Mike Padgham, Chair of The Independent Care Group, is tirelessly campaigning for changes in Social Care; he commissioned me to write a poem to The Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the budget. I wrote it as a response to a recent tweet from Rishi Sunak, as well as an invitation from Mike for the Chancellor to visit him at his care home in Scarborough.
A Poem for Rishi Sunak
Level up —
Go on.
Unleash the country’s potential,
but let that be human,
not simply
Fiscal.
Make the funds you proffer
ensure that care be offered
to all those people neglected —
1.5 million affected
by
a
Lack
of
Care.
Are you aware?
It won’t just take more money,
but a massive policy shift.
It’s your opportunity
to act without impunity.
And fix this national rift.
Take this chance,
shake it up.
Perhaps with Cummings and Johnson
sit, and have a cup…
A cup of kindness
Of mindfulness
About humankind
And the kind of humans
We
Strive
To
Be.
– how can any government rest easily?
When
1.5 million people
Need your help
Desperately.
Let’s have a National Health and Social Care Service:
fund them together
— your citizens deserve it.
Let social care go under…
And
The NHS
will be knocked
asunder.
Come and meet us;
we can advise,
we can consult,
and open up your eyes
to the needs of the people,
so many out there —
vulnerable people,
requiring your care.
So, please, do crack on.
Crack it all open
Mix it up
Take a risk
Write the words that dare not be spoken.
Level up with yourself
About Social Care.
Think about the nation’s health —
Real people
out there.