Social care ‘underfunded and precarious’ MPs warn

SOCIAL care in England will be on “its knees” without immediate radical reform, an influential cross-party group of MPs warn.

The sector is underfunded with a workforce suffering from low pay, low esteem and high turnover of staff, leaving it in a “precarious state”, according to the Public Accounts Committee.

In a report today, MPs also raise concerns over growing numbers of pensioners and other vulnerable people who are not getting the help they need.

Experts say the funding gap is set to exceed £2billion alone by 2020 to reflect inflation, wages and demographic change.

Another £1.3billion is required to stabilise key pressures including improved training, pay and conditions.

Glen Garrod, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: “We have consistently warned that the absence of adequate, long-term funding for adult social care is having very detrimental impacts.” James Taylor, of disability charity Scope, said: “This is yet more evidence that our social care system is crumbling in the face of increasing demand and chronic underfunding.”

The MPs’ report recognised the Department of Health and Social Care is “committed” to addressing the issues facing the sector through its workforce strategy and forthcoming green paper on funding of care for older adults.

But it added: “Given the pressures on the sector, we are concerned that the department sees the green paper as a cure-all and underestimates the scale of the challenge.”

Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier has urged the Government to publish a long-term funding plan for care. She said: “Adult social care needs sustainable funding and a stable workforce.

“The sector is scraping by and without an explicit, long-term plan backed by Government it could soon be on its knees.

“Levels of unmet need are high and rising, short-term funding fixes are a road to nowhere and the ingrained issues that lead to high turnover in the workforce could be compounded by Brexit.”

The report comes as the Nuffield Trust think tank suggests that the UK should look to Japan where long-term care insurance is universal for the over-65s and the disabled from the age of 40.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “We know the social care system is under pressure – that’s why we’ve provided an extra £2billion funding to the sector and a further £150million for the next year.”