Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’ | Social care | The Guardian

Exclusive: Funding hole directly affects elderly people whose bills are entirely or partly paid for by councils

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Yes, the £7 billion is just scratching the surface and will do nothing to improve the quality of social care, just perhaps, stop any further declines.

To improve quality the staff vacancies in all areas of social care need to be filled, but the rates currently being paid to carers will never achieve this, so these rates need to be considerably increased without delay, for to delay the staffing shortages will only get worse.

Even the increase to the National Living Wage to £10.42 in April 2023 will not bring in more care workers for that rate is far from a Living Wage and then it is reduced by having to pay income tax. to bring in more care workers the rate has to be in the region of £14.00 per hour and also an alteration to our immigration criteria to encourage people from outwith the UK to come to work in care.

This Government and all previous governments have allowed by their inability or unwillingness to properly fund social care for social care to continue to deteriorate. this deterioration increases health inequalities which are and will continue to reduce the quality of care in the NHS.

At least £12 billion just for social care is required and this government needs to pay this to local authorities without any further delays, or we can say goodbye to both social care and the NHS.

So to provide substantially more funding for social care and in doing so cover all vacancies and more will not only improve the quality of care in social care, but also the NHS, as both are in dire need of major improvements and currently staffing levels in both can’t do more than they are currently doing.

We need a listening government, but I can’t see this coming from this current government or the next one, be it Labour or Conservative.

Source: Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’ | Social care | The Guardian

Social Care Costs See Thousands Chased For Debt

It doesn’t help those who are contributing to their Social Care, but since 2010 the Tory governments have been subjecting Local Authorities (LAs) to totally unjustified austerity cuts, thereby drastically reducing the income they have to fund services, but all blame for service cuts is placed on LAs and not the Government, which it should be, Governments have to be made accountable. Yes, we have General elections every 4/5 years, but accountability should be immediate not some years hence.

But LAs are not completely blameless, for the Financial Assessments leave a lot to be desired, for some assessors as, I have come across, don’t fully understand the system they are using to do the assessments.

The biggest omission I find is with regards to Disability Related Expenses, (DREs) which is expenditure which persons with disability/health conditions have to make, but these expenses can be offset to the Social Care charge. Of course, proof of these payments are required and this is perhaps another problem for how many of us keep such information.

So, the problem is at least 2 fold, DREs are not always discussed or if they are not in sufficient detail, but then there is the lack of proof people will have retained to prove they made the expenditure.

Another problem is when disability benefits are increased, this increase is included in the social care calculation, so much of the increase will not be available to the person claiming social care has it has been incorporated into the charge they will have to pay for their social care.

But, another problem is the discriminatory nature of what disabilities and conditions are deemed to be social care as opposed to health care. With health care there is no direct charge to the claimant, as there is with social care.

While social care is processed by the local authority social care department, the health portion is processed by the Health Continuing Health Care department, (CHC) and both processes are dealt with separately, sometimes within the same meeting with the claimant, but in other separately.

If it is deemed that there could be a health element to the care required then further investigation could be in the form of 24 hour health grids where each individual action has to be recorded in detail including the time taken to perform the action. The information I have found is from the previous Clinical Commissioning Group, (CCG), but these have been replaced by ICBs from 1 July 2022, but here is the latest information about care I have found.

Then the lengthy process of deciding if there is a health element and if there is the split between health and social care which can be a very lengthy time process. While the implementation of care should not be delayed while this debate is occurring it does in many instances, thereby causing, in some instances, much delay for much need care to be implemented.
All of this takes precious time which should be being spent on receiving the care required, that is if persons to care for the person needing can be found, which is another great problem, as there is a major insufficiency of carers for a number of reasons, mainly down to the lack of funding for social care, which leads to very poor rates of pay for carers, poor working conditions, including lack of suitable holiday pay, travel expenses, sick pay and more, but also due to the UK Immigration Policies which are not great for persons wishing to come to the UK to be carers. Much needs to be done, but it appears very little is being done, currently to remedy any, if at all the problems.
Care is deteriorating in many ways, the availability, the standards and much more, this government and all future governments need to wake up and understand, appreciate and sufficiently fund social care.

Same Difference

More than 60,000 adults with disabilities and long-term illnesses in England were chased for debts by councils last year after failing to pay for their social care support at home.

Claimants told the BBC they can’t afford the charges amid rising food and rent prices, along with the additional costs of living with disabilities.

Councils took legal action against 330 people in 2021-22.

The Local Government Association said such action was a “last option”.

Councils ask social care recipients to contribute towards the home care they receive in nearly all areas of England, but previous BBC research found charges had risen by thousands of pounds a year for some adults.

Some disabled people have now told the BBC they felt they had little choice but to live without home care, while others said they feared bailiffs being called in over unpaid debts.

Campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts said the…

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Autism: How My Autistic Foster Brother Inspired My Life’s Work

Yes, caring can bring so much to any relationships, when it is done as it should be, but it needs a great deal of understanding, flexibility, respect and being so adaptable to whatever occurs and much more, especially putting the person who may need care at the centre of everything.

These skills are essential and not everyone will have them or more than likely not aware that they have them, especially at the start. It is learning from all who are involved, the persons who may need care, the persons providing care and any others.

This was so much with myself for I joined my to be wife’s family in 1984 and knew nothing about any disabilities and not even come really across any persons with disabilities and having no brothers or sisters not even sharing my life with anyone except my own parents. My wife, a single parent looking after 3 children for many years, 2 daughters and one son.

As I joined the family the son was leaving home to be married, leaving the 2 daughters, youngest being 13 and the next 15 being the daughter with disabilities. She had severe learning disabilities and multiple physical and a sensory disabilities. Her communication was very limited, but everyone took to each other very well.

I had a very steep learning curve to climb and took time to understand what was involved and gradually helped in any ways I could. Not only did I not know, initially about disabilities but had no experience in dealing with the respective authorities, so followed my wife’s lead to a major extent. Over time, not really sure how long, but certainly within less than a year I gained the experience to deal with more, even the authorities and with my then wife became a good team in looking after both daughters. As time went on my wife’s health started to deteriorate, most likely due to the pressures of caring over the years, especially being a lone parent. Around 2000 I became aware of Autism and from what I understood with this awareness I was convinced that my disabled daughter was also autistic and eventually managed to obtain an autistic diagnosis. Becoming aware of autism provided many answers to the behaviours being shown and experienced by my daughter with disabilities and I became much better at being able to understand many, if not all of her behaviours, but learning never goes away, for there is always so much more to learn.

Yes, her behaviours could have been challenging, but only because of ignorance in how to correctly assess and then deal with them appropriately.

This was further enhanced when we had to start to engage with carers, as my wife’s health continued to deteriorate and my own starting to do so.

We started by employing our own, which were funded through direct payments from our Local Authority, but we went through many carers until we found and engaged with a few which we could trust and had complete confidence in, not that the others were not competent, but when having people within your own household, being your own home and a place of employment for others much more is required for good employee and employer relationships, let alone the relationships with the person being cared for, which in the most essential.

Eventually, this had to become a 24/7 care package and while retaining the 2 carers we employed directly used a care provider for the rest of the care package. After an initial problem with the original care provider we found another with whom we could work with well and as time went on it worked perfectly, not only did they understand our household they did all they could to find carers that fitted in well. Not always successful, but where not they provided more carers until a great team was found.

Unfortunately my wife died on 26 September 2020 but with the good team of carers the great care was maintained for my daughter and at times they were also looking after me, to some extent, during my own loss.

Even though the care for my daughter was great, due to her disabilities her conditions continued to deteriorate to some degree and health authorities were consulted as and where and when required and this was good too. My daughters wish and my own and my late wife’s were that our daughter lived with us at home and with the great care she was receiving this was how it progressed.

But on 4 October 2022 my daughter succumbed to her deteriorating health and as everyone was so devoted to her, the loss of her was severely felt by everyone.

Even now some 4 months on many of the carers are still in touch with me and we are helping each other to come to terms with our loss.

Over the years I have been using all my experiences gained in being in my family and talking to other carers and their families and use this in my dealing with our local Government and health authouritie and disability charities, being on various committees and some Boards.

Not only am I using my experiences gained, but it is helping myself in dealing with my own losses.

So being involved can and is good for many reasons and even if behaviours can be seen to challenge this should not be seen as a problem to be feared, but problems to understand and deal with appropriately, for we are all experts in our own fields and all need to be seen as such and everyone is or should be part of the team be they paid professionals, family, volunteers and others, but essentially the person at the centre the person in need of care.

In this all will be better cared for, but funding can’t and should never be ignored for both health and social care are left well short of the funds required, perhaps social care even more so than health, in many instances, not only causing insufficiency of services available, but severe staff shortages, and the moral of all concerned.

Funding and sufficient funding to maintain sustainability has to be a major priority and in this the Government needs to listen and fully understand, which is currently not occurring.

But they have to for the sustainability of health and social care services and for the continued lives of persons with disabilities and their families.

Families can only do so much, currently saving the UK £193 billion a year. Carers UK, Yes, caring can bring so much to any relationships, when it is done as it should be, but it needs a great deal of understanding, flexibility, respect and being so adaptable to whatever occurs and much more, especially putting the person who may need care at the centre of everything.

These skills are essential and not everyone will have them or more than likely not aware that they have them, especially at the start. It is learning from all who are involved, the persons who may need care, the persons providing care and any others.

This was so much with myself for I joined my to be wife’s family in 1984 and knew nothing about any disabilities and not even come really across any persons with disabilities and having no brothers or sisters not even sharing my life with anyone except my own parents. My wife, a single parent looking after 3 children for many years, 2 daughters and one son.

As I joined the family the son was leaving home to be married, leaving the 2 daughters, youngest being 13 and the next 15 being the daughter with disabilities. She had severe learning disabilities and multiple physical and a sensory disabilities. Her communication was very limited, but everyone took to each other very well.

I had a very steep learning curve to climb and took time to understand what was involved and gradually helped in any ways I could. Not only did I not know, initially about disabilities but had no experience in dealing with the respective authorities, so followed my wife’s lead to a major extent. Over time, not really sure how long, but certainly within less than a year I gained the experience to deal with more, even the authorities and with my then wife became a good team in looking after both daughters. As time went on my wife’s health started to deteriorate, most likely due to the pressures of caring over the years, especially being a lone parent. Around 2000 I became aware of Autism and from what I understood with this awareness I was convinced that my disabled daughter was also autistic and eventually managed to obtain an autistic diagnosis. Becoming aware of autism provided many answers to the behaviours being shown and experienced by my daughter with disabilities and I became much better at being able to understand many, if not all of her behaviours, but learning never goes away, for there is always so much more to learn.

Yes, her behaviours could have been challenging, but only because of ignorance in how to correctly assess and then deal with them appropriately.

This was further enhanced when we had to start to engage with carers, as my wife’s health continued to deteriorate and my own starting to do so.

We started by employing our own, which were funded through direct payments from our Local Authority, but we went through many carers until we found and engaged with a few which we could trust and had complete confidence in, not that the others were not competent, but when having people within your own household, being your own home and a place of employment for others much more is required for good employee and employer relationships, let alone the relationships with the person being cared for, which in the most essential.

Eventually, this had to become a 24/7 care package and while retaining the 2 carers we employed directly used a care provider for the rest of the care package. After an initial problem with the original care provider we found another with whom we could work with well and as time went on it worked perfectly, not only did they understand our household they did all they could to find carers that fitted in well. Not always successful, but where not they provided more carers until a great team was found.

Unfortunately my wife died on 26 September 2020 but with the good team of carers the great care was maintained for my daughter and at times they were also looking after me, to some extent, during my own loss.

Even though the care for my daughter was great, due to her disabilities her conditions continued to deteriorate to some degree and health authorities were consulted as and where and when required and this was good too. My daughters wish and my own and my late wife’s were that our daughter lived with us at home and with the great care she was receiving this was how it progressed.

But on 4 October 2022 my daughter succumbed to her deteriorating health and as everyone was so devoted to her, the loss of her was severely felt by everyone.

Even now some 4 months on many of the carers are still in touch with me and we are helping each other to come to terms with our loss.

Over the years I have been using all my experiences gained in being in my family and talking to other carers and their families and use this in my dealing with our local Government and health authourities and disability charities, being on various committees and some Boards.

Not only am I using my experiences gained, but it is helping myself in dealing with my own losses.

So being involved can and is good for many reasons and even if behaviours can be seen to challenge this should not be seen as a problem to be feared, but problems to understand and deal with appropriately, for we are all experts in our own fields and all need to be seen as such and everyone is or should be part of the team be they paid professionals, family, volunteers and others, but essentially the person at the centre the person in need of care.

In this all will be better cared for, but funding can’t and should never be ignored for both health and social care are left well short of the funds required, perhaps social care even more so than health, in many instances, not only causing insufficiency of services available, but severe staff shortages, and the moral of all concerned.

Funding and sufficient funding to maintain sustainability has to be a major priority and in this the Government needs to listen and fully understand, which is currently not occurring.

But they have to for the sustainability of health and social care services and for the continued lives of persons with disabilities and their families.

Families can only do so much, currently saving the UK £193 billion a year. Carers UK,

Same Difference

A woman who passed up going to university to care for her autistic foster brother has described how he inspired her to set up her own behavioural therapy centre.

Risca Solomon, from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, first met Dan when he was four years old.

His previous respite placements had broken down due to his challenging behaviour.

But Ms Solomon, whose parents were foster carers, wanted to help.

“When I first met Dan I was 18 and on work experience at a special school, and he touched my heart,” Ms Solomon said.

“I begged my parents, who’d been foster and respite carers since I was 11, to step in.”

Her parents were reluctant at first due to the level of care Dan would need, something they felt was beyond their level of experience and expertise.

But they agreed after Ms Solomon promised to be one of his primary care givers.

“It changed…

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Let’s look dispassionately at the arguments for and against user fees for NHS primary care in England | The BMJ

User fees aren’t the sole solution to problems that have proven intractable for the NHS, writes Azeem MajeedThere has been considerable recent debate about charging for GP appointments after comments from two former UK health secretaries, Kenneth Clarke and Sajid Javid, elicited strong responses both for and against user fees. Let’s try to put aside ideology and emotion and look objectively at the evidence and arguments around user fees in NHS primary care.1Debates over NHS user fees are not new. In 1951, Hugh Gaitskell introduced charges for prescriptions, spectacles, and dentures. Aneurin Bevan, minister for labour and architect of the NHS, resigned in protest at this abandonment of the principle of NHS care being free at the point of need. Many developed countries already charge users to access primary care services, often through a flat-rate co-payment. However, there is a lack of evidence about the impact of such fees on access to healthcare, health inequalities, and clinical outcomes. A key study on the impact of user fees in a high income country (the RAND Health Insurance Experiment) is now nearly 40 years old.2User fees should theoretically encourage patients to act prudently …

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To some extent this is a balanced argument, which many of those who are putting forward the view that fees are required don’t consider.

As is said, paying for NHS prescriptions are generally put forward as an example of paying for NHS services, but as stated many of the supporters of paying fees, are not aware or fail to see the percentage to whom prescriptions are still free. Or even more so the number of people who have to pay for their prescriptions and in doing so often refuse some medications because they are unable to pay for all of them, which I feel is never fully recorded, so there are no real statistics available, except an indication of what could be.

It is mentioned for a possible cost to see a GP, but would that be only for face-to-face or even telephone appointments or if available virtual appointments and would there be different charges as to which was done.

Also, people contact their GP surgeries for numerous reasons so would there be a charge for talking to a receptionist, Nurse or any other persons in the practice.

Some people need home visits so would that be an increased charge and what about District Nurses and other community health facilities.

There are many who delay or don’t go to opticians and dentists due to the costs involved and this is again is delaying access to possible treatments, until any condition has progressed extensively and therefore being more costly to the NHS, when a more timely intervention could have reduced costs considerably.

The costs of setting up a payment system, its monitoring and then extra procedures to collect non-payment of fees need to be considered. Also, the possible consequences of any resulting court actions being taken against persons non-paying.

I assume this would only be for Primary Care and not Emergency Care so would some, some who are already doing so, go to A&E rather than their GPs, so increasing more numbers to A&E.

This is a very slippery slope for what would be the next charge be for. Also will any of this alter the number of vacancies in Primary Care, or perhaps increase them, for making people pay to visit could well mean they will expect more for paying and could lead to more problems in the end.

Not taking into account what the charge would be, when it would increase, not being able to pay when attending, would the patient be turned away and no care given.

This slippery slope would become much more slippery.

You only have to look at social care in which there is a charge, no matter what your income is and that is so deficient that many persons needing social care are not receiving, not because they are not able to pay, but the services are not there in the degree of what is required.

I agree more needs to be done, but suggesting fees be introduced is not the answer, what is needed is paying all staff in the NHS and social care a realistic living salary so encouraging more to enter every aspects of these areas, so there are not only sufficient staff available, but possible a slight excess to cover any eventualities as, staff sickness, holidays, and even more so unexpected situations, which are coming more these days and not less.

COVID should have been an ‘eye opener’ for it is far from being a one-off, as many similar will occur for the years to come and with greater regularities. Now is the time to plan, not only for the here and now, but for the futures.

The beliefs that savings can be made in both health and social care is wishful thinking, so the austerity cuts to local authorities (LAs) from 2010 and cuts to NHS budgets are somethings that should never have been introduced, especially when needs and demands are far exceeding what is there, let alone reducing what is there, hence the crisis we have currently in social care and the NHS.

LAs and the NHS are doing their best with depleting budgets, in real terms, when demands are ever increasing, the Government and all future governments need to ‘raise their heads from the sands’ and see what is really occurring, but then that depends on whether they really do care, which is very debatable.

Source: Let’s look dispassionately at the arguments for and against user fees for NHS primary care in England | The BMJ

More people face paying for care as means-test threshold is frozen for 13th year – Community Care

More people face paying for their care after means-testing thresholds were frozen for a 13th consecutive year, the government announced this week. The upper capital limit, above which people must pay the full cost of their care (in most cases)*, will stay at £23,250, for 2023-24, said the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) […]

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Is it good that we have to welcome the small mercies being offered by his Government, well it is better than nothing, which this government puts as its first action, but will still leave many people well below the ‘bread-line‘ to live on.

So, I do disagree with King’s Fund senior fellow, social care, Simon Bottery where he states ‘the government “deserves some credit” for its inflationary rise in the MIG’, for it is not credit they deserve for the little they are giving is an insult to all persons in needs of care, their families and all who work in Social Care.

This Government and really all previous governments, are and have refused to see what is happening within Social care and in doing so have all allowed the social care crisis to escalate to what it is now  and has really been for years. It is now being recognised by some that this social care crisis is seriously affecting the NHS, which it has been doing for many years, but ignored by many.

It is debatable whether this ignoring has been by ignorance or by design by this government and all previous governments, from what I see I really do believe the latter for it is so clear that none of these governments really cares about social care and to some extent, even the NHS. Is this because they have, personally, sufficient funds not to rely on social care and the NHS and if or when required they would source it privately, well that could be so, but is it that they only really care for themselves and not others below the level of their amassed fortunes, for many are so wealthy that, even the high costs of living are not of any concern to them.

This is well seen in how they are governing the UK and keeping many on just a level to live on, but in doing so many in the UK are well below a living level of subsistence.

Is there really a ‘Welfare State‘ anymore? Well there is a State. but it is well below Welfare.

Perhaps the real government policy is too keep people on a below subsistence level in the hope they will not survive, hence reducing the costs of welfare even further as there will be so many less people around to need welfare.

We see this in the level of benefits not, in many instances, keeping up with inflation, continued pay freezes in the Public sector and how all essential emergency workers are being treated, not just now, but so for many years previously.

We so, desperately need a Government for the People, but I can’t see this occurring anytime soon, if ever. The Human Rights of the people in the UK are continually being eroded, by our governments.

 

Source: More people face paying for care as means-test threshold is frozen for 13th year – Community Care

Ed Davey Says We Need To Give Carers A Pay Rise

I so thank Ed Davey MP for raising this, one of the few in Parliament to do so, but will this government listen, I believe not for do they listen to anyone.

Yes, Social Care workers do need a much more increased National Living Wage and while the extra £2 per hour would be so welcome, would it be enough, when they could still earn slightly more in other areas with much less responsibilities. The current National Living Wage is £9.50, increasing to £10.42 in April 2023, but should be on at least £13/14 per hour to ensure retention.

If this is not done more care workers will leave the profession and this will further affect the crisis in the NHS, which is already extensive due to the lack of care workers, let alone NHS workers and not just Nurses and Junior Doctors, but on all levels.

Ed also mentioned Family Carers many of whom are entitled to Carers Allowance which is £69.70 per week, but to receive it a family carer needs to be caring for at least 35 hours per week, which works out to be around £1.99 per hour, and it is a taxable benefit.

What would be of a great help to all low paid workers would be to raise the tax-free Personal Allowance to the National Living Wage and then it would become much nearer a Living Wage, which it currently is not. For then on a 35 hour week on the current National Living Wage of £9.50 the Tax-Free Personal Allowance would be £17290 increasing to £18964 in April 2023.

So thanks Ed for what you are saying, but in reality so much more is required.

Same Difference

This being one of Same Difference’s favourite campaigns, we couldn’t agree more.

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Trussonomics is slowly winning the argument | The Spectator

Yes, I agree taxes do have to come down, investments up, less regulation, and more devolution, it can’t all be done at once and there also needs more ‘leveling up’, not just South to North, but rich to poor, in some respects more male to female, more equality for disability, ethnicity and much more. For there is too much inequality in the UK.

Pay levels in the UK are so bad and in some areas, so much more than others many where striking won’t be effective if it ever is for are all the lost income the strikers are experiencing will ever be gained back. But some of the argument is that strikers are not just trying to improve for themselves but for the UK in total. For the NHS is in dire need of improvement which has been covered for many years by NHS workers doing much more to cover some of the inadequacies in the NHS. But it may not be so well known the dire state of social care of which the NHS also needs to survive and the pay rates of social care workers are so much worse than many who are currently taking strike actions.

While this government is ignoring all of the problems in the NHS this government and all previous governments have totally ignored all of the problems in social care and not only social care but also hospitality, agriculture, and maybe others..

Does this government have a clue, no and perhaps Truss did, except she first gave tax reductions to those on higher rates of tax and not to the initial tax rates as the tax-free levels need to be greatly increased perhaps to the National Living Wage, so that it is much more of a Living Wage, for it currently is not?

Much needs to be done but it is the low-paid who are in the greatest need and perhaps paying them more could well improve their levels of life so then, their need to have NHS interventions could be reduced and thereby reduce some of the NHS pressures.

All life is so interrelated and no one area can be looked at in isolation as many governments still do.

Source: Trussonomics is slowly winning the argument | The Spectator

Recent cash injections won’t solve emergency service problems, says leader | The BMJ

The NHS has just had its worst ever December in terms of pressure on the service, with worrying levels of staff burnout and “hideously high” bed occupancy rates in hospitals, MPs have been told.The health service was struggling to meet demand, and recent government cash injections weren’t enough to solve longstanding problems, said Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine when he appeared before MPs on the parliamentary health and social care committee on 24 January.The NHS was now entering a “new and more difficult phase” in the ongoing industrial dispute between trade unions and the government as strike action was intensifying, MPs were told.Boyle, who was giving evidence to the committee’s inquiry into the situation in emergency departments, waiting times, and excess deaths, emphasised the severity of the situation. …

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So correct, but, unfortunately for a problem to be solved all have to see there is a problem before it can be solved, but this Government is not recognising the problem, is it because they are failing to do so, or not wishing to do so?

 

Source: Recent cash injections won’t solve emergency service problems, says leader | The BMJ

Social care should be a universal entitlement on par with NHS, says Church of England commission | The BMJ

England’s “broken” social care system should be radically overhauled in a new national care covenant developed through public dialogue, church leaders have said.The Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care has urged ministers to set out a long term commitment to a universal entitlement to social care regardless of wealth “on a par with the NHS.”It said that the new covenant would define the role and mutual responsibilities of individuals, families, communities, and local and national government, and lead to a simpler, fairer, and more generously funded system. Overseen at a national government level, the new system would ensure a stronger role for the state and a new deal for unpaid carers to provide better support and recognition.Reform would require a means of collective funding and pooling of risk, probably with a tariff of care charges established on a national basis, said the commission, which was launched in April 2021 by the archbishops of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and York, Stephen Cottrell. The report on its findings, Care and Support …

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Something I agree with and it should have been done years ago, maybe in 1948 for Social Care and health are so joined together and should be at all levels and be funded similar. It would also be sensible for the same organisation to undertake both emergency services, for when required Social Care is also an extremely required emergency service.

 

Source: Social care should be a universal entitlement on par with NHS, says Church of England commission | The BMJ

Family Carers and Social Care

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE I am a former family carer, former as my daughter died on 4 October 2022 following my wife’s death on 26 September 2020, and both are very sadly missed. My daughter was 54 when she died of a heart attack and she enjoyed her life with myself and her mother and then when our health deteriorated her care 24/7 was undertaken by a team of paid carers who provided excellent care respecting her wishes and choices, dignity, were empathetic and ensured my daughter had a very good life while continuing to live in our family home. The introduction of paid carers was gradual starting with 2 carers in a double shift of 60 hours in total Monday to Friday, which then progressed to similar for Saturday and Sunday, when they took my daughter out for lunch each day. As the health of my wife and then my own became worse we progressed to 24/7 care within our home and had an excellent provider of very excellent carers. The carers in many ways became part of our family and even after the death of my daughter many are still in contact with me and visit when they can. I was fortunate, today, to be on the Paulette Edwards, Radio Sheffield programme this morning talking about being a Family Carer and the experiences, the problems and the rewards and how it affected all of our lives. Now family carers are unpaid, but in doing so, as stated in a Carers UK report in 2015, was saving the UK £132 billion in Social Care costs and this can only have increased, substancially over the years in 2021 assumed to be £193 billion per year. Family Carers are entitled to Carers Allowance currently £69.70 per week provided at least 35 hours care is provided during the week, the carer has to be over 16 years and not earn more than £132 per week (after deductions including tax, national insurance and certain expenses). On retirement depending on the amount of State pension being received the Carers Allowance could be reduced or not paid at all. For the allowance is there to mitigate for any lost earning due to caring and when on pension there are no lost earnings. Family carers are also entitled to their own assessment, a Carers Assessment, independent of a needs assessment for the person needing care, to arrange for one contact your Local Authority who may do them themselves or contracted to another organisation to do them, in Sheffield this is the Sheffield Carers Centre. But, Social Care has, largely been forgotten about or dismissed as not being important, which is so wrong for social care is extremely important and needs to be considered on a par with the NHS, as the NHS can’t exist without Social Care and Social Care can’t exist without the NHS and in that Family carers are also so important, so their significance should never be discounted. For it is Family Carers who have been sustaining social care for all the years there has been social care. Lack of Government both funding and recognition of social care has been happening by this current Government and all preceding governments and none have given the so much needed funding and recognition it deserves and requires. This has led to the crisis in social care to escalate and is now and has been for many years seriously affecting the sustainability not only of Social Care but our very much respected NHS. Both the NHS and Social Care need equal respect and both need to be fully funded, for the staffing crisis in both are extremely serious. In fact the staffing crisis in social care could be far exceeding that of the NHS. But when we are looking at the NHS it is much more than Doctors, nurses , ambulance staff, for it is everyone employed within the NHS, for everyone contributes to the team and none can exist without the others. When I mention teams I am looking at everyone for take social care, it is not just social workers and care workers, but it includes families and the family carers for we are all part of the teams and all need to be respected, as is the person being cared for who needs and should be always the centre focus, in other words ‘Person Centred Care’ is the foundation of all care, be it the NHS, Social Care and in the family. This is so much the same in social care for it is not just the shortage of care workers, who so much need to be paid more, at least £15 per hour, but also their employment Terms and Conditions, re holiday pay, travel expenses paid sick leave and much more. You may say what has the Government to do with this, but the Government provides a grant to each Local Authority, (LAs) so they can have funds to which Council Tax, Business Rates and more are also included so that the LAs can then fund the services they provide. But since 2010 this grant has been severely reduced, by the Tory Government Austerity Cuts and therefore LAs have insufficient funds to fund all the services they should be doing, which means for them to keep within the funding, services have to be reduced, for any LA is not allowed to go into deficit. If this funding is not sorted, urgently, then the care staff will continue to reduce. It is said that anyone could be a carer, but that is not really true, for caring is not, as it is said to be, an unskilled profession, for to care correctly it is a very skilled profession and so needs to be recognised as so. Also when looking at Social Care it is so much more than care for the elderly, for it includes both children and adults, not only in care homes, but home care, supported living, respite and hospices. and more. Many will say that the UK can’t afford to fund social care, but I say it can’t afford not to, for if it is not, then social care will continue to diminish so much more and then the crisis in the NHS will be so much more and really threaten the continued existence of the NHS. So whether you do use social care currently or not and remember none of us will really know when we will need social care it is so important that it is sufficiently funded and then continued to be sufficiently funded and with that the NHS also. Look at military spending and I am not saying we should not help Ukraine for we all need to for if Russia is allowed to defeat Ukraine where will Russia strike next, but when any munitions are used, no one says can it be afforded to be used, but this is what is occurring daily in social care and the NHS.