Josh Robbins reports for the International Business Times on the financial and operational crisis engulfing the social care system in the UK.
Domiciliary care companies have cancelled contracts with nearly half of the UK’s councils because they were not being offered enough money to break even, according to the BBC. Its research also found that one in four home care providers is almost bankrupt.
The new figures highlight the extent of Britain’s home care crisis at a time when senior health leaders are saying that the NHS is also close to breaking point.
The findings, conducted by Opus Restructuring and Company Watch for the BBC, found that at least 95 out of 212 UK councils have seen care firms cancel contracts because they couldn’t provide services for the money the councils were offering.
Izzi Seccombe, from the Local Government Association, told the BBC:: “We have warned that the combination of the historic under funding of adult social care, and the significant pressures of an ageing population and the national living wage, are pushing the care provider market to the brink of collapse.”
“These figures show the enormous strain providers are under, and they emphasise the urgent need for a long term, sustainable solution to the social care funding crisis.”
In the last three months alone, 69 home care companies have gone out of business. Bosses told researchers that they were struggling to recruit and retain staff as a result of financial pressures.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/one-four-care-home-companies-brink-bankruptcy-uk-1612542