The Chancellor declared that social care is a “problem for the next parliament”, but he couldn’t be more wrong. It is a crisis now, and it is a crisis that needs answers now. Directors of Adult Social Services accept that £1.6 billion was needed to maintain care at current levels, so given that social care providers now also need to find funding for a 30 pence rise in the National Living Wage services look set to only go one way.
By putting its head in the sand, the government sends a worrying signal to the health and social care industry and a confirmation that the Government is no longer focused on improving an industry on which at least 2 million of the most vulnerable people in our society rely.
Sadly, this is no surprise, following Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to mention social care in her 7,000 word Conference speech last month. Not only are the Conservative Party not dealing with the social care time bomb, they’re not even interested. The sector needs to come together with one voice ahead of the next budget and we all need to make clear what we value more our elderly relatives, those people living with physical or learning disabilities or a faster internet connection?
