Why Andy Burnham is right to want for-profit firms out of social care

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a sweeping reform of England's social care system, moving away from for-profit providers, The Conversation reports. His plan: a new national care service within two years that's person-centered, better integrated with the NHS, and free from commercial profiteering on vulnerable people. The core issue: for-profit care homes, which run most of England's social care, consistently deliver worse quality than non-profit alternatives, cherry-pick healthier patients, and concentrate in wealthy areas, widening inequality. To reshape the system, Burnham is considering two paths. One would rebalance procurement to favor ethical ownership—councils, charities, cooperatives. The other would mandate that existing for-profit operators convert to non-profit status or face replacement by state-run care—the approach Wales took with children's social care in 2025. Expect resistance: for-profit providers are already threatening market exit.

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