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Baroness Casey calls for a moment of reckoning on adult social care

Baroness Casey calls for a moment of reckoning on adult social care

5 March 2026

Press release: 5 March 2026

In a speech today (5 March) at the Nuffield Trust Summit, Baroness Casey said social care has never had its own “creation moment” and called for a national reckoning equivalent to Beveridge’s reforms in 1948.  

In her speech, Baroness Casey set out how there is currently a reliance on cobbled together underfunded services relying on low-paid care workers, a lack of ownership and accountability, and a deep divide between health and social care which leaves families to navigate alone.  

In her remarks at the Nuffield Trust Summit, Baroness Casey of Blackstock said:  

“Unlike the NHS or indeed the benefits system, social care has never had its own creation moment. No moment when the nation decided what it was for, what people should expect or who should pay, and how. 

“Instead, we inherited a system shaped for a very different age, held together  with add-ons and work arounds, sticking plasters and glue. Without ever having the moment of reckoning we now need.”  

She stated that a national conversation would be needed to seek backing from the public who pay for health and social care through their taxes, but might not even know what social care is.

Baroness Casey also confirmed she has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care asking the Government to take six immediate actions on dementia, motor neurone disease and adult safeguarding due to the urgency of the reform needed in these areas.

This includes asking the Government to scale up dementia trials, appoint a new Dementia Tsar, set up a new National Safeguarding Board to protect vulnerable adults, and to introduce a new fast-track, social care passport for people diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Tanya Curry, Chief Executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association said:  

“We’re proud to have been involved in supporting the Casey Commission’s work, providing evidence, supporting statements and ensuring the voices and experiences of people with motor neurone disease have shaped the Commission’s thinking from the start. 

“We’re  heartened to see Baroness Casey has listened and highlighted within her recommendations the need for a fast-track passport enabling people with MND to secure the care and support they need. A third of people diagnosed with MND die within 12 months, and too often care and support are delivered far too late. People with a disease as devastating as MND should never have to fight to access the services they need.  

“We’ll be keeping the pressure on Government to move fast and implement the Casey Commission’s recommendations for the sake of people with MND now and those who will be diagnosed in the future.” 

Hilary Evans-Newton CBE, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:  

“Dementia is the UK’s leading cause of death—so why isn’t it a national priority? Every year we delay prioritising dementia costs lives and costs the UK billions.   

“Alzheimer’s Research UK has been calling on the Government to prepare for new treatments for the last decade, and despite new drugs licensed by the MHRA last year, our health systems remain woefully underprepared.   

“The Government must deliver on its manifesto commitment to invest in trials and put Britain at the forefront of transforming treatment for dementia. We cannot keep asking families to wait while the science moves ahead.”  

Since the Commission formally launched in April 2025, Baroness Casey and the Independent Commission have met with more than 400 people with lived experience of receiving or delivering care, visited councils, social care providers and NHS workers across the country.

The Commission has also hosted evidence sessions with people working across adult social care including unpaid carers, frontline practitioners, providers, local authorities, NHS workers, and sector representative organisations. The Commission has also set up an online evidence portal where anyone can submit their insights, experiences and ideas for change directly to the team.  

The Commission will be undertaken in two phases with the first report to be published in 2026 and the final phase reporting back by 2028. 

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

  • The speech is available to watch on the Nuffield Trust’s YouTube account: Click here to view.
  • Baroness Casey’s letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with her immediate asks of the Government can be found here: Click here to view.
  • For media enquiries on the Independent Commission’s Terms of Reference or the Government’s response to the Commission and its recommendations, please email DHSC at press.office@dhsc.gov.uk.