The founder of a major care provider has said the social care system needs a fundamental overhaul, not just more taxpayer money. Ben Maruthappu, CEO of Cera, which provides at-home care using technology like AI, said it is "great" to see social care "getting the political attention it deserves" after decades of reviews with little progress.
Concerns Over Funding Debate
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has set out plans for a National Care Service, promising better pay for carers and closer integration with the NHS. But Mr Maruthappu warned that focusing only on funding would be a mistake.
"My concern is that we will spend the next few years debating how much money social care needs, without fundamentally changing the way care is actually delivered," he said. He added that more investment is likely needed, citing around 2 million older people in England with unmet care needs and more than 110,000 staff vacancies. However, he argued that "pouring taxpayer funding into today's reactive model is like pouring water into a leaky bucket."
Prevention and Technology
One way to cut costs is preventing hospital admissions, as home care costs about 10 times less than hospital care. Mr Maruthappu said: "To deliver a National Care Service that is actually affordable for the taxpayer, we must prioritise prevention, technology, and helping people stay independent at home – ensuring every single pound of public investment goes further."
Cera uses AI to detect health deterioration early, allowing intervention to prevent hospitalisation. When he launched the company in 2016, many providers still stored notes in filing cabinets, making it hard to spot patterns. Even today, information remains fragmented, he said. This predictive approach has reduced patient falls by about 20 per cent, a major cause of hospital admissions for the elderly.
Hospitals Not the Default
Mr Maruthappu, a former A&E doctor, said hospitals should never be "the default place for people to live or recover simply because care isn't available in the community." He warned that prolonged hospital stays can worsen a person's condition, increasing risks of infections, deterioration, and loss of mobility.
He cited figures showing 13,600 hospital beds in the UK were occupied in June by people medically fit to leave but unable to get home care. This costs the taxpayer around £562 per patient per night. He urged: "There is only one way to reverse the corridor care crisis, and it isn’t building more hospitals. We need to ensure vulnerable people get the care they need, where they overwhelmingly prefer to be: in the dignity of their own home."
Political Response
The Prime Minister has vowed to expedite the independent Casey commission into social care, aiming to bring it forward by a year. He said: "The first thing is to ask Baroness Louise Casey to bring forward her review by a year. So, working with Yvette (Cooper) and with Angela (Rayner) and other colleagues, we want to expedite that review. We ideally want to do it even sooner, but we’ve got to be realistic. But if we say a year from now that we have that independent review, then I think we can rise to this challenge with the urgency it requires."
