The government has allocated £600mn to hire and retain additional social care workers in England. This is part of a wider effort to strengthen public services before what will be the toughest winter ever for the NHS.
The Department of Health and Social Care announced on Friday that the amount included a £570mn fund for the workforce, which was distributed over two years to local authorities. Another £30mn was allocated for the areas with “challenging” health systems.
Health leaders and campaigners welcomed the decision that the extra money would be announced as early as July and guaranteed for two years, while allowing local authorities to spend it as they see fit.
They warned that the sector was under enormous pressure and needed urgent reform. Around one out of 10 positions are currently vacant.
The DHSC stated that these reforms, along with those announced earlier in the year to improve the status of social care workers and their training, and the NHS workforce plans revealed in June, would “build a strong overall foundation for health and social care professionals”.
The department said that the funding would help the NHS in a number of ways, including preventing hospitalizations and helping patients to be discharged more quickly.
In January, a plan to improve urgent and emergency care suggested that one-fourth of patients who could not be discharged from hospital despite being medically able to do so were waiting for home care.
The study revealed that around 16 percent of respondents were waiting to be placed in a care facility and 24 percent for intermediate care.
Helen Whately, Minister of care , said that the workforce reforms by the government “will enable more people to pursue rewarding careers in care with nationally recognized qualifications”.
She added, “Our investment in the social care sector means that more funds will be available to frontline workers.”
Beverley Tarka is the president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. She said that the government “put us in a better position than last year when funding was too late and we were already in a winter crisis”.
In a recent survey, three quarters of directors expressed concern that they wouldn’t have enough money in their budgets to provide the best care for people at the right time.
She acknowledged that the additional funding wouldn’t solve all of these problems but would “help stabilise and address the challenges we face this winter.”
Campaigners and experts were disappointed that the government had only allocated around £250mn for social care workers, when it had promised at least £500mn a year ago.
Camille Oung, Nuffield Trust fellow and supporter of the extra funding for social care, said that the money was usually used to pay other Whitehall budgets. “So keeping this promised pot of funds and prioritising the care workers was a right decision.”
She warned, however, that “we can’t be sure that these funds alone will solve the problems after years of neglect”, and that “a comprehensive reform programme” is needed.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of NHS Confederation which represents health leaders from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland said that social care budgets have been “below needed for a long time”.
He added that while the funding promised was positive, “there is a dire need for a long term social care workforce plan similar to the recently released NHS workforce plan”.