Homecare’s time has come.”

That was the powerful message from the latest #VoicesOfCare episode, recorded live at the Homecare Association Annual Conference at The Oval, hosted by M. Suhail Mirza.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Dr Jane Townson, Dr Trudie Fell, Sharon Lowrie and Raina Summerson, one message came through clearly: homecare is not a peripheral part of the health and care system — it is "essential national infrastructure". A timely message for our new Health and Social Care Secretary!

• Dr Jane Townson OBE captured the national moment: “There are three shifts that the government talked about — from hospital to community, treatment to prevention, analogue to digital. All of those three are precisely where homecare sits.”

• Sharon Lowrie made the workforce challenge impossible to ignore: “People don’t leave home care because they don’t like their role. They leave because they want a regular income.”

• Raina Summerson challenged the language of burden around social care: “Older people aren’t a burden. People who are sick aren’t a burden. As a society, we should want to celebrate how we care and support people when they need us.”

• Dr Trudie Fell showed what innovation can look like when it is grounded in purpose, people and technology: “Technology, including AI, can enable people to do the things that people do best — which is build human relationships.”

Together, the conversation explored the future of home care, workforce sustainability, fair pay, immigration policy, commissioning, regulation, technology, AI and the urgent need to value care workers properly.

The question is no longer whether homecare matters.

The question is whether policymakers (including the new Health and Social Care Secretary), commissioners and the wider health system are ready to treat it as central to the future of the NHS, prevention, neighbourhood health and independent living.