Carers are ‘being let down by government’
The lack of a long-term national plan for social care is ‘letting down’ both people receiving care and carers, a Portsmouth City Council cabinet member has said.
Backing the contents of a new report by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) in England, councillorMatthewWinnington, whose portfolio covers the sector, said the government had failed to provide enough support.
Adass’ president Sarah McClinton said the organisation’s ‘roadmap’ highlighted the need for a long-term government commitment and that ‘years of under-investment’ in social care had left it facing its biggest crisis ever.
The 46-page document makes a series of recommendations, including greater support for unpaid carers, increased partnership working, the introduction of a ‘home first’ approach and increased pay for carers.
It says ‘political failure lies behind the lack of progress in reform of care and support,’ with successive government and prime ministers blamed for breaking their commitments.
‘After decades of false dawns on reforms and funding, never in my professional career have I seen the adult care system so close to breaking point,’ Ms McClinton said.
‘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.
‘We’ve been trying to patch up social care for years, but we’ve run out of road. We need to act now to save social care.’
She said the government needed to back local councils.
This point has been echoed by Cllr Winnington who said the system was ‘healthy’ in Portsmouth but that the recent closure of several care providers had weakened this position.
‘It’s not all doom and gloom here – there are things we can do and we are being proactive but fundamentally the whole system needs more backing from government,’ he said.
‘We were promised action by Theresa May in 2017 when she was prime minister and more than five years later nothing has happened. Funding is always very shortterm or through overly cumbersome and bureaucratic grants.
‘What we need is a settlement for funding covering at least five years and a real long-term plan from the government.’
David Fothergill the chairman of the Local Government
Association’s community wellbeing board said that some £13bn was needed nationally.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said that the government was ‘full committed’ to a 10-year strategy set out in its 2021 white paper.
‘We have made up to £7.5bn available in additional funding to support adult social care and discharge over the next two years,’ they said.
‘This historic funding boost will put the system on a stronger financial footing and help local authorities address waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.’
Earlier this month the department – currently being led by Steve Barclay as health secretary – also published its ‘next steps to put people at the heart of care’ plan, setting out how £700m will be invested in the sector over the next two years.