Sarah McClinton, chair of the Association of Directors of Adults’ Social Services (ADASS), told a conference of council care bosses in Manchester: “The shocking situation is that we have more people seeking help from councils, more elderly and disabled people with complex needs . However, social care capacity has been reduced and we have 50,000 fewer paid carers.’ Over 400,000 people rely on care homes in England and more than 800,000 receive care at home. But care services are struggling with 160,000 staff vacancies, rising demand and already tight social care funding squeezed by rising food and energy inflation. About a third of care providers report that the inability to recruit staff has negatively affected their service, and many have stopped accepting new residents as a result. Last month the Care Quality Commission warned of a “tsunami of unfulfilled care” and said England’s health and social care system was a “dead end”. Problems in social care are making it harder to free up hospital beds, slowing the delivery of elective care. “The scale of how many people are either not getting the care and support they need, or are getting the wrong kind of help, at the wrong time and in the wrong place is staggering,” said McClinton, who is also Greenwich’s director of health and adult services. . “It also adds to the endless pressures we see on ambulances and hospitals, and adds to the pressures we see in our communities, more people seeking help for mental health and domestic abuse.” More than 2 million hours of home care could not be delivered in the first quarter of this year leaving unpaid carers “on the brink”, ADASS said. Councils receive 5,400 new requests for help every day. The warning comes amid reports that the government is preparing to delay the introduction of an £86,000 cap on social care costs, a reform which was due to come alongside a new funding deal for councils that commission social care. Calls by MPs and campaigners for an extra £7bn a year from the Treasury to bring social care back into balance are also likely to be rejected as the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, weigh up public spending cuts and tax increases. to plug an estimated £40bn budget hole. Care workers earn £9.50 an hour on average. Half of health and social care workers say the Government’s approach to pay makes them more likely to quit smoking in the next one to three years, according to research by the Trade Union Confederation. Care England, which represents for-profit companies that provide most of England’s care homes, last week warned the Prime Minister of a “mass exodus of care providers across the country” without immediate support. Martin Green, its chief executive, said: “This will be devastating not only for those receiving care and their loved ones, but also through the devastating knock-on effect it will have on the NHS.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. A government spokesman said: “Social care is a top priority and we are committed to strengthening the workforce and protecting people from unpredictable care costs. We today launched our annual domestic recruitment campaign, Made With Care, to encourage people to pursue a career in adult social care, and we are also investing £15 million to increase international recruitment in the sector. “Funding for health and social care services will be kept at the same level as when the health and social care levy was in place, including £5.4bn for adult social care, [over three years] while we have committed £500m to support the transition from hospital to care homes.’
