As staff sickness soars because of the Omicron variant, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) warns almost one in three councils in England are having to ration care for older and disabled people.
Representing council care service directors, a survey of Adass members has shown that at least 49 local authorities are having to take “drastic measures”. Practically, this could mean that patients with dementia could wait longer to be helped out of bed in the morning.
Highlighting the scale of the problem, a spokesperson for Adass said, “We are now in the midst of a national crisis for adult social care.”
A questionnaire sent by Adass to its members in all of England’s 152 local authorities received 94 replies. Of these, 49 councils said they were prioritising care in some areas over others including:
- prioritising the most basic and essential care such as support with eating, drinking, or going to the toilet, meaning some people could lose help with tasks like getting out of bed
- temporarily having to leave people with dementia, learning disabilities, or mental illness alone for longer than usual
- being unable to proactively review risks to clients, carers or their families
Commenting on the results of the survey, Adass President Stephen Chandler said “we warned before Christmas that we were heading into a national emergency for social care. The sobering reality of that is now becoming starkly clear.”
Care home providers have closing admissions:
Earlier in the week The National Care Forum (NCF) said many services were struggling because of existing staff shortages, absences caused by the Covid variant and delayed PCR results. According to NCF research, two thirds of home care providers are turning away new requests for care while a fifth are handing back care packages. 43% of care home providers are closed to new admissions. The NCF criticised the “continual drip feed approach” to Government funding, saying that bureaucracy means tranches fail to reach providers in time.
“Staff shortages are excessively high and everything must be done to support providers to operate safe and quality services”
Vic Rayner, Chief Executive, The National Care Forum
The Government has announced an extra £60 million for local authorities to support the adult social care response to coronavirus in January.
This is on top of existing funding to prevent infections and provide testing, a recruitment campaign, and a £162.5 million fund to help providers recruit and retain staff over the coming months.
NCF Chief Executive Vic Rayner said: “It is unacceptable that yet again, nearly two years on from the start of the pandemic, we continue to see enormous pressures in the care and support sector, this time compounded by the impact of Omicron.
“Staff shortages are excessively high and everything must be done to support providers to operate safe and quality services, so that people have access to the care and support they need, when they need it.
“The adoption of a strategy by government that gives social care the crumbs from the table in an unrealistic hope that somehow it can continue to operate regardless of meaningful attention is negligent.
“The NCF and our membership have been highlighting the growing shortages in the workforce and the knock-on impact on those who remain working in the sector and those who use care and support services for many months. How many times does this message need to be repeated for it to be heard?”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “Protecting care staff and people who use social care services continues to be a priority, especially as Omicron spreads rapidly across the country.
“Care staff are working incredibly hard, and to strengthen the workforce we have provided £462.5 million for recruitment and retention, expanded the Health and Care Visa scheme, and are running our Made with Care recruitment campaign.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have made almost £2.4 billion in specific funding available for adult social care as well as an extra £60 million to keep people in care homes safe over January.”