Inside The Care Crisis With Ed Balls will see the former politician and one-time Strictly star donning rubber gloves and working shifts at a Scarborough care home, as he tries to understand the crisis that has engulfed the care industry.
Ed recently watched his mother, who has dementia, move into a care home and after witnessing the issues faced by care home staff first-hand, wants to take a closer look in this two-part BBC2 series.
Those issues were made even more serious by the pandemic and now Ed is taking an immersive journey into the elderly care sector, to explore what’s gone wrong and what could help put it right. Here's everything we know about the documentary series...
When will 'Inside The Care Crisis With Ed Balls' be on BBC2?
The two-part series will begin on Monday Nov. 8 on BBC2.
What can we expect in 'Inside The Care Crisis With Ed Balls'?
Ed will be travelling to St Cecillia's, a mid-sixed care home in Scarborough, to learn more about a sector that is struggling to keep up with demand in today's society. A statement from the BBC reads...
"Living and working alongside the staff and residents, Ed will get a taste of the challenges they face, including hearing heart-rending stories of the devastation wreaked by Covid.
"He’ll meet families from all walks of life who’ll share their experiences of their sacrifices and struggles in dealing with a relative or parent in care. And he’ll travel beyond Yorkshire to see how individual care homes and councils have responded to the crisis in innovative ways.
"Armed with his findings, Ed will sit down with those in power - in local government and Whitehall - to discuss what he’s seen and explore possible reforms to incredibly complex problems.
"With trademark warmth and curiosity, Ed Balls: Crisis in Care, will take the audience to the frontline of care, revealing powerful human stories in a sector facing more pressure than ever before."
Ed Balls on the crisis in care homes...
"The crisis in social care is deepening, and we need to work together to sort it now," says Ed. "Because my mum has dementia and lives in a care home I thought I knew what happened in them; but as I started to dig deeper into the realities of the issues that care workers face daily, I realised I've only ever scratched the surface.
"Covid exposed and accelerated a long-term decline in this country's provision for adult social care, but it’s also given us a chance to do something about it. It’s for our parents now and our children’s futures that we must take this chance to understand more about what's needed and do something before it’s all too late."
Is there a trailer for 'Inside The Care Crisis With Ed Balls'?
Not yet, but here's a BBC news clip that highlights some of the problems Ed will be encountering in the series.
