Council bosses have said attempts to patch up the social care system have “run out of road” and are demanding urgent help for England’s “utterly exhausted” army of 4.7 million unpaid carers.
“Never in my professional career have I seen the adult care system so close to breaking point,” said Sarah McClinton, the outgoing president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), which commissions care services. “Millions of people are in pain or distress because they aren’t getting the care they need and family and friends picking up the pieces are being pushed to the edge.”
Amid crumbling confidence in government promises to reform social care and frustration at piecemeal funding announcements, ADASS will launch its own reform plan on Wednesday, urging pay parity between care workers and the NHS, a more universal system of care and a right to paid carers leave.
This month, ministers cut by 50% a planned fund to boost the social care workforce, which is struggling with 165,000 vacancies, sparking concern among social care experts wanting reform. Last year, the government announced £7.5bn in new funding for social care – covering places in care homes and at home – but this was only half the minimum amount that MPs have said is needed.
Meanwhile, councils estimate they have had to find £1.8bn in savings in the last three years despite increasing demand for social care help in an ageing population wrestling with more complex needs and rising dementia.
“We don’t expect the government to wave a magic wand, but we do need the political will to invest in a long-term plan to ensure good care is available to everyone, everywhere,” said McClinton, who is the director of health and adult services for the borough of Greenwich in London.
ADASS’s report argues that unpaid carers – more than a quarter of whom are disabled – are owed a right to paid carers leave. A bill offering one week of paid leave is going through parliament.
Beverley Tarka, the incoming ADASS president, who is also one of the UK’s millions of unpaid carers, said she agreed “things have never been so bad” in social care and said a recent government announcement to halve £500m in funding to boost the workforce was disappointing.
“As a society we have asked a huge amount of carers and during the pandemic we asked more again,” she said. “They rose to the challenge – as they always do – but they are now utterly exhausted. We owe them not just our thanks, not just our respect, but real, meaningful support that will help them carry on and will give caring the status it deserves.”
Tarka, the director of adults, health and community for the London borough of Haringey, also urged a “change away from the dominant government narrative [about the purpose of social care] aligned to hospital discharge, where social care is often maligned and cast as the root of system failures.”
This week, the Guardian revealed that trust in care homes had slumped, with half of the British public lacking confidence that friends or family would be well looked after. Nationwide polling revealed that nine out of 10 older people believe there are not enough care staff and half have lost confidence in the standard of care homes since the start of the pandemic.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.
