A major reset is needed to prioritise prevention and early intervention.
The LGA has long highlighted that adult social care exists to enable adults of all ages, and with a range of conditions, to live their best life – and an equal life.
We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our frontline care workforce, as well as unpaid carers, who give so much in supporting people of all ages who draw on care to live the lives they want to lead.
As well as helping people, adult social care contributes at least £50.3 billion to the economy in England and provides significant societal benefits.
Despite the clear economic and social benefits of investing in social care, the sector has been significantly underfunded. Adult social care has had to manage a funding gap of £6.5 billion since 2010.
The sector is now also facing soaring inflationary pressures, alongside the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, which threaten its ability to function at even the most rudimentary level.
Meanwhile, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has reported that nearly 300,000 people are waiting for an assessment of their needs, with more than 37,000 people waiting for their care package to commence, and just over 210,000 waiting for a care review.
We are pleased that the Government went some way to addressing the financial challenges on social care and health in last year’s Autumn Statement, by providing more resources over the next two years to meet inflationary pressures. But this funding will not address the underlying gaps, unmet and under-met need, market fragility and workforce pressures across health and social care.
Neither does it provide sufficient long-term certainty for social care to invest in different models of care that prevent ill health and promote wellbeing, resilience and independence.
The Government’s latest plan, ‘Next steps to put people at the heart of care’, published in April, sets out how it will implement longer-term transformation of the social care system over the next two years. There will be a reduction in funding from the £1.7 billion the Government committed to provide in its December 2021 ‘People at the heart of care’ White Paper, including the removal of £300 million for housing transformation and a reduction in funding for workforce measures from £500 million to £250 million.
This is a disappointing reversal of commitments made in the White Paper.
There are huge pressures on social care capacity and workforce, and a real need to invest in new models of care, including expanding specialist housing.
Failing to address these issues will have real consequences for people who access social care, as well people’s confidence in the Government’s commitment to meaningful reform in this vital public service.
We need a major reset of our social care and health services, to prioritise prevention and promote independence, in line with the LGA’s, ADASS’s and the NHS Confederation’s joint vision for a high-quality and sustainable health and care system, published earlier this year (see first 680).
To achieve this, the Government must invest in preventing and delaying people from developing health and social care needs, create the ability within services to plan for the long term, and deliver a long-term, fully funded workforce plan that covers health and social care – including the public health workforce. It is only by doing so that we will turn the growing tide of ill health and dependence on acute and hospital services.