Britain Must Start Investing In Adult Social Care

19th August 2015

An article recently published in the Guardian re ‘Britain Must Start Investing in Social Care’ highlighted political failure when it comes to adult care.

The article was referring to Zoe Williams’ article (Adult social care is not a problem – it is a human necessity, 10 August). Quoted within was Andrea Sutcliffe, the chief inspector of adult social care, who said the sector is under stress and strain and one in which an ageing population with increasingly complex needs was only half the story. It suggested the problems stemmed from the feedback loop of inadequate funding, delusional commissioning and undervalued care workers. And what’s really scary is regulators receive more than 150 allegations of abuse of the elderly every day!

In the care industry blame is often pushed around from politicians to councils. Meanwhile care workers are expected to do the best they can with limited time and resource if not massively underpaid.

As the article asks, ‘when will the blame stop and the leadership begin? It’s time for someone to put the person receiving the care first and take personal responsibility for ensuring that disabled and older people are properly cared for. The question is whether the chancellor will take up that responsibility in the upcoming comprehensive spending review.’

With the ageing population growing massively, if this situation isn’t sorted, Britain is heading towards crisis.