The Liberal Democrats have called on Rishi Sunak to hold a cross-party summit in Downing Street on social care, to tackle soaring vacancies and the funding black hole.
It comes after the NHS and social care crisis was repeatedly brought up by voters at last weeks’ local elections.
The Conservative Party 2019 manifesto committed to “urgently seek a cross-party consensus” on social care and they pledged that no one would have to sell their house to pay for care.
Proper reform of social care is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK. Half a million people in England are now waiting for care, many stranded in hospital beds due to the lack of space in care homes.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new Carers’ Minimum Wage, £2 an hour above the minimum wage, to tackle chronic shortages in the sector. This would help address the staggering 165,000 vacancies in social care, which are leading to more pressure on GPs, A&E departments and ambulance services.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
Our care homes are struggling to cope with soaring vacancies, leaving millions of older and vulnerable people struggling to get the care they need.
This crisis is also having a devastating knock-on impact on the NHS, contributing to record long waits at A&E and appalling ambulance delays.
Voters across the country made their voices heard at the local elections and said enough is enough: things cannot continue as they are. People are fed up with having to wait weeks for a GP, hours for an ambulance, or seeing their relatives stranded in hospital because of a lack of care workers.
Rishi Sunak needs to put politics aside, listen to voters and launch the urgent cross-party talks on social care the Conservative Party promised years ago.
Under the Liberal Democrat plans, social care workers would be paid at least £2 an hour more than the current minimum wage, bringing their pay up to £12.42 an hour. The proposals would benefit 850,000 workers, making up more than half of all people working in frontline care.
Crisis in Social Care
- Only 2 in 5 people are able to leave hospital when they are ready to do so, contributing to record-breaking waits in A&E and dangerous ambulance handover delays
- There are currently 165,000 vacancies in social care – up 55,000 since last year
- There could be up to 500,000 vacancies in social care by the end of 2030
- 82% of workers in adult social care are women. The average age is 44 (with 28% aged 55 and over). 12% are Black (compared to 4% of the population)
- Every day an estimated 13,000 patients who are medically fit to be discharged from hospital are stuck on wards because there’s no care available for them at home or in the community
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Jason Connor
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5 Comments
Great to see us picking this issue as one of the first after the local elections. If only Labour were to not give in to populist talk and repeatedly emphasise that Social Care is a huge contributor to the problems of the NHS, then maybe the public would take his on board and not take notice only when reference is made to NHS. Many health service managers have made this point very often, but they tend only to be heard very briefly on very few news reports. It is important to remember also that social care for families and young people not only older people is in dire need, as shown recently by the inadequate mental health provision for youngsters and the problem with getting that part of the Education Health Care Plan played by the Health service for youngsters in school.
Top voter issue noted, calls for action superb, coalition to secure the best actions more important than ‘Party’. What a story to tell.
Perfect for Focus leaflet near you!
As a former LD Cabinet member for Social Care (still with scars from trying to protect a budget in the Coalition years), it’s good to hear LD MPs are now showing an interest in Social Care – though not before time.
I recall the King’s Fund evaluated the impact of austerity on Social Care in England between 2010-15. Unlike the NHS budget (which the Coalition Government pledged to protect from real-term reductions) adult Social Care (the largest controllable element in a local authority budget) wasn’t ring-fenced. English Councils were thus unable to protect Adult Social Care from cuts between 2010-15.
Over that period the number of people aged 85 plus rose by 9 per cent – whilst local authority spending on Social Care for older people actually fell in real terms by 17 per cent. It became difficult to get publicly funded social care. The number of recipients dropped by 25 per cent in 2010-15 from 1.7 million to 1.3 million, whilst in 90 per cent of English local authorities only those with ‘substantial’ or ‘critical’ needs got publicly funded services. The underpaid home visiting care workers’ were hit by the welfare cuts and the bedroom tax. It was less acute in Scotland, though funds from Westminster to Holyrood were cut by £ 500 million with knock on consequences.
‘Downing Street Summits’ might produce publicity but are unlikely to produce actual results. A firm unbending manifesto commitment just might….. in the event of a future Coalition.
Unless social care can transform itself with say 5 years, it should be brought back under public control and funding. Making social care subservient to making a profit has worsened the availability and quality of care. Our mostly elderly residents deserve better.