Huge reduction in number of social care workers caring for adults in England

By The Press Association10th February 2016News EnglandData, News England, Social Care, Workforce

There has been a huge reduction in the number of social care workers caring for adults in England, official figures show.

The number of adult social care staff employed by councils has shrunk by a quarter since 2011, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) said.

New workforce statistics show that the number of council-based adult social services jobs has fallen from 159,400 in 2011 to 120,200 in 2015 – a reduction of 39,200 jobs.

“Today’s report shows that the number of jobs in adult social services based in councils continues to fall,” said HSCIC statistician Stephen Jobling.

“Compared to the previous year, almost half of councils saw a reduction of more than 5% of social care jobs in 2015. For some councils though, the picture is somewhat different, with 27 councils seeing council-based jobs increase by more than 5%.”

Last week, a report commissioned by the Government and produced by Lord Carter of Coles, found 8,500 “bed-blocking” patients are stuck in NHS hospitals every day, costing the health service £900 million a year.

The review found bed-blocking – which occurs when patients are medically fit to leave but care has not yet been organised in the community – is a bigger problem for NHS hospitals than previously thought.

Charities and think tanks have warned that social care is facing a crisis owing to cuts to services, which is having a huge impact on the NHS and is driving up bed blocking.

An Age UK report in October found that spending on social care has fallen “quite spectacularly” over the last five years.

In 2005/06, more than 1.2 million older people were receiving social care support from social service departments.

By 2013/14 that number had fallen by around 377,000 to just over 850,000.

Commenting on the latest figures, Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “It is very worrying that there is such a huge reduction in the number of people working on social care in local authorities.

“Although most care is now provided by external organisations, local authority staff are key in making sure the needs of older people are properly assessed, and that follow up care is organised for them if they are eligible – as well as making sure they can come home safely after a spell in hospital.

“The pressure on social care staff and budgets in councils means those older people who are entitled to help are having to wait longer and the rest are increasingly having to fend for themselves.

“Not only is this bad for older people’s health and wellbeing, it also leaves our hospitals struggling to admit new patients, because of problems in safely discharging older people when they are medically fit to leave.

“We know that the number of older people receiving care from councils is still falling, and today’s statistics are another warning of just how fragile the state of social care now is in this country.”

Barbara Keeley, shadow older people, social care and carers’ minister, said: “David Cameron talks about a compassionate society, but his Government is overseeing damaging social care services – and it is care workers and older people who are paying the price.

“The deep cuts to social care under this Government are one of the main reasons why the NHS is under so much pressure – 300,000 fewer older people are now getting the crucial help they need than when David Cameron came to power. This means more older people ending up in A&E and getting stuck in hospital because they can’t be safely discharged.

“We cannot allow this neglect of social care to go on any longer. Ministers need to take urgent action to repair the damage they’ve done.”