The cost of inaction on social care - our response
30/01/2025
The Health and Social Care Select Committee opened its first inquiry on “the cost of inaction on social care”. Care Rights UK responded, sharing our insights into how inaction on social care reform impacts older people on the ground every day.
Our national adviceline supports people who are impacted by the failing social care system, leading to poor care, safeguarding concerns, exclusions from care planning, unfair charges, restrictions and evictions. We hope sharing the experiences of people relying on care services will help bring about change and a better system for everyone. Our response focussed on the question: What is the cost of inaction to individuals and how might people’s lives change with action on adult social care reform?
For the people we support, inaction on social care reform has a huge impact on their lives, and on the lives of the relatives and friends who support them. Continual poor care because of inadequate systems also comes at a financial cost to the individual and to bodies like the local authorities. We support people who are impacted by inaction through having unmet needs, and through failed attempts to meet their needs.
Highlights from our response
Often people find themselves having to get back in touch with the local authority and needing the social worker to come back out for further assessments due to inadequate initial assessments and care packages failing to meet their needs, costing local authority resources.
Where there is poor oversight of care packages, these safeguarding issues can be found late, as many older people needing care, particularly those with communication challenges, are unable to raise the alarm themselves. Commissioning poor care can require people to move care settings, costing local authority time, and the person’s wellbeing and personal funds if their care needs are exacerbated by this.
We have supported people whose needs warrant homecare but due to lack of availability, they get moved into a care home. This cause long-term issues, such as loss of life skills, premature permanent entry into a care home, and distress at splitting from important relationships.
Equally, sometimes being in a care home is the right option for a person but due to lack of available provision or poor needs assessments recognising the extent of their needs or their carer’s needs, people end up in an unsuitable place, putting their dignity at risk.
Sometimes needs aren’t met through poor application and understanding of the Care Act’s principle of providing quality care. We often support people who have to move between care settings, which can cause deterioration in health conditions like dementia, or where there is a lack of consideration given to the importance of supporting relationships, despite being an ‘eligible need’ under the Care Act.
There is also a cost on relatives and friends when people’s care needs go unmet. Delays in getting needs assessments means that carers go longer without getting support, often past the limits of their capabilities, causing increased anxiety and people sacrificing their jobs.
Often the delays in carrying out needs assessments can lead to safeguarding incidents. For instance, if someone’s spouse or family member who is acting as their carer due to someone waiting on a needs assessment is then hospitalised or dies, the individual becomes suddenly at crisis point.
We hope to work more closely with the committee to amplify these issues. You can read our full response here.