A Sunday Telegraph report into the social care system has found a widening epidemic of declining quality, misleading information and local authorities (LA) consistently overlooking their financial responsibilities.
A number of NHS and social services whistle blowers told the Sunday Telegraph that councils are being forced to provide vulnerable people with reduced levels of care than they actually need.
There is also a growing trend whereby councils are even asking social care users to pay for services and equipment that should be freely provided under the Care Act.
Over one million rejected claims for care were made by people over the age of 65-years-old between 2015 and 2018.
The report’s informants even inferred that some assessments, indicating that care was needed, were rejected to save money. A process frequently unchallenged by families unfamiliar with their rights.
This has led to a number of families paying for care and equipment that should be free. Some spending tens of thousands of pounds.
Although the findings of the report were shocking, many may find them unsurprising given a recent House of Lords Committee urgently recommending the Government to inject £8 billion into social care in order to restore the service to an acceptable standard and introduce free personal care over a 5-year period.
The Economic Affairs Committee published its report ‘Social care funding: time to end a national scandal’ this month which reveals a chronically underfunded social care system which needs an instant cash boost to revive it.
The findings found that publicly funded social care support is dwindling due to decreasing budgets which has forced local authorities to limit the numbers of people who receive public funding.
Funding is £700 million lower than in 2010/11, despite Age UK recording a record high as approximately 1.4 million people aged 65 or over have had basic needs unmet such as getting dressed, washed or out of bed.
More than 400,000 people have fallen out of the means test, which has not increased since 2010. In order to have the quality of care which people received in 2009/10, the Government would need to spend £8 billion, according to an estimation made by The Health Foundation and King’s Fund.
If the person requiring social care resides in England and have assets or savings worth more than £23,250 (£50,000 in Wales), they will usually have to pay for their own residential care home fees. However, if their capital is less than these figures, they will usually be required to make a personal contribution based on means-testing. The means test includes savings, income, and property.
Sir Norman Lamb MP, a former Health Minister, said:
“The findings of the Telegraph’s investigation are deeply shocking.
“The result is that unethical and, in some cases, unlawful, behaviour has become commonplace.
“Having taken the Care Act through Parliament, I am really disgusted that the central principle of the Act – that the well-being of the individual must be paramount – is being ignored because councils have been left in an impossible financial position.”
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee, said:
“Social care is severely underfunded. More than a million adults who need social care aren’t receiving it, family and friends are being put under greater pressure to provide unpaid care, and the care workforce continues to be underpaid and undervalued.
“The whole system is riddled with unfairness. Someone with dementia can pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for their care, while someone with cancer receives it for free. Local authorities are increasingly expected to fund social care themselves, despite differences in local care demands and budgets. Social care funding has decreased most in the most deprived areas. And local authorities can’t afford to pay care providers a fair price, forcing providers to choose whether to market to those people who fund their own care or risk going bankrupt.
“Fixing under funding is not difficult. The Government needs to spend £8 billion now to return quality and access in the system to an acceptable standard. Fixing unfairness is more complicated, but the Government has ducked the question for too long. They need to publish a White Paper, not a Green Paper, with clear proposals for change now. We think that change should include the introduction of free personal care, ensuring those with critical needs can receive help with essential daily activities like washing, dressing and cooking.
“Our recommendations will cost money, but social care should be a public spending priority. By 2023/24, the NHS funding will have increased by £20.5 billion per year. This is more than the entirety of local authority adult social care expenditure.”
