Care Crisis: Could Volunteer Teenagers Fix It? (Paul Sagar)

Paul Sagar depends on carers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He could die without them. It's been that way ever since the academic at King's College London fell in a rock climbing accident three years ago and was paralysed from the neck down. His experiences in England's adult social care system - and the stories he has heard from others - have led him to a radical plan for how to address its spiralling costs, staff shortages, and increasing demand. Paul thinks that, before they go to university, students should be offered the chance to volunteer in the care sector for at least a year, in exchange for a discount on their future university tuition fees.

Gabriel Gatehouse hears Paul's remarkable story and puts his solution to the test: how many teenagers would actually go for it, and would they make a big enough difference?

This episode was recorded before Andy Burnham announced plans to end the pensions triple lock by 2030 to help fund a National Care Service in England.

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Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday.

Series Producer: Simon Tulett Producer: Bob Howard Technical Producer: Jonny Hall Digital Producer: Daniel Raza Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham