Social care crisis: Councils receive 5,100 new requests for adult care EVERY DAY amid soaring demand

Councils in England are being swamped with 5,100 new requests for adult social care every day, figures have revealed.

Local authorities last year spent £17.9billion on caring for adults – £402million (2.3 per cent) more than the year before.

While the total number of people relying on long-term care is going down, 1.3million people contacted their local council for help in 2017-18. 

Experts say the system is at ‘breaking point’ and the number of people receiving care is only going down because councils are rationing it.

They warn all councils are facing financial pressure to look after their residents and the problem will only get worse unless there are big investments by the Government.

Hampshire has the biggest demand for care, with residents making 68,920 requests for help last year, followed by Suffolk, Kent and Derbyshire.

Experts say the care system is at ‘breaking point’ as councils are dealing with 5,100 requests for adult social care every day, and spent £17.9bn on the sector last year

The NHS figures come in the middle of a recruitment crisis in the care sector, an ageing UK population, and overcrowding in AE departments and hospitals.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board said today: ‘With people living longer, increases in costs and decreases in funding, adult social care is at breaking point. 

‘Councils in England will have seen their core funding from central government reduced by £16 billion between 2010 and 2020.

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‘Over recent years, councils have protected adult social care relative to other services. 

‘But adult social care services still face a £3.5billion funding gap by 2025 just to maintain existing standards of care. Action is needed now. 

‘The Government needs to address immediate funding pressures in its upcoming Budget and ensure its forthcoming Green Paper will deliver reforms to future-proof the long term sustainability of adult social care.’ 

Nearly three quarters of people needing care are aged over 65, but the number of people aged between 18 and 64 who asked for help rose by 2.6 per cent last year. 

There were a total of 1.8million requests for social care – an increase of 1.6 per cent on 2016-17.

Most of the money – £14billion, or 77.9 per cent – was spent on long term care in residential or nursing homes or in the community.

Only one in five of the requests were related to someone being released from hospital – 77.1 per cent came from people living in the community.

And 71.6 per cent came from people aged over 65. 

‘People may be surprised that the numbers receiving care are falling when we know need is high and rising,’ said Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK.

‘But this is because there is nowhere near enough money in the system so care is increasingly being rationed.

‘Every local council is struggling to some extent because of lack of care funding and care staff but some places are harder hit than others, meaning older people face a real lottery when it comes to getting care.

THE 10 AREAS WHERE PEOPLE MAKE THE MOST REQUESTS FOR SOCIAL CARE 

1. Hampshire (68,920)
2. Suffolk (51,960)
3. Kent (49,135)
4. Derbyshire (47,435)
5. Devon (39,265)
6. Bradford (39,065)
7. Calderdale, West Yorkshire (36,675)
8. Lancashire (36,515)
9. Lincolnshire (34,330)
10. Birmingham (34,315)

Source: NHS Digital 

THE 10 AREAS WHERE PEOPLE MAKE THE FEWEST REQUESTS FOR SOCIAL CARE

1. Isles of Scilly (50)
2. City of London (130)
3. Rutland, East Midlands (1,490)
4. Camden, London (1,495)
5. Bedford (1,790)
6. Bracknell Forest (1,935)
7. Merton, London (2,315)
8. Slough (2,345)
9. Halton, Cheshire (2,585)
10. Telford and Wrekin (2,640) 

Source: NHS Digital 

‘Unless the Government pumps a lot more funding into care in the budget next week the picture will only get worse and more older people will lose out.’ 

The figures were released in the NHS report, Adult Social Care Activity and Finance, England 2017-18, which breaks the requests and spending down area by area.

In September this year it was revealed that eight per cent of care jobs are empty, with at least 110,000 new workers needed to meet the need.

And Skills for Care, a training charity, estimates an extra 650,000 jobs will need to be created in the next 17 years to be able to meet rising demand.

Experts also warned in medical journal The Lancet in August that the number of elderly people needing 24-hour care will rise to more than a million by 2038.

The pressured social care system also spills out into the health service in general.

A report by MPs in the Public Accounts Committee in June revealed a quarter of emergency AE patients are there because they couldn’t get care or help from a GP.

Their illnesses could have been avoided had they been properly looked after by GPs, district nursing services or the social care system, MPs said.

In response to today’s figures, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We recognise people are living longer, and with more complex needs.

‘That’s why we have provided local authorities access to up to £9.64billion in dedicated adult social care funding over the last three years, including £240million extra funding for local authorities to reduce pressure on the NHS this winter.

‘Our green paper due later in the year will set out our plans to reform the social care system to make it sustainable for the future.’   

WHERE ARE PEOPLE MAKING THE MOST REQUESTS FOR ADULT SOCIAL CARE? (Source: NHS Digital, 2017-18) 

Area Total requests Hampshire 68,920 Suffolk 51,960 Kent 49,135 Derbyshire 47,435 Devon 39,265 Bradford 39,065 Calderdale 36,675 Lancashire 36,515 Lincolnshire 34,330 Birmingham 34,315 Gloucestershire 31,825 Leeds 31,720 Surrey 29,725 Nottinghamshire 28,925 Leicestershire 28,145 East Sussex 28,145 Worcestershire 27,405 Sheffield 25,730 Norfolk 25,160 Hertfordshire 24,835 Essex 24,620 Staffordshire 23,270 County Durham 22,715 Wakefield 22,285 West Sussex 22,205 Cumbria 22,005 Manchester 21,450 East Riding of Yorkshire 21,055 Dorset 20,210 Dudley 19,615 Cornwall 19,230 North Yorkshire 18,010 Redbridge 17,120 Northumberland 15,295 Sunderland 14,675 Doncaster 14,325 Kirklees 14,265 Rotherham 13,760 Oxfordshire 13,745 Leicester 13,485 Sandwell 13,465 Nottingham 13,310 Bristol, City of 13,255 Cambridgeshire 13,195 Cheshire East 13,160 Trafford 13,145 Buckinghamshire 13,090 Islington 11,790 Bolton 11,560 Kingston upon Hull, City of 11,470 North Lincolnshire 11,420 Liverpool 11,380 South Tyneside 11,355 Sefton 11,330 Wirral 11,145 North Tyneside 10,785 St. Helens 10,750 Northamptonshire 10,425 Newcastle upon Tyne 10,410 Plymouth 10,375 Coventry 10,290 Walsall 9,800 Wigan 9,750 Warrington 9,580 Wiltshire 9,440 Barnsley 9,415 Somerset 9,205 Salford 9,175 Warwickshire 9,040 Derby 8,965 North Somerset 8,755 Bexley 8,475 Swindon 8,185 North East Lincolnshire 8,175 Lewisham 8,025 Newham 7,800 Thurrock 7,625 Hackney 7,550 Rochdale 7,395 Tameside 7,375 Southampton 7,270 Barnet 7,145 Harrow 7,105 Medway 7,005 Croydon 6,945 Havering 6,770 Herefordshire, County of 6,745 Bournemouth 6,740 Waltham Forest 6,545 Hillingdon 6,485 Oldham 6,425 Lambeth 6,410 Portsmouth 6,360 Cheshire West and Chester 6,290 Torbay 6,195 Hounslow 6,190 Wolverhampton 6,170 Shropshire 6,140 Milton Keynes 6,115 Gateshead 6,075 Barking and Dagenham2 6,050 Brent 6,015 Darlington 5,945 Stockport 5,920 York 5,795 Middlesbrough 5,700 Stoke-on-Trent 5,625 Blackburn with Darwen 5,570 Central Bedfordshire 5,300 Greenwich 5,275 Redcar and Cleveland 5,240 Bath and North East Somerset 5,145 Isle of Wight 5,095 Bromley 5,030 Blackpool 5,010 Stockton-on-Tees 4,995 Luton 4,975 Solihull 4,845 Bury 4,750 South Gloucestershire 4,710 Poole 4,660 Wokingham 4,635 Brighton and Hove 4,525 Southwark 4,475 Westminster 4,325 Ealing 4,200 Haringey 4,040 Knowsley 4,010 West Berkshire 4,010 Richmond upon Thames 4,000 Wandsworth 3,975 Southend-on-Sea 3,935 Tower Hamlets 3,925 Peterborough 3,815 Kensington and Chelsea 3,575 Reading 3,505 Kingston upon Thames 3,480 Windsor and Maidenhead 3,410 Sutton 3,405 Enfield 3,345 Hartlepool 3,220 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,120 Telford and Wrekin 2,640 Halton 2,585 Slough 2,345 Merton 2,315 Bracknell Forest 1,935 Bedford 1,790 Camden 1,495 Rutland 1,490 City of London 130 Isles of Scilly 50