Social care staff worst hit by long Covid, figures reveal – Community Care

This comes as no surprise to me as social care workers tend to have much closer relationships to the people they care for and more often to. Also, as fatigue is a constant condition in Long COVID it is not possible for them to do any proportion of any work within a social care workers role.

It is therefore so much urgent for the crisis in social care to be solved, once and for all as no ‘sticking plaster’ will solve any aspect, if it ever does in any working profession.

So Government piecemeal funding, which is that which is being proposed and it is greatly insignificant in the amount being offered. For sufficient funding has to be provided to significantly increase the rate of pay for social care workers to come into the profession and for the increased levels of pay to be sustained, then the other aspects of improvements to the employment of social care workers have to be looked at and needs improvements urgently implemented.

To have any degree of success the pay rate has to be increased to around £14/15 per hour, with appropriate increases to the rates offered to care providers to enable them to pay these rates to their carers

This will be a substantial investment by the Government into Local Authorities so they are able to pay the increased rates to Social Care providers. This investment will have to be £billions at least £12 billion in the first years and substantial increases for all years to come.

Without this social care will be doomed to fail and in doing so, so will the NHS and then complete failure to all in the UK.

Source: Social care staff worst hit by long Covid, figures reveal – Community Care

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I’ve worked for the NHS, and I know that doctors are starting to think the crisis will never end | Peter Endicott | The Guardian

Yes, there is a major crisis within the NHS and it is true it may never end, well it won’t until the other massive crisis is not solved and that is the crisis within Social Care, which everyone appears to be keeping ignoring, especially this current Government.

The NHS crisis has been coming for a number of years, but the crisis in social care has been coming for many more previous years and is not the total fault of this Government, although they need to shoulder a lot of the blame. As virtually all previous Governments need to take their share of the blame and again they completely ignored it.

It is being ignored by everyone, except those in the UK who depend on social care and the NHS also depends on it extremely greatly. For until the crisis in social care is solved there is no chance of the crisis in the NHS being solved. Of course the social care crisis is not the only element within the NHS crisis, but as both completely rely on each other, the greater crisis which is social care needs to be solved first, but as no one is doing anything ab out it then yes, the NHS crisis will never be solved.

For goodness sake lets have a Government who understands the problem, but I don’t see any forthcoming for no one is not only not owning the problems they are not even recognising there is a problem to be recognised and if they are not the full extent of it.

 

Source: I’ve worked for the NHS, and I know that doctors are starting to think the crisis will never end | Peter Endicott | The Guardian

Care home discharge plan risks inappropriate placements and neglects causes of crisis – sector – Community Care

All of this is so true, for this Government and really all the preceeding Government don’t have a clue and are not only not prepared to listen, they give the impression that they don’t really wish to.

They have no understanding of the problems and to some extent don’t even recognise there are problems, for to slove problems, firstly it has to be recognised there are problems and then have the wish to solve them, which this Government appears to have little wish to do so on a sustainable basis.

Sticking plasters are only for the short-terms and even for the short-term the sticking plaster has to be of the right size. Yes, the money going in seems large, but nowhere near how much is needed for even short-term, let alone full sustainability and the sticking plaster has to be applied to the right areas.

What is being done is so much similar to the Nightingale Hospitals created during COVID, yes good to do, but so ineffective if staffing is not available.

Social care needs so much, sufficient staffing resources, trained to the correct extent and being paid for being the skilled experts they are and not the dire amount currently paid but also increased travel expenses, much better working conditions, working Bank Holidays recognised and paid accordingly to mention just a few.

So many more good care workers are required as the shortages far exceed those in the NHS and without them, no matter how much insufficent funding is given by the Government any successes will not be achieved.

The NHS needs social care and social care needs the NHS so they have to work together, be allowed to work together, but without a listening Government all are doomed to failure, which is then a major failure for the whole of the UK.

Whether the UK can afford the required funding, it has to for if it does not then the crisises will continue until it is far too late, which is very near, if not here already.

This is safeguarding which needs to be achieved.

Also social care is so much more than care homes, for its range includes both adults and children in many different areas. Families can only do so much and already do so, currently saving social care more than £130 billion a year and every year. Families get older and while doing the caring for their relatives are often ignoring their own health, until it becomes too late and they, then themselves also need social care and more from the NHS, if only a Government had listened and provided what was and currently is, so much required. By a Government not doing so, they are just increasing the resulting costs required, but then that is what they are good at and some will say the only thing they are good at, for it is so clear that safeguarding social care and then the NHS is not on their agenda. and appears will never be so.

 

Source: Care home discharge plan risks inappropriate placements and neglects causes of crisis – sector – Community Care

‘Intolerable’ NHS crisis to continue until April, health leaders warn | NHS | The Guardian

So, the crisis grows and grows, but this is a crisis, which has been years in the making, solely due to the lack of funding and no real integration between the NHS and Social Care. Money is always offered to the NHS, but never in sufficient amounts, while no money is offered to social care, but if it was it would be wholly insufficient.

No Government in the UK has, in any way, recognised the true importance of social care and discounted it as an insignificant service. When to have a fully effective and efficient NHS the role of social care not only needs to be recognised but funded accordingly and not by ‘thin air’ as it is currently.

Yes, social care is funded by Local Authorities, (LAs), but the Government partly funds through it Government Grant, which since 2010 has been seriously reduced by Government implemented Austerity Cuts. This has seriously meant that LAs have had to scale back many if not all services the LAs are responsible for. While originally LAs, to some extent shielded Social care from cuts, it soon became evident that cuts had to be made to the funding for social care. This was cuts to funding that was already seriously insufficient to enable social care to be provided to all who required it. By this those who were not offered social care or in many instances insufficient social care, their needs for care became so much more and in doing so much more costly to provide. The needs becoming so much more severe has led to much more needed access to NHS services, which if the social care needs had been sufficiently attended to, initially then the need for NHS care would have been so reduced if needed at all.

This is not just the fault of this government but all previous UK governments for not one of them has recognised the importance of social care, be it deliberately or not.

While COVID-19 and the flu are certainly adding to the crisis, the crisis was already there and has been for years.

The NHS is a great service and so are all the workers in it, not just nurses and junior doctors for every worker is needed for the NHS to provide the care required. For while nurses and junior doctors are on the front line, so are admin staff, porters, cleaners, and many others. For they are a team and not one element of the team can exist without the others. However, while Social care is not part of the NHS, when it should be, however, that is another problem, it is so much part of the team.

The lack of sufficient social care is so causing many problems in the NHS and until a government acts to provide for social care so it as all the resources needed to do so, the crisis in the NHS will continue and will become so much worse, perhaps to the annihilation of the NHS completely. So, then, no more NHS free at the point of delivery, perhaps this has always been the Governments intentions all along, and not just this one, but all previous be they Labour or Conservatives.

This Government is saying there is no money available, but is that correct, for when this Government wishes to spend money it is found and not just in the last few years, for this is true for all governments. The UK government may not be as corrupt as many in other countries, but like all Governments, they can’t be trusted. All Governments do as they please and then try to fool their electorates that they are working in the interests of the electorate when they are effectively working in their own interests to varying degrees.

The safeguarding of everyone should be the main priority, but safeguarding for the many is not being done, only for the few, who in many respects can afford to care for themselves, the top 5% or is it just the top 1%, the so-called millionaires and billionaires, which includes many MPs.

Source: ‘Intolerable’ NHS crisis to continue until April, health leaders warn | NHS | The Guardian

This NHS crisis is historic – a war footing is the only way to deal with it | Simon Jenkins | The Guardian

Yes, it is true the NHS crisis is historic, but also is the Social Care crisis and to some extent both go back historically to 1948 when the NHS was created, for at that stage social care should have been intrinsically linked together in a legal entity and not just some faint link that could be broken by any successive Governments.

Unfortunately, while the NHS has to some extent been recognised by all these UK governments with some governments more than others as an emergency service, social care has never been, when it is so much an emergency service.

As to funding, while the NHS has been funded to varying degrees by these Governments the funding for social care has never been formerly funded by these governments. Instead, it has been left to the Local Authorities, (LAs) to fund social care out of the income they receive from Council Tax, business rates, and government grants to LAs together with all the other services they fund. Then since 2010 have been subjected to Government austerity cuts, supposedly to be covered by savings being made from surpluses over and above needed to fund all these services, but effectively these cuts have led to reductions in all LA services, including social care because these surpluses were never there except in the minds of the Tory Prime Ministers and other government ministers.

These reductions in social care have led to increased problems within the NHS, which could have been easily avoided if not all these governments since 1948 had sufficiently funded social care. However, all of the social care has been so underfunded, not just care homes, but every aspect of social care, including the abysmal pay of care workers, which has led to wholly insufficient recruitment of care workers as the pay is way insufficient for employment and responsibilities are undertaken.

The Government once and for all need to recognise the importance of social care if they don’t then the NHS is doomed to fail. This will not be the fault of the NHS and even social care, but this Government needs to accept the blame for its own shortcomings and those of previous Governments.

The article specifically mentions Tony Blair and his funding for the NHS, but he needs to be blamed for his total lack of consideration for Social Care. But Rishi and Starmer are no better.

Funding for Social Care has to be a priority for its lack of is causing major safeguarding concerns, not only for persons requiring social care and also for persons requiring NHS care. Social Care and the NHS have to be so much more working together for the benefit of everyone and both to have the funding that is so required.

Source: This NHS crisis is historic – a war footing is the only way to deal with it | Simon Jenkins | The Guardian

NHS ‘must be ready for mental health pressures caused by cost of living crisis’

This is so true, but will the funding be there, well from past and current Governments have left Mental Health, much to the same extent with Social Care, left it to their own devices when in reality the whole of the NHS and Social Care including Mental Health need each other, but without the funding failure is not only a possibility, it will be a totality.

The ‘cost of living crisis’ is only one in a long-line of problems, problems that have never been dealt with and expected to go away of their own accord, which was never to occur.
The NHS will do all they can as they always do, but without a responsible Government they will never succeed.

The NHS gets the blame, when the blame is fully on the Government which they will never take on board because they arrogantly believe that they are not to blame.

Source: NHS ‘must be ready for mental health pressures caused by cost of living crisis’

Adult social care vacancies up 52% over past year – Community Care

As it has been said, vacancies and recruitment have been problems for some many years, but it has become much worse recently.

However, pay is not the only reason as Brexit and UK immigration policy have also had their impact. but there are also others being

1. travel including travel expenses, fuel is a major problem, certainly with its current high costs, but travel expenses for care workers are not generally available, except that mileage may be paid as expenses, but not always but travel time should also be paid.

2. unsocial hours should also be a factor in pay

3. as should working Bank Holidays while, as well as being given back the day worked, extra pay should be paid for doing so

4. sick pay is also an issue as there should be a recognised sick pay scheme for care workers, as with the low pay rates, being sick and having to rely on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is not realistic, especially when the first 3 days are not paid at all when on SSP

5. as to the pay rate £15.00 would be more realistic than the current National Living Wage of £9.50 or even the Real Living Wage of £9.90,  or even the £12.77 quoted in the article

6. Care work needs to be recognised as a profession and its public perception greatly improved, as is the case for social care in general

But for any or all of the above to be achieved the Government needs to take onboard the crisis in social care and not ignore it as has been so for all previous Governments.

Yes, this Government did promise a fraction of the £5.1 billion, supposed to be funded by the NI surcharge, but none of this is guaranteed, which it has to be and much more, to £12 billion. But that would only bring the funding back to 2010 levels which, then, was totally inadequate.

Social care needs to be adequately funded, which it has never been and until it is persons in need of care will be left to suffer or much worse, even death and this lack of recognition and funding is seriously adding to the NHS crisis.

Some will say bring all social care back to Local Authorities, but it was not a real success when it was and it would remove choice from the system completely, which has to be maintained for the choices of persons in need of care should always be respected. So all the above 1-6 and more needs to be done and done urgently so that people in need of care and their families are safeguarded.

While Local Authorities have to be made accountable, even more so should the Government be and be blamed for all that is occurring though years of inactions and ignoring the problems.

Source: Adult social care vacancies up 52% over past year – Community Care

NHS services on black alert as hospitals struggle to store medicines | The Independent

Yes, another crisis, but where are the solutions and from where and who is really sorting out each and every crisis.

Unfortunately, in the UK and maybe many other countries the rich are getting richer, while the poor, disabled and those in poor health are getting much poorer. None of this is new, as it has been occurring for as many years as I can remember and that is spread over, at least, 70 years, but has been occurring for many years before.

In the UK, many inventions where started, but in most they were progressed out of the UK as the structures to gain the required investments were not readily available within the UK.

We started railways, but our infrastructure suffered from lack of investment in British Railways and still under British Rail, which was a National Institution, but previous Governments did not attend to the investments and the rail structures were left to age, similar with aviation and much of the UK manufacturing base.

The NHS is also a case in point, its creation in 1948 was great and while some new hospitals were built there were never enough. Many staff, while well thought of never did receive, on a regular basis, the financial investment they richly deserved. When you look at Social Care this is even more so, for the investment was never there and in many instances the care staff did not and still do not receive the appreciation they also deserve, in fact, in many instances it was the complete opposite, for successive Governments and many of the UK public have never thought well of care staff, except for those who are in receipt of social care.

Now, of course, they are saying the intense heatwave is creating ‘black’ alerts, but it could have been COVID, lack of investment, lack of finance and more than likely, lack of Social Car or a mixture of anyone or all and others.

Every crisis needs sorting but, where is the Government, well engrossed in the Conservative leadership challenge and the eventual Prime Minister, which should be sorted by September 2022. You may well asked, where is the ‘Opposition’ The Labour Party, well they want a new General Election, which would further delay for a new Government to say October or even November and all the while, no effective Government.

A Government is needed now, not a ‘lame duck’ Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, MP, so the UK goes from one crisis to another, strikes after strikes, while inflation goes up and up with the poor, disabled and sick getter poorer by the second and no one lifting a finger and the rich will get by.

 

Source: NHS services on black alert as hospitals struggle to store medicines | The Independent

PIP Review Chaos Spreads To Other Benefits, Motability Cars, Bus Passes | Same Difference

So much is going wrong with this Government and they limp from one crisis to another and leave suffering, dismay, injury and untold harm in their wake.

To list all that is going wrong will go on for ever, so it is best to list what is going right

 

 

Sorry, I couldn’t find anything, that is how bad this Government is.

The sooner they are out the better and the Tory MPs could start with Boris, it is simple they just send in their letters to backbench chief Sir Graham Brady, please at least get that right.

 

 

Source: PIP Review Chaos Spreads To Other Benefits, Motability Cars, Bus Passes | Same Difference

Care system: Help families before they reach crisis, urges review – BBC News

Yes, there are many problems in Social Care and the funding is but one cause.

The 10 tears of austerity cuts caused untold damage to Local Authority services of which Social Care is but one, for many services are in many ways inter-related. Even though austerity cuts have been said to be no more, the grants given to local authorities by central government are still wholly insufficient causing LAs to continue to cut services, so a real tome increase in LA grants is urgently required, more than the £2.6 billion requested for that is only for children’s social care. For there is also adult social care, housing, education, public health, and many more.

The UK taxation system needs a drastic overall so that the bulk of taxation is not leveled at those who can least afford it both on an individual and commercial basis.

Some companies, especially large corporations can limit their taxable business elements by various means, offsetting losses, offsetting authorised expenses, where a company is registered and more. Perhaps profits are not the best to be considered maybe turnover.

On registration, why should this be a consideration, surely where sales are, the customer base should be a basis for calculation, but overseas sales should also not be ignored. All, both companies and individuals should be accountable to pay the taxes that are deemed to be paid and, so-called, loopholes should be minimised or removed altogether. Yes, Accountants are necessary, but not to scrutinise the systems to find loopholes, if there are loopholes why could these accountants not be consulted by the government to close loopholes before they could be used.

But funding is but one cause for the inadequacies of the social care system.

Recruitment is another for each LA should have the required number of individuals to ensure the system is run effectively and efficiently and not to overburden staff with effectively too large workloads for just looking at the number of cases allocated should not be, but the complexity of the cases should also be so readjustments to workloads is also a consideration. But there is also effective supervision and management and not exerting undue pressure to deal with these workloads, as complexity can cause time delays, especially if a social workers as many complex cases.

But trust is another factor for there is great mistrust with the public and social services, in that there is the fear of losing your children when involving social care and this is especially so when young carers are involved, children, maybe as long as 8 or in some cases even younger, for help is required at the outset and should not be left until there is the very serious crisis stage. Social care should be there to help families and not to punish families, which, unfortunately is a well-known belief in many families and in many instances with great justification.

Schools should not be just seen as a means of education, but part of the family, as during the school term children will be at school for nearly as long as they are with  their families, as should be areas of the health services. It should be tat all are part of the same time with families, education, and health and more all working together to ensure everything is working well and not be looked at ‘silos’ in which each is separate and there is no or little working together. But again is the funding there to ensure all that is required is there.

So, no family should be deemed to be in ‘poverty’ so benefits are so important that there is sufficiency to ensure poverty is at least minimised and ideally never materialises.

But health and social care also need to be properly and sufficiently funded and not having to scrimp and save to try to ensure funding is there. Services should not be having to fit the funding, but the funding should be to fit the services. each service should be looked at to find what funding is required and then the funding granted. But to do so, a real account of what are the needs has to be there, and not, which is currently so, only assess the needs which have a chance of being funded, for needs are needs whether they can be funded now or not. So because of restricting need there is no true understanding of what the full costs of services are and this is in education, housing, social care, health and many more. It is not wishing to live above our means, but a true refection of what is actually required.

Needs lead not finance lead, as safeguarding is there in every respect and lack of finance increases the risk of increasing safeguarding concerns. It is so much more cost effective to be proactive than only being reactive, for if we are not what is the point of life.

Source: Care system: Help families before they reach crisis, urges review – BBC News