Millions at the mercy of ‘unsustainable’ social care crisis, warn MPs | UK | News


Millions are now at the mercy of a perfect storm that has brought social care “to its knees”, a damming report claims.

MPs say long-standing but unresolved issues have placed some of the most vulnerable and those looking after them in crisis.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee found chronic understaffing, rising waiting lists and patchwork funding are piling sustained financial pressure on councils.

Chair Dame Meg Hillier said: “Years of fragmented funding and the absence of a clear roadmap has brought the adult social care sector to its knees. Waiting lists are rising, the sector is short of tens of thousands of essential staff, and local authority finances are being placed under an unsustainable amount of pressure.”

It comes as John’s Campaign, Care Rights UK and the Patients Association are represented as core participants at the ongoing the Covid Inquiry which is now investigating the impact of the pandemic on the adult social care sector.

The three organisations will be represented by law firm Leigh Day as they aim to ensure the voices of people needing care, their families and care providers are fully heard.

They speak on behalf of those affected by the pandemic either because they relied on care services or as relatives and carers, many of whom remain traumatised by their experiences.

They are fighting to enact Gloria’s Law, named after actress Ruthie Henshall’s mother who spent lockdown isolated and alone, has been dogged and determined.

Gloria, a former teacher, suffered with Parkinson’s and dementia and was a resident in Spring Lodge Care Home in Ipswich, Suffolk, but her symptoms rapidly deteriorated and was only able to see Ruthie through a window until she fought to be allowed in. She died in May 2021 at 87.

A probe found local authorities supported more than one million people with care needs at a cost of £23.7 billion in 2022/23. There are around 500,000 people awaiting attention on their case with concerns £2.7bn in additional taxpayer funding allocated to ease pressures “ended up increasing profit margins for some providers”.

Meanwhile, vacancies in the sector which employs around 1.6 million people, exceeded 152,000 in March, a rate of almost 10%. The committee says future reliance on overseas staff raises significant questions of the impact of proposed visa restrictions and exploitation.

In 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care set out a 10-year vision for adult social care. In the same year, the Government committed £5.4 billion over three years, on top of existing budgets, to reform the sector. However, in 2023 plans for reform were revised, scaling back short-term plans to £729 million for the period 2022/23 to 2024/25.

It has urged the Department for Health and Social Care to set out how it will ensure “more stable funding” and give local councils greater certainty to plan.

Ms Hillier said: “The decision to dedicate a single chapter in the Adult Social Care Reform White Paper to the social care workforce does not do justice to the level of work that will be required and feels to us like a bit of a cop-out. While an NHS-style workforce strategy for social care may not be feasible, the [government] must set out how it will how it provide leadership across the sector to identify and address workforce challenges.

“A 10-year vision is all well and good, but this alone is not enough to bring about the fundamental changes this sector so desperately needs.”

It comes as John’s Campaign, Care Rights UK and the Patients Association are represented as core participants at the ongoing the Covid Inquiry which is now investigating the impact of the pandemic on the adult social care sector.

The three organisations will be represented by law firm Leigh Day as they aim to ensure the voices of people needing care, their families and care providers are fully heard.

They speak on behalf of those affected by the pandemic either because they relied on care services or as relatives and carers, many of whom remain traumatised by their experiences.

Helen Wildbore, director of Care Rights UK, said: “People relying on care services were some of the worst affected by the Government’s mismanagement of the pandemic. They were subject to one of the most sustained attacks on their human rights we have ever seen. The Inquiry’s spotlight will, finally, be on social care and the questions families have been asking for four years will have to be answered.”



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