The Homecare Association has called on the new Prime Minister to fulfil the Conservative Party’s promise to ‘fix social care’ by investing in homecare and developing a credible workforce strategy.
The Homecare Association has written to the Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, to congratulate him on his appointment as Prime Minister, highlighting that his leadership is needed to ensure adequate availability of homecare services this winter and beyond to protect the NHS and support people in the community.
In the community, unmet need is high and rising. Councils have waiting lists for assessments for care of more than half a million. Over 1.6 million people need support and care at home and are unable to access it due to inadequate funding and workforce capacity. Neglecting people in the community until a crisis point is reached results in avoidable suffering and adds further pressure and cost to overstretched emergency and acute healthcare services.
A quarter of delayed discharges from hospital are due to people waiting for homecare, as there is a critical shortage of homecare workers. This hampers the ability of hospitals to admit new patients, contributing to increased ambulance response times and NHS waiting lists of over 7 million.
Investment in homecare and community support will allow us to grow and develop the workforce and innovate, so we can enable people to live well at home, extend healthy life expectancy, reduce inequalities, take pressure off the NHS and reduce costs for the health and care system.
Homecare Association CEO, Dr Jane Townson, said:
Homecare is an essential service that enables us all to live well at home, flourish in our communities, and work in the knowledge that our loved ones are safe.
We are already seeing the impact of lack of capacity in homecare on the NHS. Demand for health services is rising and delayed discharges from hospital are contributing to increased ambulance response times, and a growth in waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment to over 7 million. We are extremely concerned about the impact that additional winter pressures and the rising cost of living will have on the homecare workforce.
Health and social care services are also vital for our workforce and economy. Record numbers of people are economically inactive due to ill health. Over a quarter of women have left the workforce to care for older family members or children, due to unavailability or unaffordability of care provision. Neglecting people in the community, and waiting for a crisis, comes at a human and financial cost when people then have to rely on expensive and limited critical care services.
We call on the Prime Minister to make social care a top priority, fulfilling the commitment to fix social care. It is imperative that, despite the economic conditions, the Government provides the additional funding to build the capacity we all need this winter and beyond.
We urge the Government to:
- Provide substantial investment in homecare to enable improved pay and terms and conditions of employment for homecare workers; transformation of commissioning and purchase of homecare by public organisations; and adoption of innovation and technology to improve outcomes.
- Progress the Fair Cost of Care work swiftly and publish it for public scrutiny.
- Provide immediate emergency grant funding to help cover increased fuel costs incurred by careworkers in delivering homecare.
- Develop a credible 10-year workforce strategy for social care, aligned with the NHS People Plan.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The Homecare Association is the UK’s membership body for homecare providers, with over 2,300 members nationally. The Homecare Association’s mission is to work together to ensure that homecare is valued, so that all of us can live well at home and flourish within our communities. The Homecare Association takes the lead in shaping homecare, in collaboration with partners across the care sector, and provides hands-on support and practical tools for its members. As a member-led professional association, the Homecare Association's members agree to abide by the Association's Code of Practice.
