£500m Adult Social Care Discharge Fund “doesn’t go far enough”, sector leaders warn

County Councils Network, Essex County Council, NHS Confederation, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services leaders are welcoming health and social care funding ahead of winter but feel the sector needs further support to deliver sustainable services in the long term.

Last week, Health and Social Care Secretary Thérèse Coffey unveiled a £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund to help people get out of hospitals and into social care support as part of the UK Government’s anticipated winter plans. The fund is designed to speed up the safe discharge of patients from hospitals this winter to free up beds as well as to help retain and recruit more care workers.

The winter plan, titled ‘Our Plan for Patients’, also set out the expectation that everyone who needs one should get an appointment at a GP practice within two weeks. Additionally, the plan highlighted a goal to make it easier for retired staff to return to work for the NHS, as well as encouraging more voluntary work across the health service.

However, the sector’s winter plan has been met with a similar response from sector leaders with one common theme: the funding is a welcome first step but additional support and funding is needed in order to deliver sustainable health and social care services going forwards.

Cllr Tim Oliver, Chairman of the County Councils Network (CCN), believes the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund is a “step in the right direction”, and that it will enable councils, working with the NHS, to ensure that people can quickly access care in the community while reducing pressure on the health service.

He continued: “But with councils facing £3.7bn in inflationary costs this year and next, today’s announcement falls short of what is required. This funding will assist with hospital discharges, but will not address other issues within the care system, such as over 500,000 people on care waiting lists, chronic staff shortages with over 160,000 vacancies, and major concerns that the introduction of reforms next year could exacerbate these financial and workforce pressures.

“Given these pressures, we are pleased that the Health and Social Care Secretary recognises this and said today’s announcement was a ‘down payment’ ahead of spending more on adult social care in the coming years. With care services under severe strain now, it is vital that the government provides clarity as soon as possible on how much extra social care will receive, and when – and provides this funding direct to councils.”

Cllr John Spence, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, also welcomed the £500 million funding. However, he warned that councils need certainty that this funding will both continue and increase to facilitate proper planning for sustainable services and interventions beyond winter.

Similarly, Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, feels that the health and social care winter plans “do not go far enough”.

“NHS leaders will need rapid clarification on how much of this £500m fund is additional investment and how much is to be found from existing budgets,” he responded.

Matthew also warned that the government failed to address the urgent need to boost social care pay. He highlighted that a pay increase could help plug major staff shortages – at least 165,000 vacancies – which would ease huge NHS pressures.

“We repeat our call for a higher minimum wage for care workers,” he continued. “Failing adequately to address the lack of capacity in social care, combined with the complete and glaring absence of a workforce plan to address the staffing crisis in the NHS which now tops 132,000 means the risks to patients of the NHS and care system being unable to meet even urgent demand this winter continues to be substantial.”

Rob Yeldham, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) Director of Strategy, highlighted that the winter plan does not put enough emphasis on community rehabilitation and recovery.

“We also need to see more emphasis on community rehabilitation and recovery as prioritising these services will reduce the pressure on GP services and also reduce the demands on hospitals and social care services,” said Rob.

“Without enough well motivated staff no improvements will be possible in any part of the health and care system. There are record numbers of physiotherapists graduating but the NHS is failing to capitalise on this.

“This plan needs to go further and acknowledge that recruitment and retention goes hand in hand with addressing pay and providing opportunities for training, so that NHS staff are fully supported to best meet the needs of their patients.”

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) is happy that the government has responded to its call for more funding for the health and social care sector ahead of winter 2022 with the announcement of the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund. ADASS stated that this funding will help stabilise vital care and support ahead of winter.

Despite this, ADASS President Sarah McClinton added: “However, it risks becoming another missed opportunity if it is not quickly followed by a long-term investment plan for adult social care to reduce unmet, under met and wrongly met need.

“We need multi-year funding that enables us to make better longer-term decisions that increase care and support at home, prioritise recovery and reablement, uplift carers’ pay, and support unpaid carers.

“The Prime Minister previously suggested £13 billion would go to social care and without a rebalancing more people will miss out on care, deteriorate and need hospital care that could have been avoided.”