Amidst a storm of staffing and financial woe, local councils across the UK have urged for social care reforms to be delayed in order to avoid putting further strain on ‘an already teetering system’.
The main object of the reforms, which are due to come into play in October 2023, is to offer a ‘fair cost of care’ to care providers.
One of the proposed changes includes a lifetime cap on care costs of £86,000, offering adults of all ages financial protection. Currently, the amount you could end up paying for care is unlimited.
Changes to the social means test will also be introduced, meaning those earning up to £100,000 will be eligible for local authority support (previously £23,250). On the other hand, those earning £20,000 or lower will now be exempt from care costs (previously £14,250). These more generous criterias are hope to put everyone on fairer footing in response to inflation.
What do the reforms mean for local authorities?
Local authorities will carry out the assessments which determine who fits the criteria for more financial support. However, the County Councils Network have warned that it would take roughly an additional 5,000 members of staff for the roll out of reforms to go ahead.
At a time where staff turnover is high - with the number of workers in the adult social services sector down by 1.5% compared to the year prior - this recruitment goal seems highly out of reach.
On top of this, an additional 105,000 assessments a year would be required for the reforms to go ahead. Again, not ideal against a backdrop of staffing shortages.
Councillor Martin Tett, adult social care spokesman from the County Councils Network, says: “Loading these reforms onto a system that is already in crisis could worsen care services by the time these reforms to ‘fix’ social care are introduced.”
Here at Imperium Solutions, we support any opportunity that gives more people access to higher quality care and hope the central government can work in collaboration with local authorities to find a solution which will benefit both local authorities or service users.
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