State of our Nation

This episode of the State of our Nation shines a light on the critical issue of health and social care inequalities faced by Black and other minority ethnic groups in the UK. Our guest this time is Charles Kwaku-Odoi, CEO of the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN) who shares his experience to highlight the key issues. Namely, a lack of trust in healthcare systems, negative experiences wi...

Join Kari and Anna as they welcome Svetlana Kotova from Inclusion London to discuss the complexities of charging for social care. Svetlana Kotova.  Director of Campaigns and Justice is a lifelong advocate for disability rights, and shares her journey from her early years in Russia to her impactful work in the UK. When she first arrived in the West she was  surprised to discover that disability rig...

Are strengths-based assessments a "wolf in sheep's clothing?"  In this episode, Kari and Anna ask a critical question: are they actually doing more harm than good? Anna shares a frustrating personal experience where a strengths-based review felt rigid, unhelpful, and ultimately left her feeling confused and boxed in, rather than empowered. This leads to a deeper exploration of the potential downsi...

Welcome to the State of Our Nation podcast. We recorded this episode in the run up to Christmas 2024 with Anna Severwright, Kari Gerstheimer and guest, James Bullion, former director of Adult Services at Norfolk and president of ADASS, also DHSC lead for social care discharges and recently, interim Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC. This omnibus edition of the podcast looks backwards ove...

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 B...

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 chan...

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 enqu...

The State of the Nation The 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 Care In this episode Access Social Care Founder and CEO Kari Gerstheim...

Episode 10: The State of the Nation Report - Behind the Numbers Featuring: 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 repo...

Episode 9: Overseas recruitment in social care Featuring: Dr Cecilia Anim CBE, Clinical Nurse and former President of the Royal College of Nursing This 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 explo...

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...

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 d...

Kirstie Jones, Group People Director at Salutem Care and Christoph Marr, Managing Director at Marr Procurement This month Kari is joined by Kirstie Jones and Christoph Marr to ask, how can we solve the ever growing social care workforce crisis? Kirstie tells us about the new Salutem Care Competency Framework and what they are doing to retain staff and increase recruitment into the care sector. Chr...

Chris Minnoch, CEO of Legal Aid Practitioners Group and Lainey Gough, Director of Operations and Impact at Access Social Care This month Kari is joined by Chris Minnoch and Lainey Gough to talk about all things Legal Aid and Community Care. They cover the current state of the system and the impact this has on those on working in legal aid, legal aid for community care and how this affects Access S...

Lee Peart, Editor in Chief at Caring Times & Teresa Exelby, CPO of Community Integrated Care and Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care. Happy New Year! This month Kari is joined on the news roundup by Lee Peart from Caring Times - to talk about the latest headlines in social care and what to expect in the coming months. She will also be speaking with Teresa Exelby, Chief People Officer at Commu...

Richard Humphries, Social Care Advisor and author of 'Ending the Social Care Crisis' Welcome to the State of our Nation. This month Kari is joined by social care advisor and author Richard Humphries, to round out the year with a debrief of 2022 and some key happenings in the sector. Richard kindly shares his expert knowledge of the social care crisis and talks more about how things got so bad, he...

Access Social Care's Jacky Martel and Kate Whittaker & CEO of Dimensions, Rachael Dodgson. Welcome to the second episode of the State of our Nation. This month Kari is joined by two of Access Social Care's own. Jacky and Kate speak about the vital work they do in the community to provide legal advice to people with social care needs, and explain just how important their role is in light of the...

Alison Holt, BBC Social Affairs Editor and Edel Harris OBE, CEO of Mencap with Ciara Lawrence, Engagement Lead. Welcome to the first ever episode Kari of the State of our Nation. This month Kari is joined on the news roundup by BBC Social Affairs Editor, Alison Holt to talk through the latest headlines in social care. She will also be speaking with Edel Harris OBE, CEO and Ciara Lawrence, Engageme...