Panorama - care crisis

[cansu]

Have just watched this and am as usual flabbergasted that we have allowed our politicians to side step this issue. I am sick of hearing about politicians talking about brexit and in some cases tax cuts etc when there is a funding crisis in social care. We are all likely to need social care in the future in our own families. I have children with disabilities who will need it too. It is a national disgrace that we cannot come to an agreement for how to fund care so we can care for elderly people and adults with complex needs.

Watched this a few weeks ago and was flabbergasted at the inhumanity shown by the staff .

I also watched that one about whorlton hall which was even worse as it was outright abuse but last night's was about funding cuts in adult social care.

the only reason that council helped those people was because they were being filmed! otherwise they wouldn't have bothered theyre all the bloody same.

My council can find £4 billion to 'improve' the high strett (whan most shops are closing down), 3 billion to make cycle lanes which not one cyclist ever uses, yet make constant cuts and not provisde the slightest jot to a disabled or elderly person.

That old woman with demntia broke my heart (I'm crying just thinking about it) its disgusting they way shes thrown out of places. her poor daughter.

The Gov make cuts to disabled and their carers when most carers are 24/7 , get only around £2.25 for 35 hours careres allowance, carers don't stop being carers for the rest of the time nor does anyone stop being old or disabled the rest of the time, yet we are the first ones they make cuts to, even though we save them billions every year.

then they raise council tax and provide fewer services which are useless in the first place!

I get so bloody angry.

isn't there supposed to be a minister or ministers for the disabled? where the f&$ are they and what the hell are they doing?

It really is disgusting. Social worker asked if I was planning on having any more children when my parents care needs were reaching crisis point. They also kept saying they were suitable for residential care when infact they needed nursing care. Nursing care costs more.

Will only get worse as there are too many people and not enough money. There is no easy solution I'm afraid to say.

I actually think there is a very easy solution. Charge more income tax. Increase inheritance tax for people with estates worth several millions of pounds. Prioritise social care and health care. Stop spending money on brexit.

Political parties need to face the facts and accept that either income tax needs to increase or a new specific social care tax needs to be introduced and deducted from the earnings of every worker. There simply isn't enough money available and if the public want to be able to access social care when or if they need it, the money needs to be paid over their working life. The problem is that the political parties on the whole haven't got the guts to state this - although I think the Lib Dems did say they would put income tax up for this purpose in the past. There also needs to be a cross-party approach to this. It shouldn't be a political issue. It's not a quick fix, but batting it about and doing nothing, won't get us anywhere.

On a practical level, all care providers, medical and social work professionals need to work more efficiently together and respect each others knowledge. Everyone is very hard pressed in this sector, but getting everyone in a room together when a case is complex, might make life a bit easier for all concerned and produce a better and quicker resolution.

I’m struggling with this at moment DF 93 had a stroke 7 months ago and is now in a nursing home
His rehab team say he is getting to a stage where he could go home
Social services say they are unable to fund the care package he needs as would go over budget - he would need 4 visits a day with 2 carers for approx 90 minutes each time
DM has Alzheimer’s and whilst able to look after herself with help from family could not help him reliably
I’m upset that all our efforts to get him to this stage have been pointless
DB and I and my DC between us visit daily and give extra SALT, physio, OT etc
We all work full time in addition DB works abroad frequently, I work across UK, DS works long hours and has a long commute, DD works antisocial hours and long shifts for NHS
We struggle at moment to manage one visit a day to each parent - social services would expect us to meet the gaps
Although DF could afford to finance some care himself we worked out this could only be possible for around 10 months so feel wouldn’t be fair to move him then have to move him back or settle for inadequate care

There simply isn't enough money available

Yes there is. The councils just don't priorotise it and spread costs around.

maybe if they all stopped lining their own pockets too.

They didn’t make it clear that most people have to pay for social care. I live only on disability benefits (ESA and PIp) in my 40s. No saving no house. The council wanted me pay £600 month towards care which would have left me living on very little. They always seem to make it out if you have less £23k assets it’s free. But no one government department says you can have this to live on. Then council says no we think you can live on much less and no we don’t think phone, internet, insurance etc count as legit expenses in the way we work things out.

My council had massive banners up for years saying they hadn’t increased council tax for X years then wonder why there is a short fall.

I know younger Disability people being told care home is much cheaper so if you can’t cope the care we pay for go into a home. Which only get worse and worse as prices rise and council contributions will not.

Austerity has decimated funding from central government to local authorities.

According to the National Audit office Central Government funding has reduced by almost 50% in real terms. Many LAs have now cut back on non-statutory services or are using commercial strategies (such as investing in office/retail spaces) to generate income. However they still need to make cuts to fund provision of services at current levels (inflation, wage increases etc) but have little left to cut.
www.nao.org.uk/naoblog/local-government-in-2019/

I work for a local authority. There really really isn't any money left now. Yes, ten years ago there was surplus money being used poorly. Not any more.