Bristol social worker
Hunt’s £2.9 billion increase for social care, a result of the extreme pressure the sector is under, is not even half of what he himself said was needed.
The £7 billion a year he stated was required in his previous role as chair of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, might have started to address the half a million vulnerable people waiting for social care support, and rocketing demand.
Social care staff, like nurses and other striking workers, are at the end of their tether. Years and years of being starved of resources, along with the devastating consequences of privatisation, have resulted in major staff shortages for care homes, community support and in councils.
Hunt has also predictably delayed long-overdue social care reforms, aimed at stopping service users having to use all their savings and selling their houses to pay for care, because councils don’t have the staff or resources to implement it.
Until we are paid fairly, the sector gets the funding it needs, and it is taken out of profiteering hands and back into public ownership, people with support needs are going to continue to be drastically let down.
