Keep your promise and fix social care, PM told
Care bosses voice anger at ‘outrageous’ blame game & beg for help
BORIS Johnson must carry out his promise to fix the care crisis to prevent thousands of vulnerable residents being placed in danger, industry leaders warn today.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Care England, which represents 4,000 providers, spells out how the ‘ravages’ of the pandemic have ‘plunged the sector into depths of uncertainty never known before’.
Almost 30,000 more care home residents died in the first three months of the pandemic compared to previous years, including a third who did not have the virus.
Care homes were extremely vulnerable to outbreaks as they had limited supplies of protective equipment early on, minimal access to testing and Government officials did not deem them to be at particularly high risk. In addition, hospitals were encouraged to discharge patients into homes at the start of the pandemic in March even though many were carrying the virus and passed it on to staff and frail residents.
Others are believed to have died as an indirect consequence of the virus because they were unable to see GPs or other health professionals and hospitals were less willing to admit more patients. In its letter, Care England states: ‘With a second wave on the horizon, it is imperative that the Government fixes the stark social care crisis now.
‘With such a large majority in Parliament, now is the time to put an end to all the past inertia and make changes.’ It is nearly a year since Mr Johnson promised to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve’.
His pledge outside Downing Street on July 24, 2019 followed a Daily Mail campaign which exposed how families were spending billions caring for loved ones with dementia while the Government failed to address the crisis.
Yet in the last 12 months neither Mr Johnson nor Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed anything more about their plan. Last week the Prime Minister provoked fury by implying care homes were responsible for their virus death toll by failing to follow correct procedures.
The letter insists: ‘It was outrageous to try to throw the blame for the tens of thousands of tragic care home deaths to the very people who have been striving to protect them. It is misleading and unfair to single out care providers when in reality the social care sector was abandoned to give priority to the NHS.
‘The failure to protect care homes has thrown the entire sector into disarray. There is no need for more consultation, inquiries, rhetoric and the like. We are fed up with procrastination; it is a crying shame that this pandemic has shown the nation just what an important sector we are, but we must seize this opportunity and make change or generations to come will never forgive us.’
The Mail has repeatedly exposed the toll of the pandemic on care homes. NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens has previously warned that coronavirus had shone a ‘very harsh spotlight’ on the failings of the care system and urged politicians to fix it within a year. Labour’s health spokesman Liz Kendall backed the letter from Care England, saying: ‘Boris Johnson promised to fix the crisis in social care and he must now step up to the mark.
‘Rather than blaming care homes and staff who have gone the extra mile to look after their residents, the Prime Minister should be taking responsibility for the Government’s actions and learning lessons from his mistakes.’
Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said the coronavirus crisis had exposed ‘the systemic failings that have bedevilled care for a long time’. Fiona Carragher, of the Alzheimer’s Society, added that care homes and dementia sufferers had been ‘unforgivably abandoned’ during the pandemic.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We are doing all we can to support care homes.’ They stressed repeat testing had been introduced along with ‘significant’ funding, including £600million to boost infection control, and 156million items of personal protective equipment.’