Care for the elderly is ‘on its knees’ and overdue reforms may not bring the changes needed, MPs warn

Long-awaited reforms to aged care may fail to deliver the changes the sector “desperately” needs, MPs warn today.

The Public Accounts Committee says changes to the system have been scaled back and a new pricing system has been delayed while funding for both has been diverted.

At the same time, waiting lists are growing, town hall budgets are under pressure and the sector remains grappling with 150,000 vacant positions.

MPs accuse the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) of failing to provide the leadership needed to tackle the problems, warning it has failed to chart a path forward to achieve ambitions set out ago more than two years.

Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier said: “Years of fragmented funding and the lack of a clear roadmap have brought the adult social care sector to its knees.

“Waiting lists are growing, the sector is short tens of thousands of essential staff and local authority finances are under unsustainable pressure.

“While we welcome the increase in funding, we are concerned that it will do little to address the key challenges facing the sector in the absence of a well-funded multi-year strategy.

“A 10-year vision is all well and good, but it alone is not enough to bring about the fundamental changes this sector so desperately needs.”

The committee says it is “deeply skeptical” of the government’s aim to integrate health – run by the NHS – with the social care system run by local authorities.

He is also not ‘convinced’ whether the DHSC knows whether it is getting value for money from the extra £1.6bn spent on getting patients out of hospital beds more quickly and a grant of £1.1 billion to councils.

MPs are concerned that money going to town halls, intended to increase the salaries of carers and reduce waiting times for the elderly, could “simply be used to benefit providers’ profits”.

A last-minute £500 million bailout for councils is welcome, but “perhaps too little, too late to have a demonstrable impact”.

The report also says the 2021 DHSC white paper is “woefully insufficient” to tackle the workforce crisis, while a recent crackdown on visas for care workers raises “significant questions” about its dependence on foreign personnel.

He concludes: “With fee reform delayed, system reform scaled back and the ministry’s limited progress, even on its reduced ambition for system reform, we cannot help but be skeptical that whether the vision is still achievable.

The DHSC insisted last night: “We are committed to reforming adult social care and have invested up to £8.6 billion more over two years to respond to the pressures facing the sector, increase the workforce work and improve hospital discharges.

“The report rightly recognizes the progress being made to boost the career progression and training of carers to improve their retention, including through a new accredited qualification.

“To advance our vision for reform, we are also investing up to £700 million in a major transformation of the adult social care system, which includes investing in technology and adapting people’s homes for enable them to live independently.