On 13 June, Fabian Hamilton - MP for Leeds North East - hosted a performance of Unforgettable: Telling the Care Home Story at the Houses of Parliament.
 
Commissioned by Leeds Care Association and written by Pluto Play Productions founder Brian Daniels, Unforgettable is a new play which puts the experiences of staff and care home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic centre stage.
 
The post-show discussion was chaired by Westward Care’s Managing Director, and Chair of Leeds Care Association, Peter Hodkinson. He was joined by a number of health and social care professionals. The performance prompted the panellists to discuss the urgent need for action and change in the social care sector.
 
Peter Hodkinson, Chair of Leeds Care Association and Managing Director of Westward Care noted: “It was a privilege to take Unforgettable to the Houses of Parliament, and to chair the post-show discussion which prompted a passionate discussion about the urgent need for national and legislative change in social care sector.
 
At Leeds Care Association we represent active care providers who are consistently interested in how we can all improve care for our residents and their families and professionalise the skills and expertise the care home workforce brings to the sector.
 
There was a strong appetite amongst health and social care professionals at that event to share our learning and experiences of Covid and activate change around the ‘visibility’ of the social care sector and its contribution to society. We also openly acknowledged that as a whole, the care system is a broken system with no one taking responsibility to change how it works. We need to take action into our own hands.
 
We need to champion our own sector and drive change in the corridors of power. We need to connect more powerfully with our communities so care homes are not perceived as a ‘last resort’ but ‘a positive choice’ for people in later life. And we need to work together to create this change.”