Age UK report on social care: ‘Why call it care when nobody cares?’
As part of its Care in Crisis campaign, Age UK, our partner in the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, has published a new report, Why call it care when nobody cares?
The report is built on the stories of 127 older people and their families who were involved in listening events around the country. The report summarises older people’s experiences of adult social care and what they want to see from the Government’s forthcoming Green Paper consultation on social care.
People said that the main problems in the social care system were:
- Too many professional carers don’t have the time, skills or resources to deliver quality care
- When you do get care it too often isn’t very good
- The cost of social care is crippling families and older people financially
- Everyone’s trying their best to care for a loved one but they’re often at breaking point
- Working out what to do and navigating the system is a nightmare when trying to arrange care for yourself or a loved one
What older people want from the Government Green Paper consultation:
- The responsibility to pay for care needs to be shared across society
- People were only happy to pay more if what they received in return would be a fair price for a good quality service
- Ring-fenced funding is important to older people and care users
- As a society, we need to establish what is reasonable for families to do and the help they’ll get to support them
- People want to feel secure enough to plan for their own care
This report aims to shape the conversation around the Green Paper, to ensure that the Government considers the right areas for reform and comes up with a fair solution for older people. The report argues that politicians should look towards improving the quality of care as well as funding solutions.
Watch a video to find out more:
