Care system is on brink of collapse, warns watchdog
ENGLAND’S social care system is at risk of collapse because of a chronic staff shortage, low wages and an ageing population, the spending watchdog warns today.
In a damning report, the National Audit Office said the high turnover of staff was having a devastating impact on care for the elderly.
There are 1.3million care workers, but two million will be needed by 2035 to cope with the rising number of elderly people.
On top of this, care homes are at increasing risk of going under because councils can’t afford their fees. The NAO report said England’s care system was too complex, with 20,300 different organisations delivering it. It claimed the crisis was so severe that some areas could be left without care homes altogether.
Sir Amyas Morse, who runs the NAO, said social care had become a ‘Cinderella’ service in which workers no longer felt valued or rewarded.
Almost 7 per cent of jobs in the social- care sector are vacant, and projections show that the care workforce needs to grow by 2.6 per cent a year to keep pace with the rising elderly population. However, the workforce is only rising by 2 per cent at the most – meaning the shortage will only increase.
The NAO said it was hard to fill care- worker vacancies because it was a tough job with low prestige and poor pay. The median wage is £7.50 an hour – just £14,600 a year.
Low pay, among other things, has pushed the turnover rate to 28 per cent, undermining continuity of care for the vulnerable.
The NAO report concluded: ‘Providers are having increasing difficulty recruiting and retainachieved ing workers, and the number of individuals with some level of unmet care needs is increasing.’
It said the Department of Health had failed to boost employment in the sector, adding: ‘The actions taken by the department in its oversight role have not demonstrably improved the sustainability of the workforce and so have not value for money. The department needs to address this challenge urgently and give the care workforce the attention it requires.’
Age UK said the shortage of care workers meant the care needs of 1.2million vulnerable people were not being met.
Caroline Abrahams, its charity director, added: ‘This report is a damning indictment of the failure of successive governments to carry out workforce planning, and the result is the dangerously fragile situation we see today.’
The NAO report also said that care jobs lacked kudos and advancement opportunities, adding: ‘Roles in the care sector suffer from low prestige and perceived poorer options for career progression compared with similar roles in the NHS.’
The vacancy rate for registered nursing jobs in the care sector has more than doubled to 9 per cent since 2013, and many care organisations are reliant on foreign workers.
Sir Amyas said: ‘Social care cannot continue as a Cinderella service – without a valued and rewarded workforce, adult social care cannot fulfil its crucial role of supporting elderly and vulnerable people in society. The department needs to respond quickly by giving the sector the attention it needs.’
Barbara Keeley, Labour’s social care spokesman, said: ‘Cuts to social care budgets will reach £ 6.3billion by March, which means worse pay and conditions for overstretched care staff, whose numbers are not keeping up with everincreasing demand for care from older people and vulnerable working-age people.’
‘A damning indictment’