Public satisfaction with social care has hit an all-time low and older people are now forced to wait months for essential care, damning new figures show.
More than half of Britons (57 per cent) say they are “quite” or “very” dissatisfied with social care, and only 13 per cent are “quite a bit” or “very” satisfied.
The findings, from the British Social Attitudes survey of more than 3,000 people, reveal a drop in satisfaction of 14 per cent in the previous year.
Sentiment is also down from 30 percent in 2012, when the question was first asked, although in a slightly different way.
It comes as a separate study shows older people in Bath and north-east Somerset must wait an average of 149 days (around five months) for care.
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Data provided by 85 councils to the Department of Health and Social Care shows the average wait is 50 days, while 25 have average waits of two months or more and only three report waits of less than ten days.
Ministers asked councils to provide the total time from a person’s first request to be assessed for eligibility to the start of service.
The service could be a care package, direct payment for your care, or other support.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “We routinely hear from older people and their families who are desperate due to the long wait for assessment or care services.
“Unfortunately, waits of several months are not unusual, although there seems to be a marked lottery of postal codes, which reinforces the sense of injustice.”
The waiting time data, obtained by Health Service Journal under Freedom of Information laws, covers January to March last year and does not include anyone who is turned away.
Figures are not routinely collected or published and, unlike in healthcare, there are no waiting time targets or standard methods for recording them.
The BSA survey, published by think tanks Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund, found that people who had used or had contact with social care services in the previous 12 months had higher dissatisfaction (64 per cent) than those who had not. they had (49 percent). ).
The main reason for dissatisfaction was inadequate salaries, working conditions and training of social workers (57 per cent), followed by people not receiving the social care they need (56 per cent) and insufficient support for social workers. unpaid caregivers (49 percent). ).
Simon Bottery, senior social care researcher at The King’s Fund, said the results are “horrible” but “sadly not surprising”.
He added: ‘For many years, governments have taken very little action on social care and this is now seriously affecting those who use services, the families who support them and the staff who work in the sector.
‘The results demonstrate the need for immediate action to stabilize the social care system, backed by long-term reforms and investments.
“The next government must take a strong step forward and prioritize social care.”
New findings from the British Social Attitudes survey, published by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund, show that public satisfaction with social care services has fallen to just 13 per cent, the lowest level ever recorded. The survey, carried out by the National Center for Social Research (NatCen) in September and October 2023, is considered a standard measure of public attitudes in Britain.
Cyril Lobont, researcher at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The results make clear that too many people with care needs and their families are still struggling to access a reasonable level of support.
‘Politicians of all parties must prioritize reversing this record level of low satisfaction.
“What remains of the delayed reform plans today would barely stabilize the sector, let alone achieve the improvement so desperately needed.”
The most recent survey was carried out in September and October last year (2023) and included 3,374 people in England, Scotland and Wales.
Social care is a devolved issue to the Scottish and Welsh governments.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We want everyone who needs it to have access to high-quality care, which is why we are investing up to £700 million in a major transformation of the social care system to adults, including the use of technology. and adapt people’s homes to allow them to live independently.
‘We are reforming social care careers with training to improve retention and, for the first time, a clear career path and a new accredited qualification to give the profession the recognition it deserves.
“We have also made available up to £8.6bn in additional funding over two financial years to support social care and adult discharge.”
When asked about having one of the longest waits for care (89 days), a spokesperson for East Sussex County Council said: “It is not possible to fairly compare local authorities with each other due to the different ways in which data is recorded.
“Like all local authorities responsible for adult social care, in recent years we have been affected by increased demand for services, along with reductions in government funding and rising costs.”