Further action needed to protect care services

ADASS has published the second of two reports into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on social care services, arguing that more needs to be done.

The paper reveals the scale of the financial impact of the pandemic and its very real consequences on the care and support of millions, the ability of local authorities to fund adult care, and the very viability of thousands of caring organisations that provide vital support that enables millions of us to live good lives.    

The ADASS survey shows the need for further government action this year or action to protect people and care services so those vulnerable people the service protects can get back normal lives. It shows that next year, social care services will lack the resources to ensure decent levels of service. Whilst the headlines findings inevitably focus on finances, the important messages relate to what the reduction in social care budgets means for millions of working age disabled people, and older people with care and support and needs and their families.

The report also laments the ‘ongoing ambiguity’ over short-term and time-limited budget settlements from the government for adult social care, which means that the service is ‘no clearer about the size, shape and ambition for adult social care over the course of the current decade’. Additionally, ADASS claims that local authorities and providers have no clarity over budgets for 2021/22.

James Bullion, ADASS President, said: “Coronavirus has exposed dreadful inequalities relating to people’s mental health, people with learning disabilities, older people at the end of their lives in nursing homes, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and poorer communities. It has also highlighted the courage, compassion and commitment of care staff and the essential work they do. The public are now more aware than ever of how essential social care is to our society.

“These reports are a wake-up call that requires a clear response.  Urgent action is needed to plug the financial black hole that has been blown in local government finances, to properly recognise and reward colleagues working in social care, stabilise providers of care and most importantly safeguard and ultimately enhance the care and support available to those of us who need it. Without such action, local authorities will run out of money, care providers will go to the wall, many of us will not get the care and support we need, and the economy will take a further hit as more of us are forced to give up work to fill the caring gaps.  Prioritising social care is the right thing to do morally, ethically, economically and politically.  We must act now, for all our sakes.”

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Social care can play a hugely important role in helping people to live the life they want to lead. Care services were already under huge strain and facing severe cost pressures even before the pandemic, which as this report demonstrates have only been made worse. Our dedicated and committed care workforce have risen to the unprecedented challenges caused by coronavirus, with their contribution rightly receiving the widespread recognition it deserves. But we need both an immediate and long-term funding settlement to get through the next few months and years.

“Councils are doing all they can to support social care providers in their areas, but the fragility of our care provider market, exacerbated by coronavirus pressures, is a serious concern and this needs to be addressed as part of fundamental future reforms of the system. Our own commissioned research with ADASS suggests that providers face extra costs of £6.6 billion by the end of September this year as a result of the coronavirus emergency.

“We have been calling for a sustainable funding settlement for adult social care since long before the current crisis, and look forward to when the cross-party talks on the future of social care and how we pay for it can begin. This must also include critical decisions on the workforce such as pay, recruitment and career development. In the meantime we are working closely with the National Covid-19 Social Care Support Taskforce, to make sure local government’s experience and expertise is used to best effect in the ongoing implementation of the government’s adult social care action plan to keep people safe and well.”