Why We Need To Invest More In Social Care

Recent reports by investigative journalists have shown that a huge increase in spending on social care has not been able to relieve the pressure placed upon the NHS in England. Although much of the criticism has been overstated, the reality is that the cuts put forward by the government have had a devastating effect upon the provision of health and social care. The health service has suffered its worst ever deficit, with services such as A&E being forced to operate at a reduced level and many NHS hospitals relying on massive infusions of non-healthcare staff to cover for a lack of staff.

Why extra funding hasn’t solved the problem

The government’s response to these problems has been to increase investment, which seems to have had limited success. In some areas, where investment has been increased, care has improved markedly but overall investment levels have remained low. This may be because the extra funding is not being used to cover for the problems in some of the more remote areas where demand has been growing fastest, or because there is a lack of a simple and straightforward process for deciding where funding should be invested. Whatever the reason, there are many reasons why we need to invest more in social care. Find out more about Support Worker Jobs Gloucester from Take 5 Healthcare

A growing population, growing demand

In addition, the increasing size of the population has resulted in an increase in the need for elderly care facilities, which are also becoming overcrowded and under-staffed. Investing in social care now will ensure that we can meet future demand, and avoid the problems that are set to become commonplace across the UK if nothing is done to address the issues.

Summary

Increased spending on social care hasn’t relieved pressure on the NHS, with cuts having a damaging effect on provision and the health service recording its worst-ever deficit. Extra investment has had limited success, partly because funding isn’t always directed to the areas of fastest-growing demand. A growing, ageing population means elderly care facilities are becoming overcrowded and understaffed, making further investment necessary.

Questions this article raises

• Which areas of the UK face the biggest social care shortfalls?
• Why hasn’t increased funding improved services everywhere?
• What would better-targeted social care investment look like?