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‘Ravaged’ social care needs immediate funding says Levelling Up Committee
The government urgently needs to inject additional funding into the ‘ravaged’ social care sector, according to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee. In a new report, the cross-party LUHC says that adult social care needs both an immediate funding injection and a long-term plan. The funding is required now, says the committee, to combat pressures including rising inflation and pressing, unmet care needs. According to the report, ‘the adult social
care sector does not have enough funding either in the here and now, or in the longer- term’.
The report concludes that:
n On adult social care, the government currently has nothing more than a vision, with no roadmap, no timetable, no milestones, and no measures of success.
n The government should come forward with 10-year plans for how it will achieve its vision outlined in the People at the heart
upon people for their care. However, the government should be under no illusions that it has come close to rescuing social care and it needs to be open with the public that there is a long way to go.
of care white paper and for the adult social care workforce.
n The government should provide a multi- year funding settlement to give local authorities what they need in terms of their own sustainability and their ability to help shape sustainable local care markets.
LUHC Chair Clive Betts said: “The government deserves credit for attempting reform and for acting to try to prevent the unpredictable and catastrophic costs which can be inflicted
NHS leaders warn that social care recruitment crisis risks patient safety
The social care staffing crisis is putting the safety of NHS patients at risk, according to an NHS Confederation survey. Around 250 NHS leaders took part in the survey. It found that: n Over 90 per cent of NHS leaders identified a social care workforce crisis in their area which they expect will get worse this winter.
n Nearly all NHS leaders said the lack of capacity in social care is putting the care and safety of patients at risk.
n More than four in five NHS leaders said that the absence of care packages for people to be able to return home or be moved into a care home is the main reason why medically fit patients are stuck in hospital longer than they should be.
n Almost all NHS leaders said that the most impactful solution would be better pay for social care staff and want the government to increase investment in social care as a priority.
Professor Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the National Care Forum, commented: “The resoundingly stark message from both healthcare and social care leaders is that urgent action is needed now. This survey is clear – the lack of social care capacity is causing huge pressures across the healthcare system and having a very real human impact on people, their families and the entire health and care workforce. “When healthcare and social care leaders stand side by side to urge the government to increase investment in care services and boost wages for care workers, then it really is time to listen. Alongside urgent action on pay, terms, and conditions, there is also an urgent need to create a dedicated and fully funded social care workforce plan to enable a long-term approach to workforce development, recruitment, and retention, to meet significant demographic change.”
“Ultimately, whether it relates to immediate cost pressures or on wider structural issues in the sector, the fundamental problem is that there continues to be a large funding gap in adult social care which needs filling. Those who need care, their loved ones, and care workers deserve better.
“The NHS and adult social care provision should not be pit against one another. The two systems are interdependent and each needs to be adequately funded to reduce pressure on the other. Wherever the money comes from - from allocating a higher proportion of levy proceeds to social care, or from central government grants - the government urgently needs to allocate more funding to adult social care in the order of several billions each year.”
Investigation after wheelchair-bound care home resident tasered by police dies
Two police officers are facing a manslaughter investigation after a 93-year-old care home resident died three weeks after being tasered. Donald Burgess lived at a care home in St
Leonards-on-Sea. An amputee, diabetic, and wheelchair user, Mr Burgess, a carpenter who had been living with dementia, is said to have threatened staff at the home with a knife on 21 June, whereupon Sussex Police were called. The officers confronted Mr Burgess, using a baton, pepper spray, and finally a taser. Mr Burgess was then taken to hospital in handcuffs. He subsequently died in hospital on 13 July, although the exact cause of death has yet to be established.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now investigating the incident. Both officers involved in the confrontation have been informed that they are under criminal investigation for manslaughter.
September 2022
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 9
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