New comprehensive research by Human Rights Watch has found that the needs of elderly people are not being met because of a myriad of failings from a number of agencies within the UK’s local and central government.
The report opens by highlighting the 140% rise in complaints, to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, since 2010.
Of particular concern was the fact that social care assessments were now amongst ‘the biggest area of complaint’. The UK’s National Audit Office found that the funding local governments receive from central government specifically for social care had halved between 2010 and 2011.
Tragically, this figure has been falling ever since, in real terms, despite the increase in our ageing population.
The Ombudsman also noted that there was a general shift in the types of complaint from ‘one off complaints’ and grievances through to “problems with whole systems and policies,” suggesting that restrictions to funds have contributed to the social care system failing the elderly people it should be protecting.
The report references a 2017 study by the Care and Support Alliance, which highlighted that workers conducting needs assessments for social care faced increased pressure from managers and other officials to reduce social care costs.
Through the many case studies that were researched for the Human Rights Watch report, it became clear that this pressure produced a widely accepted agenda that a person’s social care provision would be cut, even before the individual’s assessment was carried out.
One area of criticism found in the report revolved around the social care assessment appeals process. Where an individual had the right to appeal the assessment decision and was offered avenues to appeal directly to the national Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, or they can take their case directly to court.
However, once an appeal is lodged, that individual’s social care provision is suspended in its entirety until an appeal decision is reached. The care that helps a person live an independent life is taken away; a practice that many people feel pressurises and manipulates the vulnerable individual into accepting the reduced provision because they cannot function without it.
Whilst The Department of Health and Social Care are developing policies that will streamline the process and allow service users to maintain their provision until the appeal decision is made, these amendments And protections are not coming into force until at least 2020.
The report recommends that UK Parliament should examine the impact of austerity measures on social care provision.
It expects local governments to ensure the accuracy of needs assessments even where resources are lacking. This should limit the amount of assessments that reduce provision to balance the books.
The report also highlights that the Department of Health and Social Care should consider the suspensive effect of appeals on the service user when making the reforms to social care appeals processes.
When the amount of people aged over 65 is set to grow exponentially over the next twenty years, ensuring the sustainability of crucial services is imperative to the health and well-being of the UK’s fastest growing section of society.
How could these issues be improved? Have you worked with clients that have struggled because of these issues?
