The UK government failed to plan for the ‘highly predictable’ damage caused to adult social care during the pandemic, a new report says.
The research, called ‘Bailed Out and Burned Out?’ and run by Warwick Business School, also says support for care homes was withdrawn too soon.
The study was co-written with University College London and the Centre for Health and Public interest, and studied the financial accounts of more than 4,000 care home firms during Covid-19.
The report said: ‘Despite clear warnings that the financial impact of a pandemic… would prevent care home services from functioning effectively, there is no evidence that government had any contingency plans in place to address this challenge.
‘The decision by government to end financial support for care home companies after the peak of the pandemic had passed has likely contributed to the current financial and operational difficulties experienced by the sector.’
Although the government provided £2.1 billion of public money, not all of this reached the front lines and most payments ended in 2022.
Although 60% of care homes were struggling financially at the start of the pandemic, some 122 larger companies were able to pay shareholders increased dividends in the first year of Covid-19.
The report added the financial viability of the care home sector was ‘partly dependent on care workers working harder and longer’, but for ‘no general increase in hourly pay’.
‘Very little of the additional financial support for the care home sector from government was dedicated to supporting staff and improving their health and well being, despite the immense pressure they were under both at work and in their personal lives,’ the report said.
As it a result, it concluded it was ‘not surprising’ care homes found it difficult to recruit new workers after restrictions eased, and retain previous staff.
The report also found 60% of care home beds for older people were run by companies at risk if there was a ‘mild’ economic crisis.
Other findings during the pandemic from the report
- 80% of workers said they worked more hours
- 42% reported financial problems related to working in care homes
- Half said they were less able to meet the needs of residents
- Care home staff vacancy rates reached 11% in January 2022, up from 6% in April 2021
The lack of knowledge about financial support available also ‘added avoidable burdens of stress on care home owners and managers’.
The government has since quietly halved the funding promised for the social care workforce in England.
Meanwhile, funding promised for the social care workforce in England has been halved.
It had pledged to invest ‘at least £500 million over the next three years’ in its ‘People at the Heart of Care’ white paper in December 2021, but this has now been brought down to £250 milliom.
The Department of Health and Social Care said this money would back a ‘call for evidence in partnership with Skills for Care on a new care workforce pathway and funding for hundreds of thousands of training places, including a new Care Certificate qualification’.
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