Responding to the latest delayed transfers of care figures published today by NHS England, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Despite significant funding cuts, councils have worked tirelessly to reduce the average number of delayed transfers of care days attributed to social care since July 2017 by 37 per cent, freeing up more beds for those that need them.
“This highlights the important role local government plays in enabling the NHS to provide first class medical care.
“Over recent years, councils have protected adult social care relative to other services. But the scale of the overall funding picture for local government as a whole means adult social care services still face a £3.6 billion funding gap by 2025, just to maintain existing standards of care. The likely consequences of this are more and more people being unable to get quality and reliable care and support, which enables them to live more fulfilling lives.
“Action is needed, which is why, following government’s decision to delay its green paper on adult social care, the LGA published its own green paper consultation to drive forward the public debate on what sort of care and support we need to improve people’s wellbeing and independence, the need to focus on prevention work, and, crucially, how we fund these vital services.”
- You can see the delayed transfers of care figures for November 2018 from NHS England.
- Since July 2017, delays due to social care have fallen by 37.2 per cent, while delays due to the NHS have fallen by 13.6 per cent.
'The lives we want to lead'
The LGA green paper for adult social care and wellbeing
We received more than 540 submissions in response to our green paper and we have gathered further through public polling and focus groups. Our new report outlines the findings of this consultation and their implications for social care. It also sets out our fourteen recommendations to the Government.