Social care is being backed into a corner over lack of reform, ICG warns

The Independent Care Group has warned that social care will have to take some form of action if changes do not come quickly enough to save the sector.

The ICG is angry that repeated warnings over the crisis in the care of older, vulnerable and disabled adults are continuing to go unheeded.

This comes after the Local Government Association called for a 10-year plan for social care to enable the Government's 10-year NHS plan to succeed.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham welcomed the LGA call and urged the Government to agree.

“It is very clear that the Government’s 10-year plan for NHS reform is doomed to fail if it is not matched by similar reform of social care," he said. "You cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care. You cannot move from hospital to community if there is no community there to look after you.

“Here we have a very stark warning from the LGA that councils are having to dip into their reserves in their struggle to keep pace with the rising demand for social care. The LGA is 100% correct in saying that we need a standalone plan for social care with the people who need care at the heart of it.”

Mr Padgham said the sector was sick of being pushed further and further down government priorities and the time was fast approaching when it would have to take action as that was the only way to get its case heard.

“I think providers feel they have been ignored for too long and that they are being backed into a corner. It is sad, but they are looking at what GPs, nurses, doctors and most recently, farmers, have done to protest at their situation.”

The proposed increase in Employer’s National Insurance contributions, along with increases in the National Living and National Minimum wages, are pushing many providers to fear for the future.

Last month, a survey of 1,180 care providers, carried out by the Care Provider Alliance, found that 22% of those who responded were planning to close their business; 73% will have to refuse new referrals from local authorities or the NHS; 57% planned to hand back some contracts and 64% feared having to make staff redundant.

“If those things happen as the survey predicts, more and more people will end up going without the care they need, adding to the 2m who currently can’t access care,” Mr Padgham added.

“We have been waiting more than 30 years for reform to social care, seeing government after government kick the issue down the road time and time again. This Government seems intent on doing the same, avoiding facing up to reforming social care.”

“Central to the Government’s plans for the NHS is moving from hospital to community, but they aren’t going to achieve that unless they get social care fit for purpose – not least so that they can discharge the thousands currently in hospital fit enough to be discharged but without care packages to enable it.”

ICG angry over 'meaningless' Govt response to ENIC petition

The Independent Care Group has reacted angrily to a “meaningless” Government response to a petition calling for the sector to be exempt from the increase in National Insurance many fear will damage care.

The petition has so far reached 31,000 signatures and when it passed 10,000 it required a Government response.

In that response, the Government says help in meeting the extra National Insurance costs will only go to public sector organisations.

It says extra funding has been made available to local authorities to support social care and that further reform of the sector “will not happen overnight”.

The care provider organisation, The Independent Care Group (ICG) has reacted angrily to the Government’s response.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “This response is to a great extent meaningless and not very helpful and should serve as an incentive to the sector to get the petition past 100,000 signatures and to press for a full debate on the issue. I would urge all providers to sign the petition straight away and send the message to the Government that we are not happy with the situation.

“Limiting Government support to public sector organisations blatantly ignores the fact that the bulk of adult social care is delivered by independent providers delivering publicly-funded care to older, vulnerable and disabled people. If social care is not made exempt from the ENIC increase or better funding made available, there will be more provider closures and less and less care delivered – adding to the 2m who currently can’t get the care they need.

“The response refers to the total budget the Government is making available to local authorities but only some £600m extra has been allocated for social care – that won’t go anywhere near meeting the extra £2.8bn increase in costs the social care sector is facing due to the National Insurance increase and rises in the National Living and National Minimum wages.

“As to the reference to change not happening overnight, that almost beggars belief. We have been waiting more than 30 years for reform to social care, seeing government after government kick the issue down the road time and time again. This Government seems intent on doing the same, avoiding facing up to reforming social care.”

The ICG has called for a concerted effort to get the petition over 100,000 to persuade the Government to debate the issue.

It has also called on the Government to wake up to the vital role social care plays and how vital it is to future NHS reforms.

Mr Padgham added: “The Prime Minister has today made cutting NHS waiting lists one of his milestones on which to judge the Government.

“But he does so without mentioning reform of social care, which surely goes hand in hand with any improvements to the NHS. The Government cannot achieve one without the other.

“Central to the Government’s plans for the NHS is moving from hospital to community, but they aren’t going to achieve that unless they get social care fit for purpose – not least so that they can discharge the thousands currently in hospital fit enough to be discharged but without care packages to enable it.”

People can sign the National Insurance petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700080#:~:text=Petition%20Exempt%20all%20social%20care,by%20funding%20and%20staffing%20issues

Govt must act over dire social care warnings, says ICG

The Independent Care Group is calling on the Government to wake up to dire warnings over the imminent collapse of care for older, vulnerable and disabled adults.

The call to act follows a major survey which found that 22% of providers were planning to close their businesses entirely with more set to make staff redundant.

The warning comes after the Government announced a rise in employer National Insurance payments and increases in the national living and minimum wages.

The ICG says the Government has to wake up to the situation.

“I think there is a danger that the Government is sleepwalking into a very dangerous situation for care in this country,” ICG Chair Mike Padgham warned.

“I fear it seriously underestimated the impact the National Insurance and wage increases would have on a sector that has been brutally neglected for three decades.

“With today’s survey results warning of dire consequences, the Government has to act and either make the sector exempt from the ENIC increase or ensure that there is funding ring-fenced with local authorities to help us pay it.”

Earlier research by the Nuffield Trust estimated that social care providers would face an increase of £2.8bn in costs due to National Insurance and wage increases. It warned that the “…combined financial impact of the ENIC rise and the new minimum wage level might see not just single providers going out of business but large swathes of the market collapsing.”

Today’s survey of 1,180 care providers, carried out by the Care Provider Alliance, found that 22% of those who responded were planning to close their business; 73% will have to refuse new referrals from local authorities or the NHS; 57% planned to hand back some contracts and 64% feared having to make staff redundant.

Mr Padgham added: “We have long argued that the social care sector was teetering on the brink of collapse and feared that it might just take one thing to tip it over the edge – we might just have reached that point.

“Whilst government after government have been able to ignore the quiet erosion of the sector through the loss of smaller providers over the years, they will not be able to turn a deaf ear on an avalanche of provider closure, if the results of this survey are borne out.”