Neither ‘Funding Nor Workforce’ to Meet the Needs of Older and Disabled People this Winter

More than 9 in 10 (94%) adult social services directors in England do not believe there is the ‘funding’ or ‘workforce’ to meet care costs of older and disabled people in their area, according to new data from ADASS.

Almost all directors of adult social services across England say there is neither enough funding nor enough care workers to meet the support needs of older and disabled people this winter.

Fewer than one in 10 directors think they could manage with existing resources over the next few months, ADASS’ survey has found. Three in four say they could not cope if a large care provider were to fail.

The findings come ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Thursday, which will set out spending cuts that could make the outlook for adult social care even worse and could postpone introduction next year of reforms including a cap on personal liability for care costs.

Cathie Williams, ADASS chief executive, said:
“This is the bleakest autumn survey we have ever had. Only a handful of directors have any confidence they may be able to get through the winter with the funding they have and the care workers available locally. We were fearful in the summer; we are fearful now. This affects all of us.

“The £500m discharge fund will not solve this, when it is finally distributed – and it is urgently needed. We desperately need another significant injection of emergency funding to provide more help for people at home.

“If the Chancellor is going to postpone next year’s charging reforms, he must ensure that the cash already allocated for them is re-purposed to bring forward other measures that have an immediate impact on the ground so that more older and disabled people get the care and support they need.”

The full report is available here.