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As more and more people live longer, and have more complex care needs in their old age as a result, the cost of care to the country is increasing. There is an urgent need for government funding to increase along with it.
Former work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, presented his findings on Monday in what has been called a controversial report, ‘Fixing the Care Crisis’. Published by the Centre for Policy Studies, the report outlines the scale of the issue and provides recommendations for tackling the funding shortfall.
In addition to an immediate cash injection of £2.75bn, Mr Green recommends establishing a ‘Universal Care Entitlement’ that would ensure people’s care needs are covered when they get older.
People would also be encouraged to take out an additional insurance scheme, the ‘Care Supplement’, that would fund more expensive care costs. Mr Green likened this to the private pension model, which sits alongside the state pension.
This would see funding for elderly care move from being the responsibility of local councils, to a national level.
Ben Ashton, Co-Director of GoodOaks Homecare, reflects:
“The recommendations of Damian Green represent the kind of thinking that we need to be doing to tackle the crisis in social care funding. We are seeing more and more companies dropping out of the ‘race to the bottom’ and instead focusing on the private, self-funding market.
“This is a model that we have always followed with GoodOaks, where our focus is on providing high quality, enabling care and paying our carers fairly. The position of the Local Authorities is understandable, however. Councils struggle to pay sustainable rates to care providers due to a lack of funding at a national level.
“There is a growing consensus that the system needs significantly more money to operate. I believe most people would accept paying a little extra if it guaranteed them quality social care when they need it. Not to mention that increased funding would mean the creation of quality, rewarding jobs in the care sector.
“What is clear is that the current system is unsustainable and was not designed to meet the challenges of today. The reality is that we now have an ageing population, with more people living longer with multiple conditions and comorbidities, in an era of reducing local authority budgets. There is immense pressure on the NHS and related services as a result.
“Furthermore, funding is just one part of the puzzle, which will go a long way to attracting the people that the sector badly needs. Changes to the perceptions of social care and the career opportunities within it are also needed to attract quality, motivated candidates.”
You can read the full report here.
