Social Care and Victoria from Springbok AI to discuss our award-winning social care legal advice chatbot.They talk about why we decided to build a chatbot, the technology behind it, the journey so far, the challenges and potential of using AI, and what’s next for this exciting project. You can also hear about our new pilot programme, and how we’re working with other organisations to support more people and drive meaningful change. This episode is an illuminating insight into how digital innovation can be a powerful force for good.Want to find out more?Learn more about our ChatbotRead about our recent award winExpress your interest in joining our pilot programme

Featuring: Shola Apena Rogers (Programme and Partnerships Manager at Black Thrive), Robert Horton (Culturally Appropriate Peer Advocate at Black Thrive), Jennine Bailey (Information and Advice Co-ordinator at Access Social Care), and Harry Clarke-Ezzidio (Policy Reporter at the New Statesman).This month, Kari is joined by Shola and Robert from Black Thrive and Jennine from Access Social Care to discuss why racialised communities have worse social care outcomes than the general population. They talk about how traumatic experiences can affect how people access support, the work Black Thrive and ASC are doing around this, and what they think would improve the state of our nation when it comes to social care.Kari also talks to New Statesman reporter Harry about health and social care inequalities, what happened to the government’s promise of “bold action” to “break the link between people’s background and their prospect for a healthy life”, and why it’s vital that we show proper appreciation for the social care workforce.Support our cost of living care crisis campaign here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/cost-of-living-care-crisis/