Elderly Care Crisis Looms

A recent report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) entitled Adult Social Care Market Insight, which has been based on data received from 39 major care providers, has set out a bleak assessment of the future of vital services that support millions of people, voicing alarm that the care sector as a whole is “at risk”.

The care watchdog has warned that the quality and safety of social care services received by elderly and disabled people in England are in danger, as care homes close and providers pull out because they can no longer make enough money, believing that a care crisis is looming across the country.

Providers are in trouble because their costs have increased by up to 30% in the past year whilst their profit margins have fallen by more than 40%. It pinpoints the national living wage (NLW) and the inability of cash-strapped local councils to pay higher fees for these services as the main causes of a growing problem. Bed numbers in nursing homes continue to be cut, with the recent closure of 64 homes. According to figures released by the CQC the number of care homes in England has fallen from 18,068 in September 2010 to 16,614 in July this year, at a time of growing need linked to the ageing population.

The many people who rely on care homes and receiving help in their own homes with washing, dressing and eating could be affected if more and more of the private companies that dominate the market go out of business, the CQC fears.

When recently questioned about this Andrea Sutcliffe, the CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care commented “We know that the adult social care sector faces many financial pressures which, worryingly, could undermine the quality and safety of care that people receive and rely upon every day,”

She confirmed that information from care providers detailed in the CQC document “does highlight a concern that the long-term sustainability of high-quality care within this sector could be at risk. Given the impact this would have on people’s lives, it is important that we continue to monitor these trends closely”

The CQC’s anxieties echo those voiced with increasing urgency in recent years by old people’s charities such as Age UK, the Local Government Association, health think-tanks and MPs that deep cuts to town hall budgets since 2011 have led to a major deterioration in social care at the same time as demand for it was increasing.

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