Providers Give Guarded Welcome To Extra Money

Care providers have given a guarded welcome to today’s announcement of an extra £240m for the social care system this winter, as announced by Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock, at the Conservative Party Conference.
The Independent Care Group (ICG) says the money must go to front-line workers and is, at any rate, a drop in the ocean compared to the overhaul of social care funding that is needed.
Its chair, Mike Padgham said: “Every penny that is directed the way of social care is vital and can only help to alleviate the crisis the sector is currently in. It is crucial firstly, that this money reaches front-line care workers and secondly, that it isn’t viewed as a cure-all.
“Compared to the estimated £7bn that has been cut from social care budgets in the past eight years, this extra money is a drop in the ocean. What is really needed and needed urgently from this long-awaited Green Paper, is a proper solution to the long-term funding of social care to tackle the scandal of 1.4m people living without the care they need.
“With the Government also confirming today that low-skilled workers from the European Union will cease to have freedom of movement into the country after Brexit, social care, which gets 17% of its workforce from overseas, is going to be hit hard, again.”