Use Autumn Statement to pump cash into crisis-hit social care, Jeremy Hunt told

16 November 2023 , 13:37

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The sector is suffering a recruitment crisis with 152,000 vacancies (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Nearly a quarter of a million people are waiting to have their social care needs assessed, a devastating report warned today.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services issued an alert about "significant budgetary challenges" hammering the sector. Almost a third of directors of adult social care services said they had been asked to make cuts totalling £83.7million for the year to March 2024, research said.

The organisation, which published the results of its autumn snap survey - sent to every director in the 153 English councils with adult social care responsibilities - said those cuts were on top of £806m million which officials already committed to make in their budgets this year. It said 249,589 people were waiting for an assessment of their care needs as of August - up from 224,978 people at the end of March. The figure is part of the total of 470,576 people waiting either for care to start or for a review of their care plan - a rise of 8% since March.

Adass President Beverley Tarka said: "Social care leaders and their teams are struggling to find savings and meet people's needs at least minimally, but they can't perform miracles from already overstretched budgets. Thousands of people are waiting for their council to assess their care needs and some of these people will reach crisis point and end up in hospital this winter because they haven't got the support they need in time."

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is under mounting pressure to pump more cash into the sector when he unveils his Autumn Statement on Wednesday. Adass called for another £900m which it said could "stabilise adult social care, helping us to recruit and retain more care workers and support more people that need care and support now". The Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board chairman David Fothergill said councils were facing "severe funding and demand pressures - meaning finances are under strain like never before". He pleaded for "immediate investment to address unmet and under-met need and ensure timely access to social care for all who need it".

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NHS Providers’ director of policy and strategy Miriam Deakin said: "Social care, whether for people in their homes or in the community, is severely overstretched with chronic workforce shortages and a lack of investment. Thousands of people could be recovering at, or closer to, home with support from social care or community health services but are delayed in hospital." Simon Bottery, senior fellow at The King's Fund health think tank, said: "It is particularly worrying, as we approach winter, that directors of adult social care say nearly 250,000 people are waiting for social care assessments."

Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green said: “With the needs of the population growing and the money allocated for social care not increasing to match, the maths simply doesn’t add up. Access to social care should not be a battle for those who need it. Without funding from central government to allow for an expansion of care provision, we share Adass’s concerns that people will be left without care.”

The Department of Health and Social Care was contacted for comment. The Mirror is campaigning for Fair Care for All.

Ben Glaze