LEARNING DISABILITY CARE PROVIDERS FACE PERFECT STORM OF ESCALATING COSTS

Following decades of under-investment, this month’s hike in energy bills and the rising cost pressures of service delivery mean that learning disability care providers are facing not just April showers, but a perfect storm.

Earlier this week Hft published its annual Sector Pulse Check report. Providing a snapshot of the financial health of the learning disability care sector over the past year, it revealed that financial pressures, including the increased rate of inflation and utility and wage bills, had forced 43% of providers to hand back contracts and shut services, while a quarter offered care to fewer people in order to save money.

Clearly, in 2021 local authority contract fees paid to learning disability care providers were not enough to adequately cover the cost of delivering care. Yet these operational costs have risen once again this month, stretching the already finite resources of providers further. However, this isn’t where challenges end. As providers reach a financial cliff edge, investing in recruiting and retaining their most vital asset, care and support staff, feels out of reach for most organisations. The Sector Pulse Check research found that, at any one time in 2021, 16% of positions in the learning disability care workforce were vacant, with staff shortages leading to service closures and admissions being turned down. Social care staff should be paid a fair wage, one which is commensurate with the responsibilities of the job and that will help reduce high turnover and vacancy rates. Yet, despite the introduction of a higher National Living Wage earlier in April, record inflation means that, in real terms, most front-line staff will not see a pay uplift and workforce challenges will persist as our employees cope with the cost of living increase. Ultimately, this month’s hike in living and operating costs compound financial and workforce challenges for the learning disability social care sector, compromising our ability to respond to those who rely on support to live, work and socialise. Fulfilling the potential of our sector, and realising the vision set out by this government’s commitment to

‘fix social care once and for all’, will transform the lives of millions. We must not let escalating costs erode any progress made towards achieving this.

While the new Health and Social Care Levy will raise further funds for social care, the majority of the £5.4bn earmarked for our sector will be spent on implementing the ‘cap and floor model’. It is vital that additional funds are drawn down from the Levy this year to ensure immediate and unprecedented costs faced by providers are covered. Elsewhere, as part of the reform agenda, welcome investment in the workforce will bring clearer routes of progression and improved well-being support.

This will go some way to alleviating recruitment and retention challenges, but does not address the real barrier to success - pay. There needs to be greater clarity around how local authorities will pay fees which cover the real-term cost of living and encourage more individuals to work in our incredible sector.

We can see huge potential in the government’s plans for reform, yet it is vital that social care is placed on a sustainable financial footing to ensure its success, not only for our sector but for our partners in the NHS. We are inextricably linked - while staff shortages and cost pressures force social care to turn down admissions and close services, pressure is passed over to the health system in the guise of delayed discharge and unnecessary admissions. We hope the government will act to ensure that social care providers, and the wider health system, can benefit from reform and have a future in which they will thrive together rather than merely survive.