LGA Responds To Latest Delayed Transfers Of Care Figures

Responding to today’s monthly delayed transfers of care figures, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, said:

“Elderly and vulnerable people need to be supported to remain in their homes for as long as possible and receive care in the community, not in a ward.

“With social care facing a funding gap of £2.6 billion by 2020, it is vital that the Government properly funds social care if we are to get people out of hospital and safely into the community. Without this, the NHS will continue to suffer.

“Council tax raising powers announced by government will not bring in enough money to fully protect the services which care for elderly and vulnerable people today and in the future.

“Genuinely new government money is now the only way to protect the services caring for our elderly and disabled people and ensure they can enjoy dignified, healthy and independent lives, live in their own community and stay out of hospital for longer.

“We are also calling for an urgent and fundamental review of social care before the spring Budget, and for local government leaders, who are responsible for social care in their local communities, to be a central part of that. This is imperative to get a long-term, sustainable solution to the social care crisis that the most vulnerable people in our society deserve.”