Today’s influential report into England’s care and health services
reflects the high quality of provision, but also underlines the
urgent need to sustain and protect the embattled social care
sector. VODG (the Voluntary Organisations Disability
Group), the national body representing leading not-for-profit
disability support providers, welcomes the comprehensive picture as
well as the warnings about future services in State of
Care, the annual analysis from regulator Care Quality
Commission (CQC).
VODG has long highlighted the precarious financial state of the
social care sector and the growing demands placed on it, most
recently in its report Stitch in
Time. VODG’s report warns that successive
governments’ failure to properly fund social care leaves millions
at risk of losing essential support and may negatively impact on
the NHS due to increased demand for emergency care. CQC have now
explicitly recognised that a tipping point has been reached as
some people do not receive the care they need.
VODG believes that the CQC’s annual focus on care and health
should extend further to include full independent performance
assessments of local health and social care commissioning. This
is crucial in cases where councils are in financial
difficulties, so inspection can ensure that statutory social care
duties are fully met.
VODG also hopes that today’s authoritative analysis will
encourage the government to expedite the publication of the
long-awaited green paper, which needs to set out government’s
vision and funding for disability and older people’s services
alike.
VODG chief executive Dr Rhidian Hughes said:
“We welcome CQC’s continued spotlight onto quality issues in the
sector and its unique perspective which gives us a broad view
across health and social care. The review of how local systems
are working, and must join up, is especially welcome, as are
CQC’s clear statements about the consequences of under funding in
social care. It is deeply concerning that a tipping point in the
sector has been reached and that some people are not having their
care needs met.
Social care is suffering from decades of underfunding at the same
time as demand for such provision is increasing. Today’s evidence
adds to warnings from across the sector and government must now
act swiftly to invest in and protect vital services.”
