Today the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee on adult social care release their findings

House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee Executive today publish the finding of their examination of all available evidence into the state of the adult social care sector - is this what you expect to see in the 6th largest world economy

Summary:

Adult Social Care Key facts

? Fewer than one in twelve Directors of Adult Social Care are fully confident that their local authority will be able to meet its statutory duties in 2017–18 (Paragraph 13)

? 28% of care services are inadequate or require improvement (Paragraph 18)

? Some councils pay ￡2.24 an hour for residential care (Paragraph 42)

? 96% of people paying for their own care pay on average 43% more than state funded residents in the same home for the same room and the same level of care (Paragraph 53)

? The turnover rate for nurses working in social care is 35.9% (Paragraph 78)

? 47.8% of care workers leave within a year of starting (Paragraph 78)

? The median hourly pay for a care worker is ￡7.40 (Paragraph 80)

? 160,000 to 220,000 care workers in England are paid below the national minimum wage (Paragraph 81)

? 49% of home care workers are on zero hour contracts, compared with 2.9% of the workforce nationally (Paragraph 85)

? 27% of care workers received no dementia training and 24% of those who administer medication were not trained to do so (Paragraph 86)

? Between 2010–11 and 2013–14, the number of unpaid carers increased by 16.5%, while the general population grew by 6.2% (Paragraph 102)

? In Leicester, although 30,000 people identified themselves as a carer in the 2011 Census, only 2,200 carers were in contact with the council (Paragraph 107)

? One in five unpaid carers providing 50 hours or more of care each week receives no practical support from the local authority (Paragraph 110)

The report should be read with Adult social care: a Pre-Budget Report. Taken together these reports describe the funding pressures on adult social care and their very serious consequences, and make the case for immediate extra funding. In addition, this report explores progress on the integration of health and social care services and innovation in the provision of social care.

The impact of funding pressures on adult social care

The committee believes that inadequate funding very seriously affects the quantity and quality of care that is being provided to people, the National Health Service, care providers, the care market, the way that care is commissioned and the workforce and unpaid carers.

They examine the evidence in paragraphs 8 to 119, and conclude that constraints on funding have led to:

? Councils providing care and support to fewer people and concentrating it on those with the highest needs.

? Care becoming the minimum required for a person to get through the day.

? A deterioration in the overall quality of care, which is likely to continue.

? Increases in the number of delayed discharges from hospital and in emergency admissions, related to councils increasingly directing their resources towards services for people with higher levels of need rather than preventative services.

? Serious threats to care providers’ financial viability, which means providers failing, exiting the market and handing back contracts for the provision of care services.

? Reliance by care providers on their privately paying clients to subsidise local authority funded clients by paying higher costs for the same care.

? Increase in demand, problems with supply and significant shortages in the workforce, which have affected the stability of the care market.

? The undermining of councils’ abilities to fulfil their duties to shape the care market in order to provide diverse and high-quality care for all people in their area.

? The pursuit of low fees becoming the driving factor in commissioning for many councils, undermining their relationships with care providers.

? Severe challenges in the care workforce, manifested in high vacancy and turnover rates, which result from low pay not reflecting the amount or importance of the work involved, poor employment terms and conditions, lack of training and lack of opportunities for career progression.

? Increasing reliance on unpaid carers, who are providing more hours of higher level care as councils have reduced the amount of care they provide.

? Councils being unable to fulfil their statutory duties to identify, assess and meet carers’ needs for support, which has consequences for carers’ health and wellbeing and their ability to stay in work.