There is little to suggest social care has turned a corner: The King’s Fund

Compared to 2015/16, more people in England are requesting social care support but fewer people are receiving it, a report by The King’s Fund has found.

The report, published today (13 March), warned there is “little” to suggest that social care has turned a corner, and made recommendations in order for the next Government to ‘fix’ the sector.

The King’s Fund found that 2022/23 saw a “possible” change to a recent trend in publicly funded adult social care.

Since 2015/16, more people have been asking for social care support, but fewer people have been getting it. But in 2022/23, while more people again asked for support, there was a 2% increase in those who received it compared to 2021/22.

Questioning whether this was the start of a new trend of more people getting publicly funded social care support, researchers warned: “it is more likely that the upturn in 2022/23 was largely a ‘correction’ after the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than a fundamental change in the long-term trend.”

In 2022/23, service availability was “returning to normal”, staff vacancies fell, and local authorities were beginning to tackle the backlog of assessments and reviews. “This may best explain the increase in people receiving publicly funded social care in 2022/23”, the report stated.

However, despite that increase, in 2022/23, 2% fewer people were receiving support than in 2015/16, even though 11% more people were requesting it.

The King’s Fund said: “This longer-term perspective shows a social care sector that is still under intense pressure, characterised by:

• a continued contraction in eligibility to receive care, with financial thresholds not having changed since 2010/11
• the cost to local authorities of purchasing care continuing to increase faster than inflation
• the social care workforce vacancy rate still at its second highest-ever level, despite the arrival of around 70,000 overseas workers
• fewer unpaid carers receiving direct support, and fewer people receiving respite care, than in 2015/16.”

The report made the following recommendations in order for the next Government to ‘fix’ social care:

• increase funding to stabilise the sector and enable providers to attract, retain and train the staff needed to meet demand
• implement funding and eligibility reforms to make the system fairer
• undertake reforms to improve quality and outcomes.

Responding to the report, Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz, adult social care spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA) said: “This important annual report highlights the perilous state of adult social care. It is disappointing and concerning that the Budget provided no new money for these under pressure services, despite an increased demand for them.

“We need to see further urgent investment in adult social care and a boost to the workforce, to ensure the best possible care for those that draw on it.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to improving our social care system, having already made up to an additional £8.6 billion available over this financial year and next to support adult social care and discharge. 

“Additionally, we are investing up to £700 million to accelerate digital transformation and rolling out digital care records, as well as funding home adaptations to help elderly and disabled people to be more independent at home.

“We are also helping to attract and retain care workers, including by supporting their career development through a range of new funded training schemes and, for the first time, a clear career path through a new accredited qualification.”

Lottie Winson