Ministers launched inquiry into cost of disregard on social care reform
In this instance cost doesn’t just refer to the affects the problem is having on the wider economy, but on patients and their families too.
According to findings from ADASS’ 2024 Spring Survey it is estimated that around 161,000 hours of homecare could not be delivered between January and March 2024 due to poor staffing levels. What’s more, in 2023 there were approximately 250,000 people waiting for a care assessment in England.
Image: Layla Moran MP, chair of the committee. Credit: UK Parliament.
These shocking statistics coupled with countless failed attempts from previous governments to reform the social care sector have spurred the newly appointed health and social care committee to launch an inquiry into the matter.
The inquiry will look to establish the cost of inaction to the Treasury and the wider economy while also considering how it affects adults, carers, the NHS and councils. For example, when people stop or cut their working hours while they are waiting for the care or become full-time unpaid carers.
‘Our social care system is in crisis,’ said Layla Moran MP, chair of the committee. ‘Over the years there have been many reviews and proposals, but successive governments have failed to tackle the problems, because they think reforms cost too much.’
She continued: ‘But this ongoing inaction has a cost. No one is talking about the costs we are all accepting by not reforming the system. A cost to patients and their families, a cost to the NHS, a cost to our local authorities, and a cost to the wider economy and Treasury.’
In a call for evidence and an attempt to strengthen the inquiry, the committee is now accepting written evidence detailing how inaction in care is affecting them. Any submissions should be given by 11th December 2024.
In related news:
Opinion: Shifting care prioirties – what the government’s Budget should’ve included
Could autistic adults be more vulnerable to criminal exploitation?
