Social care hit by ‘perfect storm’ as costs balloon by £3.7bn

Social care services are facing a ‘perfect storm’ of £3.7 billion in additional costs, staff shortages, fewer care beds and increased demand, local authorities warn.

Without extra money, quality and accessibility will have to be further reduced, which means that people may have to wait longer than now for a care package, they say.

Prime Minister Liz Truss is being urged by the County Councils Network to ‘go ahead’ with a pledge of more spending on social care for adults over the next two years – although she has vowed to abolish the National Insurance increase intended to the new health and care allowance.

About 542,000 people waited for care packages, assessments or direct payments and assessments at the end of April, an increase of 37 percent from the six months before, the group says.

CNN, which represents 36 municipalities in provincial areas and covers 25 million people, says services are under pressure pending reforms in October, and urged the new administration to further invest in adult social care in the United States. emergency budget for this week.

While the 1.25 percent increase in national insurance to fund both the NHS and social care looks set to be abolished, the new Truss government has expressed support for the system’s planned shake-up next year.

This would introduce a spending limit of £86,000 and raise the threshold to receive aid from £23,250 to £100,000 – see below.

Today, the new Health Minister Thérèse Coffey will draw up plans for the NHS and social care this winter, while Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will hold a mini-budget on Friday that is expected to cover taxes and aid to help people through the crisis of the cost of livelihood help. .

The County Councils Network says longer wait times for care packages, assessments and payments affect hospital discharge, where people are medically fit to leave hospital, but this is being delayed due to a lack of available care in the community.

It says that about 13,014 or 10 percent of all hospital beds were occupied by people who could be discharged at the end of July, compared to about 10,400 in November last year, with many of these delays due to the adult social care system.

“The new Prime Minister’s pledge in the leadership election to increase spending on adult social care was a welcome acknowledgment that the health care system is significantly underfunded and that this is having a knock-on effect on the NHS,” said councilor Martin Tett, the organization’s spokesperson for care and welfare.

“Services were already under pressure before the government reforms were introduced in October next year, and councils would not receive funding to address these immediate problems.

“However, the situation is now deteriorating with inflation rising, meaning municipalities face extremely challenging 18 months this year and next and higher costs of £3.7bn.

“We are facing the perfect storm of staff shortages, fewer care beds and higher costs – all of which will affect people waiting for care and hospital discharge.

“While the perception is that social care is set with reforms on the way, the experience of those who need care now is anything but. We urge the government to confirm that social care will receive a much-needed financial boost as soon as possible.’

A government spokesman said: ‘The Minister of Health and Social Care is focused on delivering for patients and has outlined her four priorities of A, B, C, D: ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists.

“We will continue to invest the same amount in health and care as envisaged in the levy, and in the short term we have made an additional £3.7bn available to municipalities this year – including £1bn to spend specifically on social care.”