This is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for all of social care is in crisis due to very severe lack of funding, not the blame of Mencap and other providers and not the Local Authorities (LAs) for this is totally the blame of the government who have deliberately reduced LA funding since 2010 with all the austerity cuts they have imposed on LAs. This causes the LAs to have insufficient funds to pay providers to provide services, not just in care homes, but all of social care be it for children and adults including home care, supported living and others.
The rates of pay of care workers are on or just above the National Living Wage from 1 April it will be £10.42 per hour. But these workers could earn much more in other work opportunities without any of the responsibilities they need to undertake in care. This has and is further causing massive insufficiencies of care staff, which is being supplemented in some degree by agency workers.
Pay care workers what they deserve to be paid around, at least £14 per hour, but to do this the government needs to immediately stop austerity cuts and fully reimburse LAs for all the funding took away from these cuts. Even that will not be sufficient but it will be a start, for without it social care will deteriorate even further to a degree where effectively there is no real social care. Then the crisis in the NHS will become very much worse, for it is already suffering due to the current insufficiencies of social care, but it will get worse very soon if government is not willing to do the required actions. Even waiting a year could be well too late.
The NHS will continue to fail, now is this what this government really wishes for, well it could well be.
Source: Mencap chief ‘disappointed’ after care home rated inadequate – YorkshireLive
Carer Voice 